George Dollinger Pyper (November 21, 1860 – January 17, 1943) was the fifth general superintendent of the

Sunday School A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. S ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...

(LDS Church), a member and manager of the

Mormon Tabernacle Choir The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir, acting as part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It has performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for ov ...

, and the editor of a number of

Latter Day Saint The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by J ...

periodicals. Pyper was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th sta ...

. In 1896 and 1897, he was a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

for the LDS Church in the Eastern States

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

of the church. From 1898 to 1929, Pyper was the manager of the Salt Lake Theatre. (The theatre was torn down in 1929.) As theatre manager, Pyper kept an extensive collection of photographs of performers; the collection is currently held by the

J. Willard Marriott Library The J. Willard Marriott Library is the main academic library of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The university library has had multiple homes since the first University of Utah librarian was appointed in 1850. The current building ...

at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of D ...

. A talented singer, Pyper was the leading tenor in the Salt Lake Opera Company for many years. He was a member of and the manager of the

. In 1911, Pyper managed a 6000-mile American tour for the choir, wherein they performed in

Madison Square Gardens Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

and at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

for

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

. In 1929, Pyper became the chair of the LDS Church's Pageant Committee, which produced the performance ''The Message for the Ages'' as a celebration of the church's centennial. At the age of 80, Pyper was a technical advisor to the producers of the 1940 Hollywood film ''Brigham Young''; Pyper had known

Young Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American ro ...

prior to his death in 1877.''

Church News The ''Church News'' (or ''LDS Church News'') is a weekly tabloid-sized supplement to the ''Deseret News'' and the '' MormonTimes'', a Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It is ...

'', July 12, 2003. In 1918, Pyper was asked by church

Apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

and general Sunday School superintendent

David O. McKay David Oman McKay (September 8, 1873 – January 18, 1970) was an American religious leader and educator who served as the ninth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1951 until his death in 1970. Ordain ...

to be his second assistant. Pyper served in this capacity until 1934, when McKay was released and Pyper was called as the fifth general superintendent of the

Deseret Sunday School Union Sunday School (formerly the Deseret Sunday School Union) is an organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). All members of the church and any interested nonmembers, age 11 and older, are encouraged to participate i ...

. Pyper was the first general superintendent of the LDS Sunday School who was not also an

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

of the church. Pyper's assistants were

Milton Bennion Milton Bennion (June 7, 1870 – April 5, 1953) was an American educator and a university and educational administrator. Biography Bennion was born in Taylorsville, Utah Territory. He received a B.S. degree from the University of Utah in 1897 an ...

and

George R. Hill George Richard Hill Jr. (April 10, 1884 – August 13, 1971) was an American educational administrator and was the seventh general superintendent of the Sunday School organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from ...

, both of whom went on to serve as general Sunday School superintendents. In 1890 and 1891, Pyper was an associate editor of '' The Contributor'', a periodical targeted at

Latter-day Saint Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into sever ...

adolescents. Beginning in 1910, Pyper became the editor of ''

The Juvenile Instructor ''The Juvenile Instructor'' was a magazine for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It began publication in 1866 as a private publication, but by the late 1860s served as the de facto publication of the LDS Chur ...

'', the LDS Church Sunday School's official periodical. When the ''Juvenile Instructor'' folded and was replaced by ''

The Instructor ''Paedagogus'' ( el, Παιδαγωγός, "Pedagogue") is the second in the great trilogy of Clement of Alexandria. Having laid a foundation in the knowledge of divine truth in the first book, he goes on in the ''Paedagogus'' to develop a Chr ...

'', Pyper became the first editor of the new publication, a position he held until his death. Pyper is the author of the 1930 book ''Stories of the Latter-day Saint Hymns, their Authors, and Composers''. He composed the music to "Does the Journey Seem Long?", a hymn written by

Joseph Fielding Smith Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. (July 19, 1876 – July 2, 1972) was an American religious leader and writer who served as the tenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1970 until his death in 1972. He was ...

which is included in the 1985 English-language LDS Church hymnal as hymn #127. Pyper was married to Emmaretta Smith Whitney and was the father of two children.

Notes

References

* Arnold K. Garr,

Donald Q. Cannon Donald Quayle Cannon (born 1936) is a retired professor at Brigham Young University who specializes in Latter-day Saint history, particularly early Latter-day Saint history and international Latter-day Saint history. As a young man, Cannon was a ...

Richard O. Cowan Richard Olsen Cowan (born 1934) is a historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and a former professor in the Church History Department of Brigham Young University (BYU). He was one of the longest-serving BYU faculty a ...

(eds.) (2000). ''Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History'' (Salt Lake City, Utah:

Deseret Book Deseret Book () is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores throughout the western United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation (DMC), the ...

)

External links

George D. Pyper Collection
a
University of Utah Digital LibraryMarriott Library Special CollectionsGeorge D. Pyper Photograph Collection
: University of Utah {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyper, George D. 1860 births 1943 deaths 19th-century Mormon missionaries American Latter Day Saint hymnwriters American Latter Day Saint writers American Mormon missionaries in the United States American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints American tenors Counselors in the General Presidency of the Sunday School (LDS Church) Editors of Latter Day Saint publications General Presidents of the Sunday School (LDS Church) Latter Day Saints from Utah Musicians from Salt Lake City People from Utah Territory Tabernacle Choir members