Announcement: 2010 BYU Church History Symposium

Some reflections on “second-tier” church leaders and rank-and-file Mormons

I recently completed reading David Clark’s biography of his great-great grandfather, Joseph Bates Noble: Polygamy and the Temple Lot Case (U of U Press, 2008). My full review of it will appear in the forthcoming issue of Nova Religio, but I want to focus here on an aspect of the book I wasn’t able to fully explore there.

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A “constant process of reinvention”: Randall Balmer talks candidly about Mormon history

Over at Religion in American History, Randall Stephens has posted a two part informal interview he conducted last week with Randall Balmer, noted historian of American religion and professor of American religious history at Barnard College, Columbia University. Part I and Part II are available on youtube. Among other things, Dr. Balmer talks candidly about his experience this semester teaching a course on Mormonism. He offers some interesting insight that I thought Juvenile Instructor readers might be interested in.

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The Juvenile Instructor Turns 2

It has now been two years since that fateful day at J-Dawgs in Provo, Utah, where a group of four BYU students collectively decided to start a blog devoted to the academic study of Mormon history. It’s been an enjoyable couple of years, and the JI has grown—both in terms of readership and in the number of bloggers. We have also spread out. No longer limited to Provo, only two of our bloggers remain year-round residents of the Beehive State (and they will each very likely be on their way out within the next year).[1]

We wanted to take the time, though, to re-introduce ourselves and catch up anyone interested on our current activities, favorite JI posts, etc. So, without further ado:

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On the Humanity of Historical Subjects

It is easy, as a historian, to get caught up in your efforts to prove a point. This is especially true for graduate students, who seemingly have to strive to make a unique contribution to their chosen field. In sorting and sifting through evidence found in sometimes obscure primary source material, I often find myself straining to relate it to larger issues; issues that others will care about, issues that will change the way the field approaches a particular subject.

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“Latter-day Taint”: More on Glenn Beck and Mormonism

Adam Reilly of the Boston Phoenix has written an article (“Latter day Taint: How Glenn Beck is driven by Mormonism ? and why his fellow faithful (including Mitt Romney) should be worried”) further teasing out the relationship between Glenn Beck’s politics and Mormonism (following up what was originally posted here at the JI and more recently, Alexander Zaitchik’s take on Cleon Skousen and Glenn Beck at Salon).

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Book Review: The Madonna of 115th Street: Faith and Community in Italian Harlem, 1880-1950

Robert Orsi. The Madonna of 115th Street: Faith and Community in Italian Harlem, 1880-1950, Second Edition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002 (original edition 1985). xlix + 287 pp.

I recently finished reading Robert Orsi’s 1985 classic, The Madonna of 115th Street, for a readings course on religion, immigration, and transnationalism. Throughout it, I considered some of the possibilities such an approach to Mormonism might yield. What follows is a review of the book (for those who haven’t read it), and then some of my meandering thoughts on how a similar approach might be useful in studying various aspects of the Mormon experience. I apologize for the length of this post, and encourage any so inclined to simply skim (or skip, if you’re already familiar with Orsi’s book) the post and skip to the final few paragraphs dealing with Mormonism.

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In defense of Mormon history

What follows are some thoughts I’ve been tossing around for awhile now, but are offered pretty much off-the-cuff this evening. The subject of those thoughts is well-worn and exceedingly vague—Mormon studies.

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Prayer at Cabinet Meeting

As we continue to get settled into our new apartment, and as I continue to unpack books (where on earth did I get so many books?), I came across a box that contained primarily devotional writings by Latter-day Saint leaders, including two or three compilations of Eza Taft Benson’s religio-political writings and speeches.

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Making Sense of Doctrine and Covenants 39-40; or why it matters that James Covill was a Methodist and not a Baptist

If you read the current heading to Section 39 of the Doctrine & Covenants, you will learn of one James Covill, a prospective convert to Joseph Smith’s nascent Church of Christ “who had been a Baptist minister for about forty years” at the time the revelation was given in 1831.

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