Ida R. Alldredge

Ida Romney Alldredge (7 January 1892 – 14 June 1943) was the author of the Latter-day Saint hymn "They the Builders of the Nation".

Personal

Ida Romney was born in Colonia Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, to Miles Park Romney and Catherine Cottom. On her father's side, she was an aunt to Michigan Governor George W. Romney. Ida Romney married Leo "Lew" Alldredge on August 26, 1911. The following year they moved to Douglas, Arizona, with the body of the Mormon colonists who had decided to leave Mexico due to the disruptions caused by the Mexican Revolution. Lew worked as a merchant in Arizona. They later moved to Mesa, Arizona, where Ida Alldredge lived until her death.

Works

Alldredge wrote many poems for the Relief Society Magazine and the Juvenile Instructor. She is credited with having written over 30 poems in the 1920s and 1930s. Alldredge wrote more than 400 poems in total as well as many musical works and a few dramatic works.

Her lyrics were put to song by such contemporaries as George Careless, B. Cecil Gates, and William Clive. Alldredge had songs sung in General Conference, in the Salt Lake and Arizona Temples, and at the Arizona Temple dedication of 1927. Alldredge is probably best known to Latter-day Saints for the text to the hymn “They, the Builders of the Nation.”

One of Alldredge's last big moments was for Easter sunrise services at the Arizona Temple in 1940. A chorus was gathered on the roof of the Arizona Temple. They sang a cantata written by her and composed by B. Cecil Gates called “Resurrection Morning”.

See also

• Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1985 book)
• Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant
• Mormon colonies in Mexico
• Pratt–Romney family

References

• Cornwall, J. Spencer The Stories of Our Mormon Hymns (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 1975) p. 192