Pacific islands, to reestablish missionary work after World War II. July 24: Centennial celebration of the Mormon pioneers' arrival in Utah. A caravan of automobiles with covered wagon tops travels from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City. LDS Church president George Albert Smith dedicates This is the Place Monument. Indian Placement Program initiated. LDS Church membership surpasses one million. 1948 George Albert Smith is said to have petitioned the Lord to lift the ban on blacks receiving the priesthood. He claims he is denied. The ban was not lifted until 1978. 1949 October: The first public broadcast of General Conference on television. Conference talks are given time limits for the first time, to fit with broadcast station timetables. 1950s 1950 August 8: George F. Richards, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, dies. September 1: The first early-morning seminary is started in southern California. October 5: Delbert L. Stapley is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. December 1: LeGrand Richards publishes A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, which became a best-selling Mormon book and was translated into many languages. Deseret Ranches established. 1951 April 4: George Albert Smith dies on his birthday. April 9: David O. McKay becomes church president. July 20: Due to shortages of young men during the Korean War, some seventies and married men are asked to serve as LDS missionaries. October 11: Marion G. Romney is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. November 12: Paint Your Wagon by Lerner and Loewe becomes a hit on Broadway, but includes unflattering stereotypes of Mormon characters. 1952 February 3: Joseph F. Merrill dies. March 2: Primary Children's Hospital opens in its new hospital facility in the Avenues, Salt Lake City. April 5: The first broadcast beyond Temple Square for the priesthood session of General Conference, by use of direct telephone wire. April 6: LeGrand Richards is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. November 20: John A. Widtsoe dies. November 25: Ezra Taft Benson, a sitting LDS apostle, becomes United States Secretary of Agriculture under U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. December 31: The LDS Primary program adopts Cub Scouting. Construction of Church College of New Zealand began. The first lesson plan for LDS missionaries is published, A Systematic Program for Teaching the Gospel. 1953 March 25: Returning LDS missionaries are directed to report to their stake presidents, no longer to the general authorities.