Well, the Niblets are here, and in a blatant and shameless attempt to remind everyone of some of the fantastic content you may have missed or forgotten from us in 2009, here is the first of a thematic series of Posts You Might Have Missed, 2009. In my opinion, 2009 was the best year yet for the JI as well as a year of transition. See Christopher’s 2nd birthday write up for info about us and our history through most of 2009.

Ben started the year off with the first of a series of 3 posts about Wilford Woodruff and the preservation of Church History:

– ?May We Keep a True and Faithful Record and History of Thy Church and Kingdom?: Wilford Woodruff and the Preservation of History

“We Feel that it is due Joseph Smith?that We Embody Every Act and Word in the History of the Last Days?: A Glimpse into the Difficulties of Wilford Woodruff, Assistant Church Historian

Wilford Woodruff and Writing the Histories of the Twelve

Brett D. shared an insightful post about the transition from the Religion Class Program to the Primary Program: Gender Constructs and the Dissolution of the Religion Class Program

David G. posted an important contribution helping us rethink the 1890 Mormon History Divide: Mormonism?s Unbroken Past: Transcending the 1890 Rupture.

Jared T. shared a number of posts relating to the Church in Mexico and South Texas

The Establishment of the Spanish-American Mission

?Like Moses Wandering In The Desert?: Sacred Space On Loan In South Texas

Newly-Minted JI Perma Ardis S. contributed several fascinating guest posts in 2009 on the Civil Rights movement and BYU:

BYU, LDS Teachings, and the Civil Rights Movement

CRM, the Daily Universe, and the 1950s?Part One

Black Muslims, Malcolm X, and BYU

BYU and Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968

Joel provided an excellent appeal about, Repudiating Scholarly Violence in Mormon History

David Howlett contributed this two part post about Community of Christ Historians: part 1, part 2.

Christopher’s research on Mormonism in the American South yielded some great insights:

?because there was not any missionaries near us?: Latter-day Saint Worship Patterns in the American South

?A situation worse than polygamy?: Mormon Missionaries, ?Mulattos?, and Defending the Faith in North Carolina, 1900

And culminating in his thesis discussed here: An Insider?s View of Early Mormonism. . .and Methodism

Some of the Joseph Smith Summer Seminar attendees kept us riveted with new insights on the Pratt brothers and their influence on Mormon thought:

Parley Pratt?s Doctrine of Equality and the Question of Influence

Pratt?s Doctrine of Equality Revisisted

Mormonism?s Varying Influences on Orson Pratt?s Thought

The Pratt Brothers, the Holy Spirit, and Navigating Materialist Theology

Parley Pratt and the Cultivation of Human Affections

And if that weren’t enough, Ben organized a fantastic series on the Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt featuring many contributors (see Series Wrap-up) and which is, collectively, under consideration for publication.

1. Ben Park: Introduction
2. Ben Park: Parley?s Writing as Restoration and Redemption
3. Ryan Tobler: The Literary Impulse
4. Matt Grow: Writing the Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt
5. Adriane Rodrigues: Pratt?s Use of Literary Voice
6. Bored in Vernal: Conjugal Relations of Parley P. Pratt as Portrayed in his Autobiography
7. Joseph Spencer: Parley Pratt?s Poetry
8. Steve Taysom: Pratt and the Enervating Power of Evil
9. David Grua: Persecution, Memory, and Mormon Identity
10. Matt Bowman: The Conversion of Parley P. Pratt; or, Patterns of Mormon Piety
11. Jared T.amez: Racial Perceptions and Pratt?s 1851 Mission to Chili (Part 1; Part 2)
12. David Knowlton: Pratt and the Problem of Separating Latin and Anglo America

[Whew! More to come! I’ve saved a summary of our posts on race and Edje’s Mormon Zoologia, etc. for the next installment.]