In connection with National Women's History Month in March, the Museum of Church History and Art will open an exhibit highlighting the interests and accomplishments of Relief Society women during the organization's 150-year history. The Relief Society was organized March 17, 1842, in Nauvoo, Ill.

Titled "Come Let Us Rejoice: a Sesquicentennial Celebration of Relief Society 1842-1992," the exhibit begins March 13 and runs through Feb. 22, 1993.The exposition will follow the life experiences of women from the pioneer era of the mid-1800s, through the turn of the century, two world wars and into the expanded world view the Relief Society enjoys today.

The exhibit will comprise a collection of paintings, sculpture, photographs, artifacts, memorabilia, quilts and countless handmade items, each telling a part of the history of the organization. Most items will be accompanied by a descriptive text.

From its inception, the Relief Society has aimed to improve the lives of its individual members and their communities. The women were active in the suffrage movement, in the legislative process, in social work programs and in public health efforts.

One display will focus on the Woman's Exponent, which began in 1872, the first women's newspaper west of the Mississippi.

The women's suffrage movement in the United States was important to the Relief Society. With documents and photographs, the exhibit will follow the development of this women's crusade in the West, as Relief Society leadership participated in the founding of the National Council of Women and the Women's Suffrage Association of Utah. Women in the Utah Territory actually cast the first female ballots in the nation. And in 1896, Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon became the first female state senator elected in the United States.

On display in this section of the exhibit will be a dress worn by women's suffrage pioneer Susan B. Anthony. Latter-day Saint women made this dress of Utah-produced silk as a gift for her 80th birthday in 1900. The dress is on loan from the Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester, N.Y.

The exhibition will catalogue the Relief Society's concern with public health issues, particularly as they concern women and children. Photographs from the late 19th and early 20th century will document the Relief Society's efforts to train community health care providers, which were rare during that time. Sponsored by the Relief Society, many women were sent East for medical training. When they returned to Utah they practiced medicine and taught nursing and midwifery classes supported by the local Relief Societies.

Using funding collected by women, the Relief Society established two maternity hospitals in the 1920s, one in Utah and one in Arizona. A typical maternity room, circa 1920, will be replicated for this exhibit.

Scattered throughout the exhibition will be more than a dozen handmade quilts. Today quilting is considered an art form, but it has also been an important part of women's efforts to provide for the needy throughout the Relief Society's 150-year history.

The Relief Society's motto is "Charity Never Faileth," and the organization is dedicated to benevolent Christian service. A portion of the exhibit will chronicle the group's work with national and international relief efforts following both world wars. Similar efforts continue to the present day, with ongoing Church-sponsored international disaster relief programs.

An important section of the exhibit will display handmade goods from Relief Society members in many countries. These items express the talents, creativity, faith and individual cultures of the Relief Society's more than 3 million members around the world. Among articles to be displayed are weavings from Bolivia, Venetian lace from Italy, bead work from Colombia, cut felt work from the Philippines, needlepoint from Austria, metalwork from South Africa and embroidery from Taiwan.

The Museum of Church History and Art is located in downtown Salt Lake City, across the street west of Temple Square. It is open to the public daily without charge. Hours are Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The museum is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Year's Day and Easter Sunday. The Relief Society exhibit will be located in the Changing Art Gallery on the second floor.