History
The first official youth association of the church—the Young Gentlemen’s and Young Ladies’ Relief Society—was formally organized by Nauvoo youth on the advice of church founder Joseph Smith in March 1843 after having several informal meetings since late January of that year under the supervision of Apostle Heber C. Kimball. In 1854, Apostle Lorenzo Snow organized the Polysophical Society and encouraged young Latter-day Saints to join. In 1875, Church President Brigham Young organized the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association (YMMIA) and intended that it act as a male equivalent of the Young Ladies' Cooperative Retrenchment Association, which was renamed the Young Ladies' National Mutual Improvement Association in 1877. The purpose was to "help young men develop their gifts, to stand up and speak, and to bear testimony.".
A central committee of the YMMIA led by Junius F. Wells was formed in 1876 to oversee the organization, conduct missionary work, and issue general instructions. A YMMIA general superintendency (later renamed general "presidency") was formed by Church President John Taylor in 1880.
In 1901, the YMMIA was divided into junior and senior classes. In 1911, the church followed the pattern developed by the Boy Scouts of America and created the YMMIA Scouts. The organization was officially integrated into the Boy Scouts of America on May 21, 1913.
In the 1970s, the YMMIA was briefly merged with the church's Aaronic priesthood organization and the church's organization for young women and officially renamed the Aaronic Priesthood MIA Young Women. In June 1974, this consolidation was reversed: an independent Young Women Organization was restored and the name of the Young Men organization was changed to Aaronic Priesthood. Also in 1974, the church eliminated the YMMIA General Presidency, placing the organization under the direction of the Presiding Bishopric. The organization's name was changed to simply Young Men in May 1977 and a general presidency was reinstated.
Read more about this topic: Young Men (organization)
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