JIers at #MHA2016

As early-bird registration for #MHA2016 wraps up this Saturday, May 7, I thought it would be useful to highlight what our authors will speak about at this year’s conference.

In alphabetical order:

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Breastfeeding Beaver Kittens

A few years ago at the annual meeting of the Mormon History Association, I asked a question about how Mormons viewed Native American polygamy and sexuality. The answer from the panel was that very little work had been done on that area. I meant to answer that question in my dissertation but ended up shelving it. This semester, as I was revising my dissertation into a book manuscript, I decided to spend a significant amount of time reading nineteenth-century Utah newspapers in order to determine whether or not the practice of Mormon polygamy changed how Mormons viewed Native American sexuality.

I’m not done with that bit of research yet, but as I was working on it, I came upon this fascinating piece of evidence.

On May 9, 1884, The Salt Lake City Herald published an article called Beaver Kittens, which spent a great deal of time discussing the lives and habits of baby beavers. Contained with the article was the following paragraph, which accuses Native American women of breastfeeding beavers:

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A Gift Given, A Gift Gone Underground: Thoughts on April 28, 2016

March 2004

I attend a LDS Homemaking Meeting and bring a book that I am reading with me. It is an older volume on the teachings of Joseph Smith. I share a quote that has left me perplexed:

Respecting the female laying on hands, he further remark?d, there could be no devil in it if God gave his sanction by healing? that there could be no more sin in any female laying hands on the sick than in wetting the face with water? that it is no sin for anybody to do it that has faith, or if the sick has faith to be heal?d by the administration

Nobody has ever heard of this before. None of us know how to make sense of it. I leave unsatisfied, with more questions than answers.

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Call for Submissions: Helen Z. Papanikolas Award for Best Student Paper on Utah Women’s History

Helen Z. Papanikolas Award for

Best Student Paper on Utah Women’s History

Utah State History sponsors the Papanikolas Award to encourage new scholarly research in the area of Utah women’s history at colleges and universities.  The award is named for Helen Z. Papanikolas (1917-2004), a former member of the Utah State Board of History who was most noted for her research and writing on Utah and ethnic history, but also wrote fiction, as well as women’s history.

Helen Z. Papanikolas

Submission Guidelines

• Papers must address some historical aspect of women’s lives in Utah.
• The author must be enrolled at a college or university.
• Papers need not be published.
• Papers should include original research that includes primary sources.  The paper must be footnoted.
• Papers should not be more than 50 pages long.
• Papers must be received by May 15, 2016.
• Please call or E-mail us on May 16, 2016 if you have not heard directly from us that we received your paper.

The winner receives a monetary award as well as being honored at Utah State History’s annual meeting held September 30, 2016 in Salt Lake City.

Submit papers to:

Linda Thatcher

(801) 534-0911

thatcher0911@msn.com

Instagram: The Lived Religion of General Conference (PHOTOS GALORE!)

While watching the LDS General Conference this weekend I consulted Instagram for inspiration regarding breakfast choices. While I searched the #ldconf hashtag, my mind turned to the ways that historians and cultural analyze Mormonism, both now and in the future. All photos are in the public domain from Instagram.com. If anyone would like their photo removed, please contact me immediately.

RITUAL

Much of Mormon ritual is found in their Sunday services and temple liturgy, including the Sacrament and the performance of temple ordinances. However, Sunday morning sessions of General Conference are affectionately known in some quarters as “Pajama Church.” Because there is no need to dress up, families celebrate by staying in their pajamas. Photos documenting this trend on Instagram often show entire families on the couch together in their pjs, spending time together. This informal ritual speaks volumes about Mormon families and the ways that Mormons envision worship experiences.

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Mormonism in the Academy: Teaching, Scholarship, & Faith A Scholars’ Colloquium in Honor of Richard L. Bushman

If you are in Utah this June after MHA, friends and colleagues of Richard Bushman are meeting to honor him and his work on Mormonism within the Academy. Dr. Bushman has been a friend, mentor, adviser, and role model to all those that study Mormonism in its religious and historic contexts. The schedule for the Colloquium can be found below.

You can see the schedule and original press release at the Maxwell Institute’s Website.

Mormonism in the Academy: Teaching, Scholarship, & Faith

A Scholars’ Colloquium in Honor of Richard L. Bushman

Brigham Young University
June 17-18, 2016

Dr. Richard Bushman

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From the Archives: CR 11 175, ordination of the first Relief Society general presidency

At the recent history symposium focusing on women in Mormon History, the director of the LDS Church History Library announced a new research aid entitled ?Women in Church History.? Among the various highlighted documents was a link to CR 11 175, Relief Society record, 1880-1892. This caught my eye because it has been restricted in the past and closed to research, though some researchers have been granted access. I?m always grateful for wider access to historical documents such as these, and this one in particular is important. Thanks to the dedicated staff and administrators at the CHL for their ongoing work.

As it is the anniversary of the founding of Relief Society, I thought it would be fun to reproduce from this document the ordinations of the first General Presidency. May it ever increase. [Note that this is a first pass transcription, you can verify it yourself if you would like]

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Modest is Hottest: Beyond Amish Romance Novels?

Valerie Weaver-Zercher’s 2013 book, Thrill of the Chaste: The Allure of Amish Romance Novels unpacks the popularity of Amish romance novels among evangelical women. Although often dismissed as escapist fiction, women’s fiction, fluff lit, or all of the above, Weaver-Zercher argues that evangelical women turn to Amish romance novels for a variety of reasons, many of which have to do with the hypermodern and hypersexual world in which readers live.

This post isn’t about that, however. Rather, my interest was piqued by a footnote, in which the author catalogues writers who are writing similar stories, but in different settings. You have your Amish romance novels, but also your Mennonite, and Shaker, and Quaker romance novels. And to my surprise, apparently also Mormon romance novels.

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Beyond Biography: Sources in Context for Mormon Women’s History

BYU and the LDS Church History Library are hosting a conference this Thursday and Friday entitled, “Beyond Biography: Sources in Context for Mormon Women’s History.” The conference looks to be a major step forward for Mormon history by engaging Mormon Women’s history through a number of methodologies. There is no registration fee–if you’re in Utah you will want to be at the BYU or LDS Conference Center!

R. Marie Griffith and Julie B. Beck will deliver the plenary addresses.

JI-er presentations can be found below. You can view the rest of the schedule here.

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Applications for The Marlin K. Jensen Scholar and Artist in Residence Program (Due April 15, 2016)

Another announcement from our friends at the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah:

The Marlin K. Jensen Scholar and Artist in Residence Program

Program Launch: Spring, 2017.

The Tanner Humanities Center on the University of Utah is proud to announce a fellowship in the name of Marlin K. Jensen. Our Marlin K. Jensen Scholar and Artist in Residence Program will host prominent scholars with expertise in Mormon Studies or renowned artists who explore the relationship between faith and art in their work.

Marlin Keith Jensen was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), serving as the official Church Historian and Recorder from 2005 to 2012. During his tenure, Jensen worked to professionalize the Church’s History Department, give it international range, make its holdings more accessible to researchers, and publish primary materials. Jensen was made an emeritus general authority in 2012. Currently, he practices law in Salt Lake City and is a member of the Utah State Board of Regents.

The fellowship will consist of a semester-long residency. Each scholar will:

• Teach a class for University of Utah students
• Serve as a research or artistic mentor
• Offer public lectures or performances
• Contribute to Mormon Studies curriculum planning and program development

Nominees are asked to submit:

1. A CV
2. A one page course description for a Mormon Studies class
3. The names of two recommenders

Please submit the above by April 15, 2016.

The successful candidate will have an office in the Tanner Humanities Center and be part of the Center’s fellow community. In addition, the position offers an honorarium of $50,000.

Please send your application material to Bob Goldberg, Center Director and Professor of History, University of Utah, at bob.goldberg@utah.edu