Dowdle, Brett D., Adam H. Petty, J. Chase Kirkham, Elizabeth A. Kuehn, David W. Grua, and Matthew C. Godfrey, eds. Documents, Volume 15: 16 May–28 June 1844. Vol. 15 of the Documents series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Matthew C. Godfrey, R. Eric Smith, and Ronald K. Esplin. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2023.

It’s not every day that two Latter-day Saint apostles participate in a press conference attended by historians. This past June 27, Elders Garrett A. Gong and David A. Bednar spoke to a group of scholars as a part of the publication of the last Joseph Smith Papers Project volume. Elder Kyle S. McKay, the Church Historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, introduced them and acknowledged the presence of Gail Miller and Kim Wilson, whose generous funding made the Smith Papers financially possible. McKay shared that all documents in the Project were written by Joseph Smith or under his direction. Helpfully, he also called for anyone with knowledge of other documents to submit them to the Church History Department so that they might be included on the JSPP website. Before turning the time to the apostles, McKay shared that “no other modern religious leader” has their papers made available with such thoroughness. That’s certainly true of churches and their publishing arms.

Elder Gong noted that the final print volume of the JSP had employed 617 people, and published 27 volumes across 5 series—and each volume without redaction. The JSP team contains more than seven million words and thousands of footnotes. This “open, honest, meticulous research” is unprecedented in terms of church publications and scholarly projects (and their overlap). He promised this would be the beginning of recognizing the Papers’ importance, not the end. Elder Bednar noted that the press conference was taking place 179 years to the day when Joseph Smith was assassinated. He emphasized that anyone who thought the Latter-day Saint Prophet’s founding prophet’s death would be the death knell of Mormonism was sadly mistaken. It was only the beginning. And, hinting at other projects, Bednar noted that those who thought the Smith Papers signaled an end to scholarship that “ain’t seen nothing yet.”

The historians that worked on D15 each spoke to an aspect of the volume they found valuable or provided insight. David Grua called attention to the legal definitions of what constituted a “public nuisance” when Joseph Smith called for the Nauvoo Expositor’s destruction. Adam Petty spoke to the significance of Joseph Smith declaring martial law in the leadup to his murder. Chase Kirkham spoke to a letter that Joseph Smith wrote to Israel Daniel Rupp on June 5, 1844, which shared that each religion should tell its own history.

Elizabeth Kuehn’s insights were fascinating to me. She addressed Joseph Smith’s worries about going to Carthage, IL, knowing that violence was likely. He had no plans for where to go or how. And it seemed that Emma Smith was considering fleeing Nauvoo with him. Brett Dowdle shared information on the Willard Richards account of the Smith Brothers’ murder written by Willard Richards. 

The historians also answered questions. My question to the scholars was the same one I’ve asked for nearly a dozen of these events. What more do we know about Emma Hale Smith as a result of the Joseph Smith Papers? Kuehn noted her previous comments on the possibility of Emma Smith accompanying Joseph Smith in fleeing from Nauvoo. She added that Vilate Kimball said that Joseph Smith tasked Stephen Markham to get his family to safety, which may be a string for a historian of post-Joseph Smith historians to pull. 

Some day I hope to write a longform piece on the significance of the JSP. Until then, let me know: what does the JSPP represent to you?