Centennial Observances
See this page in the original 1992 publication.
Author: Olsen, Steven L.
The historical consciousness of Latter-day Saints in the twentieth century has been richly expressed in the celebration of centennial anniversaries of important foundational events. Building on the elaborate jubilee (fifty-year) celebrations in 1880 of the organization of the church and in 1897 of the beginnings of the LDS colonization in the American West, the Church ushered in the twentieth century in 1905 with the centenary of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith. For this occasion, President Joseph F. Smith led a group of Church leaders and Smith family members to Sharon, Vermont, Joseph Smith's birthplace, and dedicated a memorial cottage and large granite obelisk to his memory. Many LDS congregations held local observances.
The Joseph Smith Memorial became one of the first historical sites of the Church. Following its dedication, the Smith company visited a number of other Mormon historic sites. This tour confirmed a growing interest by Latter-day Saints in preserving their past through the restoration of such historical sites in later commemorations.
Another major centenary was celebrated on September 22, 1927, when President Heber J. Grant conducted a devotional on the hill Cumorah at the approximate location where Joseph Smith received the gold plates of the Book of Mormon from the angel Moroni one hundred years earlier (see Moroni, Visitations of). On September 25, congregations throughout the Church held commemorative programs as part of their Sunday worship services.
The 1930 centenary of the organization of the Church saw a much more ambitious memorial. The major celebration centered on the week of April 6. Church leaders arranged for participation in the festivities to extend beyond the 100,000 who gathered in Salt Lake City by installing radio receivers in more than a thousand meetinghouses within the broadcasting range of ksl radio. For the opening session of General Conference, congregations assembled in these chapels and many others not so equipped. At an appointed time, Latter-day Saints throughout the Church stood and gave the sacred hosanna shout, normally reserved for the dedication of temples. As the General Conference continued on the following Monday and Tuesday, many speakers reviewed the Church's hundred-year legacy. Each evening of the week of April 6-12, the Salt Lake tabernacle was filled to overflowing for the pageant "Message of the Ages," an ambitious stage production by a thousand actors, singers, and musicians that chronicled a sacred history of the gospel. The Church's seven temples were also dramatically illuminated for the centennial. For pioneer day (July 24) that year, Saints from the eastern United States and Canada and missionaries serving in the area gathered to the hill Cumorah to witness "Footprints on the Sands of Time," the first of the pageants at that historic site.
The 1947 centennial of the arrival of the first company of Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley was the largest LDS celebration to date. The entire year was one of observances throughout the Church, but it centered on July 24. That day included all the traditional Pioneer Day activities-devotionals, concerts, banquets, parades, rodeos, sports contests, and dances-but on a grander scale. Particularly memorable was the reenactment of the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo (see Westward Migration: Planning and Prophecy). This modern "pioneer trek" included many Church leaders and other dignitaries who drove the Mormon pioneer trail in automobiles decorated as covered wagons and who rehearsed pioneer activities along the way. At the mouth of Emigration Canyon, east of Salt Lake City, President George Albert Smith dedicated the "this is the place" monument, a series of sculptures created by Mahonri M. Young, grandson of Brigham Young.
The 1980 sesquicentennial of the founding of the Church brought another year-long celebration with a variety of observances by Latter-day Saints worldwide. The highlight of this commemoration came April 6 in conjunction with General Conference. President Spencer W. Kimball dedicated the reconstructed Peter Whitmer, Sr., log home on the original site, in the township of Fayette, New York, where the Church had been organized in 1830. Millions witnessed the occasion via the Church's first satellite broadcast (see Satellite Communications System).
Featured in an expanded Pioneer Day parade that year was the display of hundreds of banners made by the young women from throughout the Church expressing their basic values through an artistic tradition dating back to Pioneer Day parades of the nineteenth century.
A number of smaller-scale sesquicentennials have since commemorated both the historical roots of the Church and its early geographical spread beyond the borders of the United States. The most memorable of these were the sesquicentennials anniversaries of the first Latter-day Saint mission to Great Britain (1987)-the first outside North America (see Missions of the Twelve to the British Isles)-and the founding of Nauvoo, Illinois (1989).
During the past two decades, the Church has observed three other major centennial celebrations.
The Relief Society sesquicentennial was celebrated in 1992. Highlights of the year-long event include a special commemorative service from the Salt Lake Tabernacle on March 14, which was broadcast live in multiple languages throughout the Church’s satellite network. A popular exhibit at the Church History Museum reviewed the enduring legacy of the Relief Society based on its purpose as envisioned in the 1842 minute book. In addition, local Relief Society groups from all over the world were invited to “do something extraordinary” by way of service to their communities. The reports of their accomplishments are a testament to the Society’s motto, “Charity Never Faileth.”
The Mormon pioneer sesquicentennial was observed in 1997. Chief among the events of the celebration were an ocean crossing in a chartered replica sailing ship from Liverpool to New York City and an overland trail crossing by hundreds of celebrants, many of whom were descendants of the original pioneers and just as many of whom were not. While many made the overland trip by automobiles that were decorated as covered wagons, honoring the principal event of the 1947 pioneer centennial celebration, others walked the distance from Winter Quarters, pulling handcarts or guiding covered wagons pulled by oxen. The day before the commemorative wagon train left Winter Quarters, President Hinckley dedicated The Mormon Trail Visitors’ Center adjacent to the historic cemetery in Winter Quarters. Many other commemorative events honoring the enduring legacy of pioneering in Mormonism were sponsored by LDS congregations throughout the Intermountain West and around the world.
The year 2005 is remembered for the Church’s first official bi-centennial, honoring the 1805 birth of Joseph Smith. For a number of reasons, the Church chose to commemorate the occasion in a more modest way than with other recent celebrations. General Authorities bore strong witness of the Restoration and legacy of the Prophet during General Conference in April and October. The Church also launched its first website dedicated specifically to the legacy of Joseph Smith, www.josephsmith.net[1], and released for public viewing a new film on Joseph Smith entitled, “Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration.”
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