By September 27, 2018
The latest issue of the Journal of Mormon History arrived in my mailbox this week and, I am pleased to say, is a very strong issue. Below is a brief summary of the articles and a list of book reviews. You can submit your article manuscript to the Journal of Mormon History HERE.
By September 24, 2018
The George Q. Cannon Diaries, recently published by the Church Historian’s Press, reveal a wealth of information about nineteenth-century Mormonism, politics, and polygamy. The journal entry that I wanted confirmed was from September 24, 1890, which featured a copy of the “original” or “first draft” of the Woodruff Manifesto, before church leaders and lawyers added edits.
Historians have known for some time that Wilford Woodruff wrote an initial draft of the Manifesto, but now we also know what happened that day.
By September 19, 2018
Tuesday, October 12, 2018 LINK
On June 1, 1978 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints extended priesthood ordination and full temple participation to members of African descent. Forty years later, scholars and students will gather at Brigham Young University to discuss the contexts of the restriction’s origins and the landmark revelation that lifted them, the revelation’s international dimensions, and the meaning of the revelation for today’s Church.
By September 18, 2018
| Historian/Writer – Church History Department UNITED STATES | UT-Salt Lake City ID 217340, Type: Regular Full-Time Posting Dates: 09/14/2018 – 10/05/2018 Job Family: Library, Research&Preservation Department: Church History Department PURPOSES: The Church History Department announces an opening for a historian/writer with an emphasis on women’s history within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Duties will include researching and writing, in collaboration with others, documentary and narrative histories on the experience of Latter-day Saint women. RESPONSIBILITIES • Conducts appropriate research accurately and within professional standards under the supervision of project management. • Produces publishable volumes and material for websites. Possible duties include historical research, verification of transcriptions of documents against original sources, developing and writing annotations and supplementary material, writing introductions and narrative history, or other tasks as assigned. • Meets deadlines and performs all assigned tasks and according to professional and CHD standards. • May perform duties on multiple projects simultaneously. • Manages and supervises task specific research questions. • Occasionally consults with project team on project management questions. • Contributes to a collegial and professional atmosphere that incorporates the highest standards of behavior and cooperation, promoting teamwork and group purposes. QUALIFICATIONS: Masters or PhD (or doctoral candidate) in history, religious studies, or related discipline, with demonstrated competence in women’s history. Excellent writing skills and the ability to work in an academic environment that requires personal initiative and collaborative competence. Some experience with creative non-fiction or fiction writing.Professional and personal integrity required to maintain the trust and confidence of professional colleagues, department leadership, and archivists working in other public and private repositories. WORTHINESS QUALIFICATION: Must be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and currently temple worthy. POSTING NOTICE/MORE INFO.Please Note: All positions are subject to close without notice. Find out more about the many benefits of Church Employment at http://careers.lds.org. |
By September 17, 2018
On June 6-9, 2019 the Mormon History Association will gather for their fifty-fourth annual conference at the Sheraton Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah. This is a friendly reminder from the 2019 program co-chairs, Brittany Chapman Nash and Taunalyn Rutherford, that the deadline for submitting proposals is November 15, 2018.
We are excited about the potential for the production of scholarly work inspired by the 2019 conference theme, “Isolation and Integration.” Gathering in Salt Lake City affords the ideal location to contemplate the duality of the Mormon yearnings to be a peculiar people (isolation) and the contradictory impulse to be accepted and “mainstream” (integration). Historical commemorations marked by 2019 echo this theme and are rich topics for potential panels and papers. Consider for example, the 150th anniversaries of the laying of the Golden Spike and John Wesley Powell’s first Colorado River exploration, the 1869 national discussion over granting Utah women suffrage, and the centennial of the dedication of the Laie Hawaii Temple.
By September 11, 2018
We are pleased to publish this review by Cristina Rosetti, a Ph.D. Candidate in Religious Studies at the University of California, Riverside. You can follow her on Twitter HERE.
Believe in Belief: A Review of Emily Ogden’s Credulity: The Cultural History of US Mesmerism
In the last year, the field of religious studies underwent a renewed interest in “presence,” largely due to Robert Orsi’s History and Presence. In this groundbreaking and theoretically significant work, he writes, “The study of religion is or ought to be the study of what human beings do to, for, and against the gods really present—using ‘gods’ as a synecdoche for all the special suprahuman beings with whom humans have been in relationship in different times and places—and what the gods really present do with, to, for, and against humans.” [i] Orsi’s work challenged scholars to take the religious claims of adherents seriously. Much like studies on secularism raise questions about the subject as much as the object of study, Orsi challenged the “modern” scholar to “believe in belief.” [ii] But, what about fraud? What do scholars do with falsity that, nevertheless, exerts a powerful force over people? What happens to these questions within a world that succeeded in the project of disenchantment? Enter, Emily Ogden.
By September 6, 2018
Over the last ten weeks, the Juvenile Instructor’s Summer Book Club has taken readers on a guided tour through Jared Farmer’s award-winning On Zion’s Mount: Mormons, Indians, and the American Landscape (Harvard UP, 2008). Jared has graciously agreed to share his reflections on the book, ten years after its initial publication.
(Posts in the series: introduction; chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four, chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven, chapter eight, chapter nine.)
“Utah, I Loved Thee”: Reflection by Jared Farmer
My gratitude to David G. and other members of Juvenile Instructor’s summer book club for their thoughtful comments about my second book, now ten years old.
By September 5, 2018
Kurt Manwaring published an interview with friend-of-the-blog Barbara Jones Brown about her work as Mormon History Association’s Executive Director at his blog, From the Desk. I can’t wait to see where Barbara takes MHA in her tenure as ED!
By September 4, 2018
Today Matt B. and I attended a release even for Saints, the new narrative history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From the Church’s website, Saints is designed to share the stories of “women and men who dedicated their lives to establishing the LDS Church across the globe.” In due course, that means that readers will learn about landmark events in Mormon history, including those that don’t fit into traditional narratives of LDS Church history. The first volume covers 1815-1846, highlighting the global phenomena that led to Joseph Smith’s family moving to New York and closing with the Saints’ exodus from Illinois to the American West. To read more about the press conference, please see this Twitter thread (and follow us on Twitter). I’ve written some preliminary thoughts on Saints with quotations from LDS Church leaders and Church History Department leaders throughout.
© 2024 – Juvenile Instructor
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