Journal of Mormon History 36:4 (Fall 2010), Part 1

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Edward Leo Lyman on the Abraham H. Cannon Diaries at Benchmark Books, December 1, 2010

Image from Confetti Antiques and Books-confettiantiques.com

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Mormon Historical Studies 11:1 (Spring 2010)

Mormon Historical Studies 11:1 (Spring 2010)

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Book Review: In Harm’s Way: East German Latter-day Saints in World War II

We’re pleased to host a book review by Amanda5245 of Scholaristas: A Women’s Religious History Blog.

Roger P. Minert. In Harm’s Way: East German Latter-day Saints in World War II. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2009. 545 pp. $29.95. Hardback, ISBN: 978-0-8425-2746-0.

In 1974, Roger Minert began to explore the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Germany.  Leafing through the pages of Der Stern, an LDS magazine published in Germany, he began to ask questions about the everyday experiences of the men and women who had lived through the war and had participated in the Church?s branch meetings and Relief Societies.  He wondered how destruction from Allied bombing affected the ways in which German Saints worshipped and how many of members had lost their homes.  He soon discovered that these were questions that had no easy answers.  The research simply had not been done.  The Church was uncertain of how many members had died during the war.

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Call For Papers: Mormonism in Cultural Context, in Honor of Richard Bushman’s 80th Birthday

CALL FOR PAPERS

For a conference on

“Mormonism in Cultural Context?

The friends and former students of Professor Richard Lyman Bushman invite submissions for a conference, on the occasion of his 80^th birthday, to be held June 18, 2011, at the Springville Art Museum in Springville, Utah.

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The “Complete” Discourses of Brigham Young is Out of Print

Welcome, Max

We’re pleased to announce that Max Mueller has agreed to join the permanent cast of the Juvenile Instructor. His name shall soon materialize on the sidebar. Again, with new and improved plaudits and laud, his bio:

Max Perry Mueller is a PhD candidate in American religious history at Harvard University, focusing on nineteenth century Mormonism and African American religious history. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Divinity School (M.T.S.) and Carleton College. His current research project involves early black Mormon pioneers to Salt Lake. He is excited to find interlocutors on all things Mormon, especially issues of race in the Restored Church (to which, quoting Booker T. Washington following his own 1913 visit to Utah, he has ?not yet converted?).

Mormonism as hierarchical and democratic–requesting help with sources!

In preparation for a dissertation prospectus on race in Mormon history, I’m working on a project that takes a look at a particular late-nineteenth century relief society. I’m hoping to study how members of this society access and practice power. My understanding of Mormonism’s power structures (and by “power structures” I intend both ecclesiastical power structures and more theoretical, Foucault-inspired understanding of the term) is that power is distributed mostly vertically (through the hierarchy) but also horizontally (through the “universal” priesthood). Thus, put overly simply there exists a tension (even a dialectic) between Mormonism as a democratic organization and a hierarchical one. A perfect example of this is the ritual sustaining of the new Church president, with each successive rung of the church hierarchy rising to stand as a symbol of their support for his elevation (from the Quorum of the Twelve all the way down to the entire Church community). Yes, ostensibly each member has a say but each vote is not equal.

This is obviously complicated for a women who do not have direct access to the power of the priesthood. My understanding so far of this particular relief society (and something that is common–at least this non-Mormon thinks it is–throughout Mormonism) is that these women derive their relative political standing in the women’s community through their husbands’  relative standing within the hierarchy (i.e. it’s easier for a bishop’s wife to become a local rs president). This precedent of course is set at the top with Emma Hale Smith being the first RS president and Eliza R. Snow, then Zina D. H. Young etc.

My questions for the JI community are:

1. Am I right about the Relief Society, that the wives of high ranking men have an easier time being set apart for leadership office? (This isn’t a uniquely Mormon thing of course…Hillary Clinton’s elevation was at least facilitated by her husband’s place in the White House). I’m more curious if you all know of this being true in the nineteenth century than more recently, and if so if you could point me to some research on this.

2. And more importantly, do we know of any good sources that take up this idea of the Church existing as both a hierarchy and democracy (Has anyone taken up the question of “sustaining” votes for the leadership at General Conference or in local communities as an example of practicing “democracy”? )? Any good theoretical work on Mormonism’s hierarchy in general?

Any thoughts would help!

The 16th Annual Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lecture–and The Arrington Award

Let me just say, I’m VERY excited to hear more about what sounds like an incredible personal record.

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Spend An Evening With An Author at Benchmark Books–James V. D’Arc, When Hollywood Came to Town: A History of Moviemaking in Utah

For any who may be interested–

BENCHMARK BOOKS

3269 So. Main Street, Suite 250

Salt Lake City, UT  84115

Phone: 800-486-3112, (801) 486-3111

Email: benchmarkbooks@integra.net

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