The final few years of Joseph Smith’s life reveal a man with many responsibilities: religious, familial, and civic. The editors of Joseph Smith Papers, Documents: Volume 12: March-July 1843 (D12) make that abundantly clear in their outstanding volume and give researchers the tools they need to understand better the historical contexts of antebellum America and Latter-day Saint Nauvoo. However, I also felt like I came to know Joseph Smith the person from the 96 documents organized and annotated in D12. In their introduction, they quote Joseph Smith as saying, “when a man is reigned up continually by excitement, he becomes strong & gains power & knowledge.” Smith was never content to operate in one role alone; he saw himself within communities and as a society-builder. Zion, to Smith, was the “pure in heart,” but it was also comprised of people.
Those of us at the Juvenile Instructor, like so many other in the Mormon academic community, are very sad to hear of the passing of D. Michael Quinn, and want to take a moment to honor his legacy as one of the most important historians of Mormonism. Our own Ben Park put together an excellent summation of Quinn life on this Twitter chain, but we’d also like to take a moment here to celebrate Quinn’s tremendous contribution to Mormon history.
For me, what stands out most about Quinn’s scholarship are controversy and indefatigable research. Controversy in Mormon history had been with the movement since the beginning with scholarship on Mormonism often dividing between believers and non-believers. Quinn was somewhat pioneering in tackling controversial topics as both a believer and an “insider” in his work at the church archives and at BYU. Scholars like Marvin Hill had been edgy, but Quinn fully embraced the most controversial topics and even held a kind of press conference to refute Boyd K. Packer’s 1981 “The Mantle is Far, Far Greater than the Intellect.”
The Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is looking for a historic sites curator to serve as a digital operations specialist. As a standing member of the division’s visitor experience team, this individual will assist in extending the reach of historic sites significant in Church history for a global audience.
This is a full-time position.
RESPONSIBILITIES
In order of importance. Includes percentage of time spent on each.
It is time to jumpstart your research in Mormon women’s history with an MWHIT grant! Our organization is thrilled to offer two research grants annually to help one student and one independent scholar forward his or her study of Mormon women’s history. For example, these funds could be devoted to childcare to allow blocks of time for writing, travel for a research trip, acquiring digitized copies of records, editing assistance, and so forth. The work of women scholars and those interested in women’s history desperately needs to be shared, and that means YOU or someone you know! Forward this email to a friend who may also be interested. The deadline to apply for an MWHIT research grant is Saturday, May 1, 2021.
Click here for details on the Student Grant and here for details on the Independent Scholar grant.
In an effort to connect researchers to one another, feel free to respond to this email with your research interests and needs. We will see if we can provide you with contacts of persons who share your interests! Thank you to all who have supported our bazaars and other fundraising efforts to make these grants possible.
The Book of Mormon Studies Association (BoMSA) is pleased to announce its fifth annual meeting, to be held in person on October 7–9, 2021, at Utah State University. The event is sponsored by USU’s Department of Religious Studies and with thanks to Patrick Mason, the Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture.
This annual event gathers a variety of scholars invested in serious academic study of the Book of Mormon. It has no particular theme but instead invites papers on any subject related to the Book of Mormon from any viable academic angle. This year’s two plenary guests will be Terryl Givens (Maxwell Institute) and Laurie Maffly-Kipp (Washington University). We plan to begin this year’s conference on Thursday evening by participating in the Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lecture offered by Dr. Maffly-Kipp, who will then be involved in a special plenary session the next day at the BoMSA meeting. We anticipate that this adjustment to our traditional schedule will give attendees the opportunity to participate in the Arrington lecture while also creating space for more sociality over the course of the BoMSA conference weekend.
The Department of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University together with the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announce the 2022 Church History Symposium to be held on March 10–11, 2022. The symposium will convene at Brigham Young University on March 10 and at the Assembly Hall in Salt Lake City on March 11. Keynote speakers include Elder Gerrit W. Gong, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Sarah Barringer Gordon, University of Pennsylvania Professor of Constitutional Law and History.
The most recent issue of The Journal of Mormon History (January 2021) includes “’I Dug the Graves’: Isaac Lewis Manning, Joseph Smith, and Racial Connections in Two Latter Day Saint Traditions,” an article by Paul Reeve. One important contribution of this article is information about rates at which adult men in the Latter-day Saint tradition were ordained to priesthood offices up to the early Utah period. Come to find out, in branches of the church, very few men were ordained, and in 1850s Utah ordination was far from universal. Thus the fact that a black man like Isaac Manning doesn’t appear to have been ordained can’t really be evidence for or against any particular race-based approach to ordination. Most Latter-day Saint men during this period appear to have not been ordained.
Many thanks to friend-of-JI Devan Jensen for sending us this job ad!
The BYU Religious Studies Center is hiring a 3/4-time senior editor. Job Title: Senior Editor Job ID: 95960 Contact: Staff/Admin Employment Service Full/Part Time: 3/4 Time The senior editor is expected to maintain professional editing standards in preparing books and articles for publication. The editor will take a leading role in editing and shepherding assigned books or journals (BYU Religious Education Review and Religious Educator) through the production process, from initial copyediting to author review and proofreading.
Essential Functions: Perform copy and content edits at an appropriate level while maintaining editing standards of accuracy, thoroughness, clarity, consistency, and correctness in a timely fashion Coordinate with authors and volume editors as needed Work closely with other editors, administrative staff, production and business supervisor, and designer Supervise editorial student intern(s) Create a style sheet for a given project, applying recommendations in Chicago Manual of Style, RSC, and Church style guides Oversee proofreading of edited material, jacket copy, and press proofs Prepare information for ISBN assignment and CIP data application
Minimum education/experience required: Master’s degree in English, editing and publishing, or related field and 4+ years of editing experience (preferably full time in a publishing house) OR Bachelor’s degree in English, editing and publishing, or related field and 6+ years of editing experience Preferred: Master’s degree in English, editing and publishing, or related field and 4+ years of editing experience preferably in a full-time publishing house.
Skills, abilities, knowledge, licenses, certifications (please indicate whether “required” or “preferred”): Ability to establish rapport and trust with authors, being respectful and limiting oneself to the editing role Skill in applying guidelines in the current Chicago Manual of Style and Church Style Guide for Editors and Writers Proficiency with Latter-day scripture, doctrine, and history Mastery of principles of grammar, usage, and punctuation Excellent composition skills Supervision of student editors Good teamwork Superior communication skills (in-person, written, and virtual) with students, authors, editors, and professionals Superior time-management and organizational abilities Creative problem-solving ability Familiarity with Microsoft Word and Excel programs and a general knowledge of computers as a tool for performing editing tasks Employee Class: 3/4 Time (28 hour)
Work Location: Provo Campus
Environment: General office or other equivalently good environment
Desired Start Date: 04/19/2021
Job Close Date: 03/26/2021
Pay Level: 51
Approximate Starting Salary: $23.80 – $30.91 per hour DOQ
Documents Required at time of Application: Required: Cover Letter, Resume, Letter of Recommendation 1 Optional: Letter of Recommendation 2 Equal Opportunity Employer: m/f/Vets/Disability
The Mormon History Association (MHA) is accepting submissions for a poster session, to be held in the Utah Olympic Park during the 56th annual conference in Park City, Utah, June 10-12, 2021. We welcome proposals that address the conference theme, “Restoration, Reunion, and Resilience,” but all proposals will receive equal consideration. Please visit MHA’S WEBSITE to view the conference call for papers. This poster session offers participants the opportunity to discuss and answer questions about their work in a relatively informal, interactive setting. This format is particularly useful for works-in-progress and for projects with visual and material evidence. Presenters must be MHA members, register for and attend the meeting, and be available for a two-hour poster viewing session and reception during the conference, date and time TBD. MHA will waive the conference registration fee for all student poster presenters.
The submission deadline for poster proposals is April 26, 2021. Notifications of acceptance or rejection will be sent May 1, 2020. Proposals will be evaluated on the persuasiveness of the abstract and the project’s connection to major questions and issues in Mormon history and the conference themes. MHA allows a maximum of four presenters per poster. All posters must be 36 inches x 48 inches. We will provide cardboard, binder clips, and easels for those who request them. Presenters are responsible for all other materials, including the printed poster itself. Accepted posters will be on display for the entirety of the conference. Please send your proposal to mharochester2020@gmail.com. Contact program co-chairs Anne Berryhill or Joseph Stuart at this email address if you have any questions.
Mark Staker on Legacies in Mormon Studies: “Jenny was always generous in sharing her knowledge. She was not only an exceptional educator (who also taught her colleagues along the way), but she…”
Kathy Cardon on Legacies in Mormon Studies: “I worked in the Church's Historical department when Jenny was in the Museum. I always enjoyed our interactions. Reading this article has been a real…”
Don Tate on Legacies in Mormon Studies: “Very well done and richly deserved! I am most proud of Jenny and how far she has come with her life, her scholarship, and her…”
Recent Comments
Mark Staker on Legacies in Mormon Studies: “Jenny was always generous in sharing her knowledge. She was not only an exceptional educator (who also taught her colleagues along the way), but she…”
Gary Bergera on Legacies in Mormon Studies: “Jenny's great. Thanks for posting this.”
Kathy Cardon on Legacies in Mormon Studies: “I worked in the Church's Historical department when Jenny was in the Museum. I always enjoyed our interactions. Reading this article has been a real…”
Don Tate on Legacies in Mormon Studies: “Very well done and richly deserved! I am most proud of Jenny and how far she has come with her life, her scholarship, and her…”
Ben P on Legacies in Mormon Studies: “My favorite former boss and respected current historian!”
Hannah J on Legacies in Mormon Studies: “I really enjoyed this! Going to be thinking about playing the long game for a while. Thanks Amy and Jenny.”