In 1880, the women of the Ogden 4th Ward Relief Society petitioned the Ogden City council to provide them with an acre of land for them to begin “engaging in the business of silk cultures”. The acreage to be used for cultivating mulberry trees, the essential food for silkworms.

Further research suggests that the women of Ogden, like many other Relief Societies across Utah, were able to acquire land and for a period of time manufactured silk. The silk business was ultimately a financial failure as cheaper silk and fabrics were able to be imported to Utah. But the period represents a notable effort by the women of the Relief Society to successfully petition for resources and undertake an industrious business venture. The cultivation of silk required that the women oversee the difficult task of ensuring silk worms were kept in an appropriate climate, adequately fed mulberry tree leaves and that cocoons were harvested at the appropriate time to ensure the silk fibers were suitable for producing fabric. 

The Relief Society silk produced in Utah would also have a lasting legacy in the national suffrage movement. As a show of thanks for her support for Utah women’s suffrage, a bolt of Utah silk brocade was sent to Susan B Anthony for her 80th birthday in 1900. The two piece dress Susan B. Anthony’s fabric is currently on display at the National Susan B. Anthony Museum in Rochester New York.

Resources: 

Chapman, Hannah (2020) ““The Finest of Any in the World”: Silk Production and the Politicization of Women in Utah,” AWE (A Woman’s Experience): Vol. 7, Article 4. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/awe/vol7/iss1/4 

Arrington, Chris Rigby (1978) “The Finest of Fabrics: Mormon Women and the Silk Industry in Early Utah” Utah Historical Quarterly. Vol 46, 1978, No. 4. Available at: https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume46_1978_number4/s/129305