Edna Harker Thomas
Second Counselor in the general presidency of the Primary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the first wife of Elbert D. Thomas, a United States Senator from Utah
Edna Harker Thomas (April 11, 1881 – April 29, 1942) was a leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). She was the first wife of Elbert D. Thomas, a United States senator from Utah. She was also the first woman in the LDS Church to travel around the world.
Early life and education
Edna Harker was born in Taylorsville, Utah Territory to Benjamin E. Harker and Harriet Bennion. Harker studied at Brigham Young University, University of California, Berkeley and at the American University. She attended the University of Utah, where she taught physical education after graduating. She was also involved in the university's theater club and performed at the Salt Lake Theatre. The Truth called her "the University Bernhart."
Career
She was a teacher in the public schools of Salt Lake City. In 1904, she became a member of the general board of the Primary Association of the LDS Church.
Shortly after their marriage, Elbert and Edna Thomas were sent by the LDS Church to Japan as full-time missionaries.
The public source identifies “Edna Harker Thomas” as second Counselor in the general presidency of the Primary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the first wife of Elbert D. Thomas, a United States Senator from Utah. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Edna, Harker and Thomas.
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The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 5, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5340051. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1881, 1942 and 1904.
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This entry incorporates text from “Edna Harker Thomas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.