Elaine A. Cannon

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Elaine Anderson Cannon (b. 9 April 1922) was the eighth general president of the Young Women organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1978 to 1984. Cannon has been a writer and an editor and is the author of over 50 books.

Elaine Anderson was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. She earned a degree from the University of Utah and in 1943 married D. James Cannon, who was a son of LDS Church Apostle and Presiding Bishop Sylvester Q. Cannon. They are the parents of six children.

After her marriage, Cannon became the women's editor for the Deseret News; she also contributed a daily column. She also did freelance work, publishing articles in national magazines including Seventeen and Better Homes and Gardens.

Cannon was key figure in organizing the LDS Student Association. While she worked in establishing Lambda Delta Sigma, the church's sorority, W. Rolfe Kerr worked to establish the church's fraternity, Sigma Gamma Chi. Cannon was also a member of the church's Priesthood Correlation Committee.

In 1959, Cannon became an associate editor for "Era of Youth," a section of the Improvement Era that was targeted to adolescents. In 1971, the church magazine New Era was launched, which was patterned after the "Era of Youth" section of the Improvement Era.

In 1978, church president Spencer W. Kimball appointed Cannon as the successor to Ruth H. Funk as the general president of the Young Women Organization. During her tenure, the young women of the church began holding a yearly meeting in the Salt Lake Tabernacle; the meeting was intended for all adolescent girls of the church and their mothers, and it was broadcast by satellite around the world. Also during her tenure, young women classes began being held on Sundays as part of the church's consolidated worship services.

Cannon was released in 1984 and was succeeded by Ardeth G. Kapp.

[edit] References

• Janet Peterson and LaRene Gaunt (1993). Keepers of the Flame: General Presidents of the Young Women (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book)