This position will assist the Church History Library in processing, cataloging, arranging, housing, and indexing Church History Library archival collections in order to assist the Church History Department in its purpose to help God’s children keep and make sacred covenants. Successful applicants will work at the direction of Church History Specialists to create bibliographic records that will assist internal and external researchers in locating and using archival collections.
Every year I look forward to seeing which books will be published (you can read my recap of the best books and articles of 2019 HERE). The list isn’t comprehensive—many books don’t have listings on press websites quite yet. Nevertheless, I hope that I’ve highlighted many of the books Mormon historians are anxiously waiting to have their hands on in the next twelve months (and that you’ll send me information on books I’ve missed!). All quotations are from the Press’s website (when available) and all links are to the publisher’s website (where available).
Historians exist in a world of naming (Mormon Historians doubly so!).1 But, what’s in a name? Historian John O’Malley offers two reflections on this question, one a little naïve and another a little wiser. The first:
“Sometimes very little. A rose still smells as sweet. Even designations for historical phenomena like ‘the Middle Ages’ that were once loaded with prejudices lose them through repeated usage. They become the equivalent of dead metaphors, where the image loses its punch. Is it not further true that all such historical constructs are imperfect, not much more than pointers to what can never be fully grasped by them, impositions on a fluid reality that they can never adequately capture? What difference does it make, then, what we call the Catholic side of the early modern period? Should we not stop worrying about labels, mere terms of convenience, and get on with the real business of history?”2
The Mormon History Association (MHA) is accepting submissions for a poster session, to be held in the Riverside Convention Center Exhibit Hall during the 55th annual conference in Rochester/Palmyra, New York, June 4-7, 2020. We welcome proposals that address the conference theme, “Visions, Restoration, and Movements,” but all proposals will receive equal consideration. Please visit https://mormonhistoryassociation.org/2020-conference 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.
Better Days 2020 is looking for volunteer ambassadors to help share suffrage history at community events throughout Utah in the next year.
2020 will mark the 150th
anniversary of Utah women’s first votes, the 100th anniversary of
the Nineteenth Amendment, and the 55th anniversary of the Voting
Rights Act. Better
Days 2020 is a non-profit founded to commemorate these voting
rights anniversaries in Utah. They’re working statewide to raise the profile of
women in Utah’s history through education, public art, and events.
You can get involved by
giving presentations, sharing information at a booth or table, or volunteering
at events. To become a volunteer ambassador, check out the online
training and sign
up here to indicate your interest and availability.
Better Days 2020 will send you a t-shirt and other materials when you schedule
your first event!
Find more details about becoming a Better Days ambassador here. If have any questions or know of any groups interested in hosting a presentation on Utah’s suffrage history, please contact Katherine Kitterman, Better Days 2020 historical director, at katherine (at) betterdays2020 (dot) org.
Another year, another excellent year for Mormon history and Mormon studies publications! Traditional categories, like biography and primary source collections, continue to see strong publications and newer methodological innovations written within interdisciplinary fields are showcasing their value to the field. While there’s no way to include every single publication, these are the thirty or so that I believe will be most important to the field in the future. What did I get wrong? What did I miss? Let me know in the comments!
Our friends at the John Whitmer Historical Association have published their call for their 2020 conference. You can see the original post HERE.
As pioneers and Zioneers left Nauvoo due to crushing conflict, Restoration groups in newly-created outposts struggled to build communities of worship. Did they create economic stability and refinement, or did they experience strife with competing neighbors? Perhaps the outpost provided a visionary oasis with new doctrine and ritual. How did saints returning to Nauvoo try to negotiate a peaceful existence?
The Church Historian’s Press has released a new George F. Richards (GFR) digital history project that includes transcripts of his journals. This appears similar to the George Q. Cannon diaries CHP project. Currently the website holds transcripts of the first two volumes of GFR’s journals, spanning August 1880 to March 1892. GFR’s journals have been on a short list of documents that I have been interested in for a long time, and I am consequently very excited.
Assist the Global Support and Acquisitions Division (GS&A) of the Church History Department in collecting, preserving, and sharing Church history throughout the world. This is an exciting and unique opportunity for someone interested in pursuing a career in history or library/archival science. We are looking for a motivated, energetic, and organized individual to join our team!
This paid internship is anticipated to last one year (12 months). This position is a part-time (28 hours per week) hourly, nonexempt position. The candidate must be currently enrolled in, or recently graduated from (within the last 12 months), an undergraduate- or graduate-degree program. Preference will be given to history/MLIS students, or those who are English majors working on an editing certificate.
Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought seeks research-based
articles, personal essays, round-table discussions, fiction, art, and poetry on
Indigenous, Native, or First Nations peoples and their place in the Latter-day
Saint (or other Restoration churches) tradition. The submissions will be considered
for a special issue of the journal that will focus on this topic and related
themes.
The Book of Mormon, the foundational scripture of Joseph Smith’s movement, recounts a historical narrative about the origins of peoples in the Americas and the Church’s drive west led to numerous meetings and convergences of Indigenous peoples with diverse peoples/immigrants/migrants. The landscape was then shaped by Mormon and US Government interventions. As the Church spread globally, these encounters continued to be tinged by colonization as a geo-political force. Such encounters and narratives about indigeneity continue to define the present.
We encourage research article submissions to treat such topics as
colonialism and postcolonial studies, historical studies and enthographic
approaches, indigeneity as a category of identity, scriptural narratives, and
theological reflections, among other topics. Personal essays, art, fiction, and
poetry on these topics would ideally also wrestle with legacies of Mormonism’s
relationship to indigenous peoples as well as issues that are of contemporary
concern. We are especially interested in featuring the work of Indigenous
persons.
Questions about submissions may be directed to Taylor Petrey,
editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (dialogueeditor@dialoguejournal.com).
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