By April 26, 2012
Continuing a semi-tradition I started in January, the release of MHA’s quarterly newsletter seems a good time to catch up on Mormon history-related news. I’m sure I’m missing some things, so feel free to mention them in the comments.
By April 24, 2012
[The following is Jonathan Stapley’s response to Christopher Smith’s post.]
First, I want to thank Christopher Smith for his critical reading of both my ritual adoption article and my article on last rites. His call for increased clarity and finer argumentation in my work is welcome and surely needed. As an example, the bulk of Smith’s comments relate to what I observed to be a declension in Brigham Young’s rhetoric surrounding adoption ritual performance in Utah, and the possible relationship between this declension and the transformative vision of Joseph Smith that Brigham Young received relating to adoption early in 1847. I’m grateful to respond to these comments as well as some particular questions which Smith raised.
By April 24, 2012
[This continues our new series “Responses,” which offers a venue to respond to and discuss recent Mormon scholarship, especially journal articles. We are pleased to have Christopher Smith here respond to two articles authored by Jonathan Stapley last year (found here and here), along with Stapley’s own response (posted tomorrow). Christopher Smith is a PhD candidate in Religions in North America at Claremont Graduate University. He is currently living in Provo while he works on his dissertation on Mormon and American Indian relations during the life of Joseph Smith. At least, that’s what he’s supposed to be working on…]
By April 24, 2012
Many of you may have already seen this, but it is worth repeating for those who either need a reminder or missed the announcement when it first hit the interwebz. As part of the lecture series for the John C. Danforth Center for Religion and Politics, based at the Washington University of St. Louis and ably led by the esteemed scholar R. Marie Griffeth, Laurie Maffly-Kipp delivered a brilliant presentation titled, “The Long Approach to the Mormon Moment: The Building of an American Church.” Maffly-Kipp needs no introduction in these circles–I’m sure we are all fans of her work, and I doubt I need to assure the presentation’s brilliance. But it is indeed brilliant.
By April 23, 2012
I discovered Christopher Lasch in the fall of my first year in a PhD program, when I picked up The World of Nations while standing at a booksale table in front of Georgetown?s library. When I saw a chapter on Mormonism in the table of contents I did a double-take; it seemed odd to me still when I ran into my people in foreign venues. Nonetheless, I took the thing home.
Here is what Christopher Lasch wrote about Mormonism, in what turned out to be a rather scathing review of Robert Flanders?s Nauvoo: Kingdom on the Mississippi and a Mormon-corporate-empire hack expose by Wallace Turner: ?The Mormons are so clearly a pathological symptom that a historian could not address himself to the Mormons, it would seem, without asking himself what sort of society could have produced them.? (Quoted in Miller, 117-118)
By April 22, 2012
In the early 1900s mission presidents addressed the general conference of the Church.
By April 19, 2012
Historian/Writer, Church History Department
Job Description
The Church History Department seeks a full-time historian/writer with the appropriate academic training, research and writing skills to contribute to major writing projects on the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Qualifications.
By April 17, 2012
I was pleased to learn this week that the late Manning Marable’s exhaustive biography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, was awarded this year’s Pulitzer Prize in History. Thoroughly and thoughtfully revisionist, Marable’s account of Malcolm X’s life challenges much of what is presented in The Autobiography of Malcolm X, a now classic piece of 20th century American literature that has popularized a particular view of the Nation of Islam minister and his role in the Civil Rights, Black Muslim, and Pan-African movements. Deconstructing the Autobiography (which was published posthumously and, as Marable highlights, heavily edited by “co-author” Alex Haley), Marable then reconstructs the life of the man born Malcolm Little, utilizing a wealth of primary sources, including letters, diaries, interviews, and even FBI files. It is a fascinating biography and well worth the read for anyone interested in the life of this controversial figure.
It also provides a captivating account of the Nation of Islam’s rise in mid-20th century America. The NOI—a somewhat militant Black Nationalist sect that emerged in Great Depression-era Detroit and Chicago—was founded by the mysterious Wallace D. Fard but grew to national prominence under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad in the mid 20th century, when Malcolm Little converted and quickly rose to prominence as a talented preacher and recruiter. Later, Malcolm grew disillusioned with Muhammad’s leadership and left the NOI. His inability to leave it alone, though, ultimately led to his assassination in February 1965 at the hands of NOI henchmen.
By April 17, 2012
In today’s age, when the internet fosters a close-knit community with immediate access to news and information, reactions to new scholarship come at a blistering speed. Most academic journals are now available in digital form, scholarly organizations maintain frequently updated websites, and the blogging world makes it possible to discuss new ideas and research within minutes after they appear. In past decades, if one were to read an article in, say, Journal of Mormon History and wanted to write a response or rebuttal, the only option would be to write and mail a letter-to-the-editor and, if it’s accepted, wait several months before it appears. While these letters will still play an important role for many journals, their snail-like pace can often be too slow for today’s twitterworld.
By April 16, 2012
[In which I just share some cool findings from today’s research.]
In a religious movement that is rife with enigmatic characters, Edward Tullidge still stands out among his fellow Mormons. Converted to the LDS gospel in his native England in 1848, at the youthful age of nineteen, his contested baptism was only the first of many changes throughout his life, a voyage that included stops in deism, Godbeitism, Josephitism, and, intermittently, renewed commitment to the Utah version of Mormonism. Importantly, he narrated his many faith transitions through essays, newspapers, books, and plays, leaving a fascinating and eclectic corpus of writing–think of him as the Mormon Orestes Brownson. As I am currently working my way through his work as part of a broader project, I thought I would share some excerpts from one stop of his journey: his proselyting mission to New York City in 1866, with the purpose of defending Mormonism in print to the many “gentiles” on the east coast.
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