Lady Missionaries in the Eastern States Mission, 1915
While today having Sister Missionaries is expected, and is even the subject of Hollywood movies currently, that was not true in 1915, when an article in the March issue of the Church’s Improvement Era magazine wrote about the 14 ‘lady missionaries’ then serving in the Eastern States Mission. The report indicated that the women were serving in Boston, New Haven, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Baltimore and in the mission headquarters, then in Harlem. It included the following photo of the women serving:
Lady missionaries of the Eastern States Mission: Back row, left to right: Janette McNeil, Edna Crowther, Minnie, C. Poulson, Gertrude Phelps, Alta M. Johnson, Lona J. Ipsen, Lizzie O. Borgeson; middle row: Annie C. Peterson, Helga Pedersen, Mrs. Leona Monson, Ruth N. Savage, Viola Peterson; front row: Venna Monson, Zelma Peterson. (caption from the Improvement Era article.)
It is possible that the article (submitted by the mission to the Era) was inspired by a January article in the New York Tribune, which featured the two women serving there, Gertrude Phelps and Edna Crowther. Unfortunately, the article suggested that the lady missionaries would mainly attract the attention of the “man of the house”:
Fascinating disciples of Utah’s prophet have dismayed the Ridgewood section of Brooklyn by their activities in the Mormon cause. At least, the women residents are dismauyed and even horrified. If the emotions extend to the male inhabitants they conceal their feelings successfully. Which, of course, adds to the dismay and horror.
From door to door the engaging missionaries ply their trade. If the man or a man of the house answers their ring, there is sure to be a cosey chat, in the course of which the advantages of the Mormon religion are set forth.
The article also suggested that the reason lady missionaries were used was due to the start of World War I in Europe, even though the United States had not yet entered the conflict:
Their presence in this city is said to be a part of the Mormon activity that has developed here since the outbreak of hostilities in Europe necessitated the recall of many Mormon missionaries.
This idea is likely a supposition made by the reporter or some unnamed source. Since the first female missionaries were called 17 years earlier, in 1898, the influence of the war on the need for women in the mission field was minimal at best.
See:
http://wiki.nycldshistory.com/w/1915-03-Improvement_Era-Lady_missionaries_of_the_Eastern_States_Mission
http://wiki.nycldshistory.com/w/1915-01-26-New_York_Tribune-Women_in_pet_as_men_heed_fair_Mormon_aids