“The World Needs More Books Like…”: Jon Butler Reviews Spencer Fluhman

We’re taking a break from our politics theme to highlight a recent review of Spencer Fluhman’s Peculiar People: Anti-Mormonism and the Making of Religion in Nineteenth-Century America (Chapel Hill, 2012) by Jon Butler. Fluhman, who teaches history at BYU, is, as many of our readers know, a mentor to most JIers, and a leading voice in the new generation of Mormon scholarship; he is also the new editor of Mormon Studies Review, which releases its first issue in December. Butler, recently retired at Yale, is considered one of the deans of American religious history, and whose books have worked to shape the field. (I recently attended his retirement conference and wrote a recap at The Junto.)

The review is found at the Journal of Interdisciplinary History, and starts with gushing praise: “The world needs more books like Fluhman’s deft account of nineteenth-century anti-Mormon literature and the fascinating American dialogues about religion that anti-Mormonism produced. Interdisciplinarity and historicity thrive simultaneously in A Peculiar People, and Fluhman’s marvelously succinct book as much elevates him as a historian of synoptic breadth as it uplifts his subject.” Butler also calls it “the quintessential history book.” High praise, indeed.

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Cephalopods 3 of 4: Octopus Maps

Seeing as how it?s ?Mormonism and Politics? month at JI, let?s talk about spineless carnivores with sucker-covered tentacles. One of the most common forms of octopus propaganda was a labeled octopus on a map representing an ?imperial? power of some sort—a nation or company or, in the Mormon case, a church/theocracy—that controlled various geographic areas politically or economically. Michelle Farran at Vulgar Army provides several examples (see image below).

Mormon political hegemony was a major theme in anti-Mormon discourse in the decades around 1900. Heebie-jeebies were given, hands were clutched to bosoms, and smelling salts were deployed on account of Mormonism?s actual and alleged political influence. [1] As early as 1861 writers spoke of Mormonism?s ?tentacles? reaching out geographically [2] and various authors—of fiction and (ostensible) non-fiction—referred to something like ?that great Mormon octopus stretching out its tentacles from State to State and enfolding in an almost undetachable grip that which it seizes.? [3] The graphic instantiation of this idea, the Mormon ?devil-fish map? (see image below) and its kin, played a significant role in anti-Mormon efforts from 1898 into the 1910s. [4]

The Political Culture of Mormon History

[This is the first post in our “Mormonism & Politics” series for the month of July; it also repeats and expands articles from a roundtable on “The New New Political History,” hosted at The Junto in January.]

This political sketch of Joseph Smith leading a Nauvoo Legion filled with women embodies the intersecting categories of gender, power, and politics of political culture.

Methodological and historiographical trends tend to lag behind in Mormon scholarship, but many new theories typically do end up taking root and making an impact. The New Social History move of the 1970s became nearly synonymous with New Mormon History, post-structuralism influenced discussions of Mormon founding narratives, and phenemonological approaches have recently taken hold of projects that attempt to capture the lived experience of Latter-day Saints. These methods have all enriched the scholarship on the pages of Journal of Mormon History and enlivened the halls of the Mormon History Association, though incorporation remains stagnant and uneven, primarily due to the mixed nature of the field. The further progression of Mormon scholarship within the broader academy will depend on its ability to better appropriate these and numerous other methodological tools in order to produce a more sophisticated corpus.

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For the Yanks: Happy We?re-Not-British Day

While looking for something else this morning, I came across the lyrics of a composed-by-a-Mormon song  from 1876 about the Fourth of July. Peter McBride wrote ?The Fourth of July Song? while living in Brigham City, a United Order community in what is now Arizona. Since it?s a holiday and I?m lazy, I present the text below without comment. [1]

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July Theme: Mormonism and Politics

[This post is co-authored by Ben Park and Joey Stuart, the two conveners for this month’s topical series.]

In the 19th Century, Americans feared foreign “reptiles” like the Mormons and Catholics would infiltrate national politics.

Tomorrow, we celebrate the Fourth of July. In certain ways, the celebration embodies many aspects of our historical memory: the focus on the decisions made by white men separated from combat instead of the individuals who had risked their lives in battle for over a year, the sacralization of ideals that remained divorced from reality for many decades, and, most importantly, the emphasis on political language and principles over the practical ramifications and cultural experiences that resulted from those decisions. The document, words, and ideas of the Declaration of Independence are important, of course, but our narrow focus on a simple parchment written as a de-facto justification for actions that had already been taking place for months before, and would continue for years after, on our celebration of the nation?s ?founding? highlights the limited nature of not only our historical memory, but also the way in which we define ?politics. 

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Conference Report: Society for the History of Childhood and Youth

Last week I was finally able to attend the biennial conference for the Society for the History of Childhood and Youth (SHCY). I have been eager to attend this conference for a few years. This year the conference was held at the University of Nottingham, which allowed the Society to highlight its international focus.

I noticed several themes throughout the panel that I thought could enhance the study of children and religion?and in specific case, Mormonism. Before going any further, it would be remiss not to point out Rebecca de Schweinitz?s article on the historiography of Mormon childhood in the Spring 2012 issue of the Journal of Mormon History, which provides a detailed overview of work on Mormon children, childhood, and youth to the recent present.[1] De Schweinitz was also a founding member of SHCY when it first began in the early 2000s.

The first thematic question that drew my attention was

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