{{Short description|American musician}} '''Elizabeth Fetzer Bates''' (March 30, 1909 – November 20, 1999) was an American Latter-day Saint musician, most noted for being the author of the children's songs "Book of Mormon Stories" and "Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked".
== Biography == Bates was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to John Fetzer, an architect,<ref name="Zoo">{{cite news |title=Girl Unveils Plaque At Zoo |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/12766097/?terms=%22Elizabeth%2BFetzer%22 |accessdate=27 July 2019 |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=15 August 1932 |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |page=12}}</ref> and his wife Margaret Baer.<ref name="Obituary">{{cite news |title=Obituary: Elizabeth Fetzer Bates |url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/730981/Obituary-Elizabeth-Fetzer-Bates.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926002007/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/730981/Obituary-Elizabeth-Fetzer-Bates.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 26, 2018 |accessdate=27 July 2019 |work=Deseret News |date=2 December 1999}}</ref> She was the older sister of Emil B. Fetzer. Elizabeth graduated from LDS Business College.<ref name="Obituary"/> From late 1928 to 1930, she served as a Mormon missionary in the Northern States Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), based in Chicago.<ref name="Obituary"/><ref name="Calls">{{cite news |title=Mission Field Calls Elizabeth Fetzer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/542293515/?terms=%22Elizabeth%2BFetzer%22 |accessdate=27 July 2019 |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=30 September 1928 |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |page=5}}</ref> In 1931, she established a Yesharah Society at the University of Utah, where women who had returned from missions could keep in contact with each other.<ref>{{cite news |title=They Fulfilled Missions. Yesharahs Are Young, But Very Active Group |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/289086567/?terms=%22Elizabeth%2BFetzer%2BBates%22 |accessdate=27 July 2019 |work=The Salt Lake Telegram |date=8 October 1941 |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |page=14}}</ref>
In 1934 Elizabeth married Lucian Bates<ref name="Morris"/> in the Salt Lake Temple. They eventually had six children.<ref name="Morris"/> Bates also worked as a legal stenographer.<ref name="Morris"/>
Although Bates lost her sight in an accident in 1951,<ref name="Morris"/><ref name="Union"/> she was still an active member of her community and her church. For a time Bates was the executive secretary to Utah governor Herbert B. Maw.<ref name="Obituary"/> She served a mission again in the 1970s, with her husband, in Washington state.<ref name="Obituary"/>
Bates earned several degrees at the University of Utah, a Bachelor of Science in Sociology,<ref name="Morris"/> a Bachelor of Arts in Music,<ref name="Morris"/> a Master of Arts in 1959,<ref>{{cite news |title=279 Receive Advanced Degrees Tonight at U. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/11971474/?terms=%22Elizabeth%2BFetzer%2BBates%22 |accessdate=27 July 2019 |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=8 June 1959 |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |page=49}}</ref> followed by a PhD, developing a new system of coding music for blind musicians.<ref name="Morris">{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Judy |title=Memory, Imagination Are Blind Woman's Eyes. 'I See Yesterday and Tomorrow' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/12764351/?terms=%22Elizabeth%2BFetzer%2BBates%22 |accessdate=27 July 2019 |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=17 November 1960 |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |page=C1}}</ref><ref name="Union">{{cite news |title=Union. Guest Speaker Highlights Meeting |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/533507121/?terms=%22Elizabeth%2BFetzer%2BBates%22 |accessdate=27 July 2019 |work=The Jordan Valley Sentinel |date=18 February 1966 |location=Midvale, Utah |page=11}}</ref> She taught piano and composed music.<ref name="Morris"/><ref name="Union"/> She was also a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.<ref name="Obituary"/> Besides "Book of Mormon Stories", Bates also wrote the song "Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked",<ref name="Latimer">{{cite news |last1=Latimer |first1=Torri |title=Pioneer Children Enjoyed Games, Sang Songs During Journey West |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/469408964/?terms=%22Elizabeth%2BFetzer%2BBates%22 |accessdate=27 July 2019 |work=The Daily Herald |date=20 July 1984 |location=Provo, Utah |page=19}}</ref> described as "Perhaps the most familiar and best loved .. song".<ref name="Latimer"/> Bates had been inspired to write the song after meeting 104-year-old Ruth May Fox, who as a child had traveled on foot and by wagon to Utah.<ref name="Latimer"/> Both songs are included in the LDS Church's ''Children's Songbook''.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Elizabeth Fetzer}} Category:1909 births Category:1999 deaths Category:20th-century Mormon missionaries Category:American Latter Day Saint hymnwriters Category:American Mormon missionaries in the United States Category:Female Mormon missionaries Category:Ensign College alumni Category:Tabernacle Choir members Category:Musicians from Salt Lake City Category:University of Utah alumni Category:American blind people Category:20th-century American musicians Category:Songwriters from Utah Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers Category:20th-century American women writers Category:20th-century American women musicians Category:American women hymnwriters Category:Latter Day Saints from Utah Category:American women non-fiction writers