The Children's Friend and the Friend

In 1893 Sister Felt first proposed that the Primary have its own publication to communicate with Primary leaders and workers throughout the Church. Permission was granted in 1901. Sister Felt mortgaged her own home to fund this new and ambitious project. The first issue of "The Children's Friend" appeared in January 1902 as a bulletin for leaders and teachers, including lessons for the three graded classes in Primary. Over the next few years, the publication changed from a bulletin to a magazine and it contained increasing numbers of stories, poems, and coloring pages for children, as well as information for teachers, leaders, and parents. By the 1950s only a few pages for parents and leaders occupied space at the back of the magazine. All of the content of the "Friend" magazine which first appeared in January 1971 is for children.