Cover of the Juvenile Instructor August 1910

''The Juvenile Instructor'' was a magazine for members of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). It began publication in 1866 as a private publication, but by the late 1860s served as the de facto publication of the LDS Church's

Deseret Sunday School Union Sunday School (formerly the Deseret Sunday School Union) is an organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). All members of the church and any interested nonmembers, age 11 and older, are encouraged to participate i ...

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

. It was an official periodical of the LDS Church from 1901 to 1929, after which the church replaced it with '' The Instructor''.

History

''The Juvenile Instructor'' was issued monthly and was initially targeted toward the children and youth members of the LDS Church. It consisted of

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

s on the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...

, and

Doctrine and Covenants The Doctrine and Covenants (sometimes abbreviated and cited as D&C or D. and C.) is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. Originally published in 1835 as Doctrine and Covenants of the Chur ...

; musical compositions; illustrations; stories; editorial teachings; and other aids to gospel instruction. It was the first magazine for children published in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. For much of its history, ''The Juvenile Instructor'' was owned by the

Cannon family The Cannon family is a prominent U.S. political family in the states of Utah, Nevada and Idaho which descends from the 19th century marriage of George Cannon and Ann Quayle before their emigration from Peel, Isle of Man. The family's most notabl ...

. Its first editor was

George Q. Cannon George Quayle Cannon (January 11, 1827 – April 12, 1901) was an early member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and served in the First Presidency under four successive pr ...

, an LDS Church

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

. Cannon and his family continued to publish the magazine privately until January 1, 1901, when the Deseret Sunday School Union purchased the magazine and continued its publication. From 1901 to 1929, the magazine was considered the official publication of the church's Sunday School. From 1881 to 1890, George Reynolds was an assistant editor of ''The Juvenile Instructor''. In 1882, he wrote a series of popular articles in the magazine about

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

and the translation of the Book of Mormon.

Blog

In 2007, an academically leaning blog focused on the history of the Latter-day Saints was formed and named ''Juvenile Instructor'' with the original intention "to situate the study of Mormonism within wider frameworks, including American religious history, western history, gender history, and, on occasion, the history of the Republic of South Africa."About Juvenile Instructor
" ''Juvenile Instructor''. October 26, 2007. Accessed April 13, 2021.

Notes

External links

''Juvenile Instructor''
(PDF scans) courtesy of the

Church History Library The Church History Library (CHL) is a research center and archives building housing materials chronicling the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The library is owned by the Church and opened in 2009 in downt ...

and the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

.
''Juvenile Instructor''
an LDS history-themed blog, part of the

Mormon blogosphere The Mormon blogosphere (often referred to as the Bloggernacle) is a segment of the blogosphere focused on issues related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The term "Bloggernacle" was coined by individuals within the L ...

. 1866 in Christianity Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines disestablished in 1929 Magazines established in 1866 Religious works for children Sunday School (LDS Church) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints periodicals Young people and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 20th-century Mormonism 1866 establishments in Utah Territory Magazines published in Utah {{Christian-mag-stub

History

Blog

See also

Notes

External links