By Jared TAugust 7, 2012
[I meant to put up a Mormon journal roundup, but I’ll have to postpone that for next week–apologies]
A lingering benefit of the centennial commemoration of the Mormon Exodus and the conference on Mormon history in Latin America and the Borderlands that took place a week and a bit ago (see here) is the Finding Refuge in El paso Lecture Series that the El Paso Museum of History is sponsoring to help promote the Finding Refuge in El Paso museum exhibit that recently opened.
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By Jared TJuly 11, 2012
The most recent issue of Mormon Historical Studies arrived in the mail today (Fall 2011, 12:2). I was thrilled to see that one of the essays included is Elder Marlin K. Jensen’s July 24, 2010 Sons of the Utah Pioneers Sunrise Service lecture which we drew attention to here nearly two years ago (also, see David G.’s related post about Remembering and Forgetting Utah’s Indian Wars). At the time, many expressed a hope that his remarks would be published in full, and thanks to Mormon Historical Studies, that hope is reality. I will be providing a longer review of the issue in the next few days, but I wanted to note the inclusion of this talk and provide this excerpt which is given under a bolded heading:
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By Jared TJune 11, 2012
From Jenny Seman, PhD candidate in history at Southern Methodist University, cross posted from Borderlands History.
Brett Hendrickson (a Religious Studies scholar who writes about faith healing) and I are putting together a panel addressing healing, religion and spirituality in the West for the 2013 Western History Association Conference in Tucson, Arizona. Check out the listing here:
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By Jared TJune 4, 2012
This year’s Western History Association (WHA) conference in Denver, CO on October 4-7, 2012 will feature several presentations oriented toward religion in the American West and some which focus on Mormon topics.
See the full program here.
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By Jared TMay 11, 2012
There are three exciting events happening in El Paso, Texas this summer, July 28, 2012. A little over a year ago I found myself thinking about the impending 100th anniversary of what has become known as the Mormon Exodus in 1912 which saw several thousand Euro-American Mormons from northern Mexico colonies leave their homes and take a train first to El Paso (where some remained) and then on to other areas of the country in response to their concern for their personal safety during the Mexican Revolution. Though some returned shortly after (and two of these colonies remain to the present), for the families of many such as George Romney (Mitt’s father), this migration represented the end of a decades-old sojourn in Mexico.
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By Jared TMay 4, 2012
We’re pleased to present a guest post by Christopher Smith, who is a PhD candidate at Claremont Graduate University in Religions in North America. He has never been to the North Pole, and thus can neither confirm nor deny that there are no Israelites there.
According to an 1831 revelation, when Christ returns to the earth the continents will join together and the ?great deep . . . shall be driven back into the north countries.? Then, the ten lost tribes of Israel who reside in the ?north countries? will ?smite the rocks? like Moses, ?and the ice shall flow down at their presence,? and a ?highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep,? and they shall march to Zion in glory. [1] A milder version of the same idea was communicated in a vision in 1836, in which ?Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the Earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the North.? [2] These prophecies enlarged upon Jeremiah 31:8, which referred to a remnant of Israel being gathered from the north.
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By Jared TMarch 4, 2012
[Last week’s Bott controversy (See the Slate article by JI’s Max Mueller) generated not one but two official statements from the LDS Church. With all the discussion around the net on the issue of blacks and the priesthood, I’m posting this updated list of JI posts on the subject for your reference.]
Juvenile Instructor Posts
Paul Reeve’s excellent guest post about Bott’s remarks and dishonoring Elijah Abel’s legacy. This should be required reading. Here’s a sample:
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By Jared TJanuary 12, 2012
He will be given Emeritus status at the October General Conference and Elder Steven E. Snow will become the new Church Historian.
I don’t know a lot about Elder Snow, but I do know that Elder Jensen will be sorely missed. He has been a tremendous advocate for Church History and those who have had even the most passing personal contact with him know him to be a genuine gem of a person.
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By Jared TDecember 15, 2011
UPDATES: See comments: 1, 13, 16, 17, 22, 24, 25, 28.
It’s time for the yearly round up of recently published and forthcoming Mormon history books. See last year’s list here. Be sure to also check out Ben’s recap of significant scholarship in 2011 and Stapley’s Christmas Gift Book Guide. Be sure to let me know what I missed in the comments. Rumors about book projects are always welcome! Finally, according to the WordPress stats, this is our 1000th published post. Not a bad milestone for any blog.
Arthur H. Clark & Oklahoma University Press
Gregory K. Armstrong, Matthew J. Grow, Dennis J. Siler. Parley P. Pratt and the Making of Mormonism. (AHC 2011)
James C. Work. Don?t Shoot the Gentile. (OUP 2011) ?A witty memoir of a non-Mormon teacher?s rookie years in Utah?
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By Jared TAugust 24, 2011
We are thrilled that Susanna Morrill, assistant professor of religious studies at Lewis and Clark College, has been kind enough to share her insights on the visionary culture of early LDS women here at the JI. Susanna’s article ?Relief Society Birth and Death Rituals: Women at the Gates of Mortality,? Journal of Mormon History, 36 (Spring 2010), 128?59 as well as her book, White Roses on the Floor of Heaven: Nature and Flower Imagery in Latter-day Saints Women’s Literature, 1880-1920 have garnered wide praise. Let’s give Susanna a warm welcome.
In 2003, faithful LDS member Stephenie Meyer dreamed of a girl and a beautiful, sparkly vampire boy, in love and having an intense conversation in a meadow. Meyer could not get the dream out of her head. Whenever she could get a chance, she wrote a story inspired by the dream. It became the first book in the Twilight series. Meyer described this experience: ?To be honest, I felt like I was guided through the process.?[i]
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