By January 14, 2010
Have you ever lingered in the Sacred Grove? Paused to read the inscription on a headstone at the Winter Quarters Cemetery? Wondered aloud how the pioneers fit in those little benches at the Salt Lake Tabernacle? Glanced at the historic marker at Benbow farm? If the answer is yes, you have interacted with a church historic site.
By January 13, 2010
I am pleased to introduce Emily Utt as the newest JI guest blogger. Emily double majored in religion and history, with a minor in sociology, at Case Western Reserve University. Now she works in the Church’s Historic Sites Department, where she focuses on the “interpretive side of history.” Some of her projects include work with the Gadfield Elm Chapel, the Church’s first international historic site; a new historical interpretation for sites in Southern Utah; and a current project involving the Beehive House.
In addition to her full-time work with the Church (where she has been employed for five years), she is pursuing a master’s degree in historic preservation through Goucher College, in Baltimore, Maryland. She has chaired sessions at MHA. She is also a renowned collector of Mormon kitsch, of which a plastic Liahona is one of her favorites. Several JI contributors–Stan, Ben, and Jared T.–and one former contributor, Heidi, have worked with Emily in historic site internships. Please join me in giving her a rousing welcome!
By January 12, 2010
I received notice of an internship opening with the historic sites division. Having myself interned there, I can say it’s an excellent experience.
http://www.lds.org/emp/new/home.html
Intern-Historic Sites-Church History Department-1000012
Description
Purpose of Internship: To assist in research and writing tasks associated with the development of historic sites and associated educational materials.
By January 11, 2010
Our good friend Jonathan Stapley has sent along the following review of Janet Moore Lindman’s 2008 book on Baptist community in early America, focusing on the context such an subject provides for those interested in early Mormon ritual.
Janet Moore Lindman. Bodies of Belief: Baptist Community in Early America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. 270 pp. Maps, charts, images, endnotes, bibliography, index. Cloth: $39.95; ISBN 978-0812241143.
By January 11, 2010
Fresh from my inbox:
SUMMER SEMINAR ON JOSEPH SMITH
?The Foundations of Mormon Theology: The Nature of God and the Human?
Brigham Young University
June 1-July 9, 2010
By January 11, 2010
The Salt Lake Mormon Studies Student Association will host Steve Harper, Professor of Church History at BYU, on January 28, 2010 at 7 pm for a public lecture entitled: “Memory and the First Vision.” The lecture will be held on the University of Utah Campus in the Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building, room 101 (main floor).
By December 29, 2009
Over the holiday, I came across this bit of family history. It is a brief essay written by my paternal grandfather detailing the characteristics of his “dream girl.”
By December 23, 2009
I begin in the time-honored, much-ridiculed Mormon fashion of offering a disclaimer about my qualifications and a story about what happened when I was asked to give this talk.
The disclaimer: one of the great things about being an editor is that I never have to have any original thoughts. There may not be any good new ideas in this talk, in which case, all you have to do is submit some new papers to Dialogue so I can get my plagiarisms up-to-date. I?m also not trained as an historian, and the applicability of what training I have is highly questionable. I will therefore talk very fast so that we can get to the interesting part of the evening where you tell me about why I am wrong and what you are going to do about it.
By December 9, 2009
I ran into Reid Neilson earlier this week and he mentioned that a job would be opening up at the JSPP. He recently emailed me the job description to post here for all interested. Good luck to all applicants!
Historian/Documentary Editor, Joseph Smith Papers Project-0900581
By December 6, 2009
E. Dale Lebaron, former BYU Professor and president of the South African Mission when the Priesthood ban was rescinded died on Thursday, Dec. 3 from injuries sustained in an auto-pedestrian accident near his home. See this story in the Salt Lake Tribune.
Lebaron was known as an avid student of the history of the Church in Africa and devoted much time collecting oral histories and other documentation. He gave multiple presentations and authored a book on African conversions, All Are Alike Unto God.
I must admit that I’m not very familiar with his work, but feel it appropriate to make mention of this tragic circumstance that befell a collector and documenter of African Mormon history. His decades long involvment with the Church in Africa both before and after the 1978 revelation makes me hope that he was himself interviewed about his activites and/or that he kept a journal of his doings. LeBaron was 75.
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