The junior members of the association are known as bee-hive girls, the work provided being of the nature of the camp fire work and parallel to that of the boy scouts. There are some 14,000 bee-hive girls, in age from 14 to 16 years. There are also senior classes in all of the local associations and advanced senior classes in the majority of them.
The present total membership (April 1, 1921) is 44,681. Two hundred seventy-six of this number are giving services in the Mission Field. —Clarissa Beesley, general secretary.
The Primary Association
The need of child culture and special religious training for the children was the motive that prompted the organization of the Primary Association in the Church. The Lord has placed the responsibility of the training of the children of Church members on the shoulders of the parents, where it properly belongs. However, in the multitude of duties it is necessary that some help be extended to assist the parents in the important labor, and the various auxiliary organizations were given for this purpose.
The following account of the origin and aims of the Primary Association is furnished by that organization:
“The Primary Association originated at Farmington, Davis County, Utah, where the first meeting was held on the 25th day of August, 1878.
“For some time previous, Sister Aurelia S. Rogers, the pioneer in this work, had reflected with much seriousness upon the need of a more strict guardianship over the boys and girls of Zion. She felt the necessity for more religious and moral training than they were then receiving; believed that children should be taught to beautify the home with the workmanship of their own hands, and learn to cultivate a love for music, for flowers, and for the beautiful in all things.
“The matter was brought to the attention of Sister Eliza R. Snow and a consultation was held with President John Taylor, Emmeline B. Wells, and others, resulting in a decision to organize what is now known as ‘The Primary Association.’ It was resolved that the instruction should be of religious and moral character in all that tends toward the development of upright men and women.
“Accordingly, on the 11th of August, 1878, Aurelia S. Rogers was set apart to preside over a Primary Association in Farmington. The ward was systematically visited and the name of every child recorded. Two weeks later the children were called together, the object of the work was explained to them, and the career of the association began. In addition to the meeting where general instructions were given including lessons on obedience, faith in God, prayer (individual and in concert), punctuality, and good manners, there were program and testimony meetings. A quarterly gathering was held every three months to which the parents were invited and a special program rendered. Lessons were given on the planting of beans and corn, to be stored for times of famine, in the making of rag carpets for use in Church buildings; and much emphasis was laid on the necessity for obedience to the word of wisdom.
“Similar associations were organized in other places, and on the 19th day of June, 1880, Sister Louie B. Felt, then president of the Eleventh Ward Association in Salt Lake City, was called to preside over the Primary Associations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the world.”