JCOM Prof Named 'Rising Scholar' for Work on Early-LDS Women's Journalism

Candi Carter Olson of the Department of Journalism and Communication at Utah State University has been recognized as a “rising scholar” for her research on an early example of Mormon journalism by and for women.

The American Journalism Historians Association selected Olson, an assistant professor of media and society, as its Rising Scholar Award winner for her research project “The Rights of the Women of Zion, and the Rights of the Women of All Nations: The Woman’s Exponent and the Utah Women’s Press Club.”

The Woman’s Exponent was the first publication owned and published by Latter-day Saint women. Church Relief Society president and suffragette Emmeline B. Wells was one of two editors in its 1872-1914 history.

This award helps validate Olson’s beliefs that the Utah Woman’s Press Club and the women who produced the Woman’s Exponent are worthy of broader attention.

“Awards like the Rising Scholar award give some reinforcement that telling these stories is important,” Olson said. “These women were leading voices for Utah’s women, and they mixed faith and progressive activism in a way that drew attention to the area and made them leaders in Utah’s fledgling state government, the national suffrage movement and the Mormon church.”

The Rising Scholar Award recognizes the achievements and potential of an untenured scholar and is accompanied by $2,000 in research funding. Olson will be recognized at AJHA’s annual conference Oct. 6-8 in St. Petersburg, Fla.

American Journalism is the quarterly academic journal of the American Journalism Historians Association. Founded in 1981, AJHA seeks to advance education and research in mass communication history.

Olsen explains her work and experience in a video.

USU College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Writer and contact: Janelle Hyatt, Janelle.hyatt@usu.edu