By David G.July 3, 2008
Happy Independence Day. Here’s a discourse given by George A. Smith on the fourth in 1854. Remember that at this time the Saints are struggling with the federal government over the right to self government. Notice how Smith negotiates in his narration his commitment to both an American identity and a Mormon identity.
George A. Smith, “Celebration of the Fourth of July,” July 4, 1854, Journal of Discourses, 6: 364-67.
Gentlemen and Ladies-Fellow-Citizens,-I arise here to address you a few moments upon a subject which has, perhaps, been worn threadbare by orators, statesmen, and divines, for the last seventy years, in the minds of a great portion of
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By David G.June 30, 2008
Please welcome out latest grad student acquisition, Edje, who after two weeks of guestblogging is now joining us permanently. See here for his bio.
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By David G.June 27, 2008
No time for a real post dealing with the martyrdom today, but here’s ERS’s memorial of Joseph Smith’s death.
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By David G.June 16, 2008
The language of martyrdom and persecution provided Latter-day Saints the linguistic tools by which they could reverse the power relations as they had been defined by the Missourians and Illinoisans. Mormon opponents were successful in expelling the Latter-day Saints from both Missouri and Illinois, prosecuting and imprisoning Mormon leaders for crimes, all while avoiding legal sanctions for non-Mormon vigilantes. Mormon authors were well aware of these inequalities, leading them to imagine a time when God would vindicate their people.
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By David G.May 23, 2008
Alas, I spent all my travel money going to an academic conference in the first Zion (Missouri), so I’m stuck in the second Zion (Utah) and getting regular dispatches from Christopher in the Almost Zion (California). Here’s the list of winners from this year’s awards ceremony.
Best Undergrad Paper: John Brumbaugh, “Return of Anti-Mormonism: Fred Dubois and the Reed Smoot Hearings.”
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By David G.May 14, 2008
I found this while going through the Times and Seasons, and it reminded me of Chris’s post on Mormonizing John Wesley. Apparently Mormon J. M. Grant (Jedediah, I presume) wrote a letter to the New York Messenger, and included an excerpt from a letter from Jefferson to John Adams, and asked his readers if they thought Thomas Jefferson was a Mormon. Grant’s letter was later republished in the Times and Seasons.
…
An extract from a letter written to JOHN ADAMS BY THOMAS JEFFERSON, of Virginia, published by Mr.
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By David G.May 7, 2008
Be sure to check out and support Ardis’ new blog, Keepapitchinin.org, which went live today.
By David G.May 6, 2008
This is not one of my normal posts, which are usually pretty detached and scholarly. Rather, I’m going to share a personal experience about bringing in academic history to the ward setting. Sunday before last I gave a talk in sacrament meeting, with the assigned topic being scriptures and their value in my life. Initially, the second counselor in my bishopric asked me to address the FLDS situation and continuing revelation, a topic that I was initially excited about but with further reflection I realized that it would be altogether too difficult to do justice in a 10 minute presentation that is supposed to be faith promoting. So I backed off, opting instead to tackle a slightly less
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By David G.May 1, 2008
From Margaret Young:
The Idaho Black History Museum is proud to present
Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons
Followed by a discussion with the filmmakers
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By David G.April 16, 2008
It is my pleasure to announce another big addition to the Juvenile Instructor…Matt Bowman. Matt joins Heidi, Stan, and myself as Bushman Summer Seminar alumni that blog at the JI. He joins us after a successful tenure at Mormon Mentality. Here’s what he has to say about himself.
Matt Bowman is a doctoral candidate in American religious history at Georgetown, and holds a master’s in American history from the University of Utah. He’s interested in Christian theology, evangelicalism, fundamentalism, and, occasionally dabbles in Mormon history, noir, and the movies. He’s published in Religion and American Culture: a Journal of Interpretation, The Journal of Mormon History, the John Whitmer Journal, and the Utah Historical Quarterly.
Let’s welcome Matt.
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