Mormon History Association
No. 116	January 2000

Denmark

Conference Details

In the 19^th century, Denmark was Mormonism's most fruitful field for missionary success on the European continent. It is fitting at the beginning of a new century and millennium to reflect upon the European heritage of Mormonism. Historians and history buffs from the Netherlands to Ukraine as well as those from North America and Australia will be some of the 130 presenters and 50 discussants at the conference, 25 June-2 July 2000. Papers will address the introduction of Mormonism into Europe, the story of the emigration to America, and also the continuing story of the Mormons in Europe, where religious freedom continues to be a vital issue. Interest has begun to percolate and 400 will attend.

Bus tours to numerous sites will provide a feel for Denmark's history and culture, and the environment within which the Mormons both thrived and struggled. Planned cultural events include an opening session at Denmark's National Museum of Art and musical performances at cathedrals in Copenhagen and Aalborg. A Swedish pianist will perform Grieg at the presidential banquet and arrangements are being made for Danish folk dancers to perform at the Tivoli Gardens.

Friday will be a bus tour of northern Jutland, the richest area per capita for Mormon conversions during the first two decades of the LDS Scandinavian Mission. The bulk of the papers will be presented on Thurs and Sat. Usually there will be seven concurrent sessions with either two or three papers each, providing a smorgasbord to fit any predilection. Authors will be invited to submit synopses for posting to the MHA web site for those wishing to review the sessions they could not attend and also to facilitate post-conference contact between those with similar interests.

The venerable William Mulder, author of the classic work on Scandinavian Mormon emigration, Homeward to Zion, will participate in two sessions. His book, with a new introduction, will be republished and available in time for the conference. Mulder, Mary Bradford and other outstanding presenters will offer a session on Virginia Sorensen, who established herself as a Newberry Award writer of children's books and became one of the best novelists produced by the Mormon culture. The session is entitled "Virginia Sorensen's Denmark."

MHA has also benefitted from close cooperation with the Center for the Study of New Religious Movements (CESNUR) and its director, Massimo Introvigne. He, Michael Homer, and Jean-Francois Mayer have helped arrange for several influential scholars from Europe to participate. A large contingent of faculty members of Religious Education at BYU and an enthusiastic group of RLDS colleagues will be present. Undergraduate and graduate students will present papers. The conference will be a setting for both the senior and the junior elements from many lands to mingle and contribute their strengths to assure a solid foundation for the future of Mormon studies.

If you know of anyone planning to attend the conference who has not yet signed up, please encourage them to contact Craig and Suzanne Foster immediately in order to ensure accommodations. Additional information will be posted periodically at the MHA web page, http://www.mhahome.org.

Kahlile Mehr

Celebrating Danish Mormon Emigrants Through Art and Paving Stones

Participants in the Denmark conference will experience Scandinavian music and art to help us better appreciate the context within which Mormonism in Northern Europe took root and thrived. Meanwhile, three extraordinary opportunities for additional cultural exchange have arisen.

(1) The North Jutland Museum of Art in Aalborg is seeking to exhibit C. C. A. Christensen's Mormon Panorama during the summer of 2000, with a gala opening of the exhibit for the MHA conference. Christensen, a native of Denmark, painted this series of twenty-two mural-sized scenes from early Mormon history in the 1870s and 1880s. Owned by BYU, the Panorama has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum in New York City and was declared the American art discovery in 1970.

(2) Dennis Smith of Alpine, Utah, will have two sculptures unveiled in Denmark in early July 2000. Both represent the approximately 18,000 Mormon emigrants from Denmark. One will be a focal point of Denmark's annual American Independence Day celebration at Rebild National Park, near Aalborg; the other will be in Copenhagen near the harbor location from which the

emigrants actually embarked. These will be presented as gifts from America to Denmark.

The museum in Aalborg and the Rebild Society have each committed substantial investments to support these events, but much additional funding is required. This is where a third opportunity to remember the emigrants comes in.

(3) Paving stones identifying individual Danish Mormon emigrants will be permanently placed near the base of the Dennis Smith sculptures. For a donation of $500 from an individual or an extended family, an emigrant ancestor's name, home town in Denmark, and date of emigration will be carved into one of these stones. In some cases, there will be space on the pavers

for the names of two who emigrated together. Regardless of whether you will be visiting Denmark next year, if you or your family are interested in memorializing ancestors or other emigrants in this way and at the same time supporting these outstanding events with a tax-free

donation, please contact "Denmark 2000," A-41 ASB, Provo, Utah 84602 or visit the web site http://www.denmark2000.org. In view of the relatively short time left to gather donations, your timely support will be greatly appreciated.

Richard Jensen

MHA News

Upcoming Meetings

At the fall council meeting, MHA officers decided to hold the 2003 meeting in Cleveland, OH. This will be an opportunity to return to the Midwest where many RLDS MHA members live and a chance to be near the Kirtland Temple.

Upcoming MHA meetings will be in 2000-Denmark

2001-Cedar City, UT

2002-Tucson, AZ

2003-Cleveland, OH

We are always looking for other places to hold MHA meetings. If you have ideas, please let the executive secretaries know. By the way, if you can make the initial contact with a hotel or conference facility, that helps a lot. You could ask the facility to submit a bid. Where would you like to go with Mormon historians?

Nominations for Officers

The nominating committee has completed its work. The slate for this year is Dean May, President-Elect and Richard L. Jensen and Greg Christofferson for council. (See statements at the end of the newsletter.) According to MHA bylaws, MHA members may also nominate candidates for these positions. If you are interested in nominating someone, you must have a written letter of acceptance from the proposed candidate (who must be a member of MHA) and the signatures of five MHA members. Nominations should be mailed to the executive secretaries, Craig and Suzanne Foster,

2470 North 1000 West, Layton, UT 84041, no later than 1 March 2000.

Membership Renewal

You should have received your notice to renew your membership in the mail. If you did not, contact the Fosters. Please pay your dues promptly so that you can continue to receive all the MHA mailings and so the organization has funds! As you renew your membership, remember MHA gifts also make great presents anytime of the year!

You also received a proposed change to the MHA bylaws. Please return the ballot to the Fosters. The council is looking for your input on whether the MHA council represent the membership and how to make sure that happens.

A Few Good Editors...

The Journal of Mormon History is looking for a few good editors and/or proofreaders. No experience necessary (hands-on training a specialty), but editors must be able to edit electronically with MS-DOS. (No computer is necessary for proofreading.)

Please contact Lavina Fielding Anderson, (801) 467-1617, lavina@utw.com for more information.

Announcements

Reese Award

Entries are being accepted for the annual William G. and Winifred F. Reese Memorial Award. The $500 recognition of achievement will be given to the person completing or publishing the best doctoral dissertation or master's thesis in the field of Mormon history in 1999. Manuscripts should be submitted by 1 Feb 2000 to the Smith Institute, 127 KMB, BYU, Provo, UT 84602. These will not be returned to the author.

This year's award, based upon material completed or published in 1999, will be presented at the Denmark meeting.

Summer Fellowships

Applications are now being accepted by the Smith Institute at BYU for six summer fellowships that will involve research on the cultural context of the Restoration during the lifetime of Joseph Smith. Applicants should be LDS advanced undergraduate or graduate students who are familiar with Latter-day Saint doctrine and scriptures and have some comprehension of early Latter-day Saint history. Recipients will work full-time in Provo from 12 June to 4 August 2000 under the direction of Richard Bushman. The fellowship carries a stipend of $2,500 and a housing allowance for those who require it. Applications may be obtained from the Smith Institute (127 KMB, BYU, Provo, UT 84602; 8010378-4023; jfsi@byu.edu) and must be submitted by 11 February 2000.

Upcoming Conferences

"The Joseph F. Smith Era: The LDS Church Meets the Twentieth Century, 1900-1920"

The Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History is sponsoring a one-day symposium on Saturday, 18 Mar 2000, on the Joseph F. Smith era. It will be held on the BYU campus and is open to the public.

The Institute anticipates that a General Authority will serve as the keynote speaker. Representative topics and papers include: Dale F. Beecher on Mormon settlements in the twentieth century; Reed L. Neilson on the opening of the Japanese Mission; Richard E. Bennett on James E. Talmage and WWII; Brian Q. Cannon on the presidential election of 1912; Jessie L. Embry on the Relief Society grain storage program; Warner P. Woodworth on Joseph F. Smith's humanitarian legacy; Clyde D. Ford on John A. Widtsoe's scientific philosophy; Duane E. Jeffery on Joseph F. Smith's attitudes toward science; Audrey M. Godfrey on Joseph F. Smith's vision for LDS women; Bruce Van Orden on Joseph F. Smith's prophetic sermons; Kenneth W. Godfrey on Charles W. Penrose's contributions to church history and doctrine; Matthew Godfrey on Charles W. Nibley's business dealings; David Hall on the Relief Society women in the Joseph F. Smith era; William G. Hartley on ward teaching; Jeffery O. Johnson on Evan Stephens and the Tabernacle Choir; Jan Shipps on the public image of the Church; Gary Smith on Joseph F. Smith and Patriarch John Smith; Richard I. Kimball on the Church and outdoor recreation; Alan K. Parrish on Joseph F. Smith and John A. Widtsoe reaching the young men through The Improvement Era; John P. Livingstone on Joseph F. Smith and the media; Paul Peterson on prohibition and the Word of Wisdom; Joseph B. Romney on the 1912 exodus from the Mormon colonies in Mexico; Lu Ann F. Snyder on the correspondence between Abraham O. Woodruff and his wives Helen May Winters Woodruff and Avery Clark Woodruff. For more information, contact the Smith Institute,(127 KMB, BYU, Provo, UT 84602; 8010378-4023; jfsi@byu.edu.

Member News

Thomas G. Alexander received an award of merit for his service to the field of Western history and to the Western History Association at the 1999 WHA annual meeting in Portland, OR.

The Arrington-Prucha Award named for Leonard J. Arrington and Father Francis Prucha, both past presidents of the Western History Association, will be awarded each year for the best eassy of the year on religious history in the West. The award is funded by the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at BYU.

Howard A. Christy received the new Arrington-Prucha Award for "Weather, Disaster, and Responsibility: An Eassy on the Willie and Martin Handcart Story," published in BYU Studies 37:1(1997-98):6-74 at the 1999 WHA annual meeting.

Valeen Tippetts Avery won the prestigious Evans Biography Award administered by the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies at USU for her biography of David Hyrum Smith. She also won the JWHA best book award.

Christin Croft Mackay and Lachland Mackay won the JWHA best article award for their piece on the Kirtland Temple which appeared in the 1998 JWHA Journal.

Book Notices

An American Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith. Heidi S. Swinton (SLC: Shadow Mountain, 1999. 160 pp., $39.95)

Best Loved Stories of the LDS People, Vol. 2. Jay A Parry, Jack M. Lyon and Linda Ririe Gundry, comp. (SLC: Deseret Book, 1999. 453 pp., $24.95)

Covered Wagon Women: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 1864-1868 (Vol. 9) Kenneth L. Holmes, ed. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999. 256 pp., $13.00)

Fawn McKay Brodie: A Biographer's Life. Newell G. Bringhurst(Normon: U of OK Press, 1999. 350 pp., $29.95)

In the Strength of the Lord: The Life and Teachings of James E. Faust. James P. Bell (SLC: Deseret Book, 1999. 424 pp., $22.95)

Joseph F. Smith: Portrait of a Prophet. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel(SLC: Bookcraft, 1999. 176 pp., $19.95)

Mormon America: The Power and the Promise. Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling (San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1999. 454 pp., $26.00)

Nothing More Heroic: The Story of the First Missionaries in India. R. Lanier Britsch (SLC: Deseret Book, 1999. 320 pp., $22.95)

Sacred Places, New York and Pennsylvania: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites. LaMar C. Berrett, ed. (SLC: Bookcraft, 1999. 432 pp., $24.95)

The Journals of George Q. Cannon, Vol. 1. George Q. Cannon, Adrian W. Cannon, Richard E. Turley, Michael Landon (SLC: Deseret Book, 1999. 187pp., $29.95)

The Latter-day Saint Century. Richard O. Cowan (SLC: Bookcraft, 1999. 512 pp., $29.95)

The Prophets Have Spoken (Vol. 1-3 and Index) Eric D. Bateman, comp. (SLC: Deseret Book, 1999. 3,000 pp., $129.95)

The Trial of Don Pedro Leon Lujan: The Attack Against Indian Slavery and Mexican Traders in Utah. Sondra Jones (SLC: U of UT Press, 2000. 172 pp., $27.50)

What E'er Thou Art Act Well Thy Part: The Missionary Diaries of David O. McKay. Stan Larson and Patricia Larson, eds. (SLC: Blue Ribbon Books, 1999. 352 pp.,$24.95)

Doug Cahoon

Selected Periodical Articles

Arrington, Leonard J., "'Doing to Learn': Idaho Future Farmers in the 1930's," Idaho Yesterdays43:2(summer 1999): 25-31.

Arrington, Leonard J. and Edward Leo Lyman, "The Mormon Church and Nevada Gold Mines," Nevada Historical Society Quarterly 4:3 (fall 1998): 191-205.

Beecher, Maureen Ursenbach, "Leonard J. Arrington: Reflections on a Humble Walk," Dialogue 32:1 (spring 1999): 1-5.

Bosanko, Bill and Laurel Hawkins, "Uncle Ben Black: A Faithful Healer," Blue Mountain Shadows 21 (summer 1999): 4-10.

Christensen, Scott R., "Seuhubeogoi: What Cache Valley Meant to the Shoshone," Pioneer (autumn 1999): 16-19.

Compton, Todd, "In Sacred Loneliness--An Introduction and Some RLDS Portraits," JWHA Journal 19 (1999): 62-78.

Embry, Jessie L., "Historic Buildings and Preservation: LDS and RLDS Traditions,"JWHA Journal 19 (1999): 95-110.

Farnsworth, Janet Webb, "Jacob Hamblin's Wives," Old West 36: 2 (winter 1999): 47-51.

Gutjahr, Paul, "The Golden Bible in the Bible's Golden Age: The Book of Mormon and Antebellum Print Culture,"ATQ [American Transcendental Quarterly] 12:4 (Dec 1998): 275-93.

Hettinger, Glen J., "Hard Day for Professor Midgley: An Essay for Fawn McKay Brodie," Dialogue 32: 1 (spring 1999): 91-101.

Huber, Donald L., "The Prophet Joseph in Ohio," Timeline 16:6 (Nov-Dec 1999): 2-17.

Jones, Sondra, "'Redeeming' the Indian: The Enslavement of Indian Children in New Mexico and Utah," Utah Historical Quarterly 67:3 (summer 1999): 220-41.

Landeros, Rodrigo and David Littel, "Reminiscences of Ray Hunt," Blue Mountain Shadows 21 (summer 1999): 44-68.

Mower, Michael L., "'That We Take All the Saints With Us': The Perpetual Emigration Fund," Pioneer (autumn 1999): 4-9.

Paulson, Jean R., "Samuel W. Taylor: Talented Native Son,"Utah Historical Quarterly 67:3 (summer 1999): 265-84.

Smith, Gregory, "Why Didn't You Go West, John Smith?" JWHA Journal 19 (1999): 79-94.

Taylor, Samuel W., "The Hanging of the Hodge Brothers," Journal of Latter Day Saint History 12 (2000): 27-35.

Warren, Steve, "Albert R. Lyman: The Story Teller," Blue Mountain Shadows 21 (summer 1999): 15-21.

Warthen, Lee, "History ofSunstone, Chapter 1: The Scott Kenney Years, Summer 1974-June 1978," Sunstone 22: 2 (June 1999): 48-61.

Wilson, Joni, "Emma's Enduring Compassion: A Personal Reflection," JWHA Journal 19 (1999): 43-61.

Woodger, Mary Jane, "Early Social Influences on the Formation of David O. McKay's Educational Ideas and Practices: 1870-1890,"Encyclia 74 (1997): 209-29.

Mel Bashore

Conference Reports

MHA Meets CSA in St. George. An enthusiastic contingent of top MHA scholars participated with nearly one hundred members of the Communal Studies Association at their annual conference in St. George, Utah, on September 23-25, 1999. The Communal Studies Association, like the MHA, holds its annual conferences at historically important sites and encourages a diversity of approaches to its topic--past and present experiments in close-knit, cooperative, and communal living in groups ranging from the 19th-century Shakers, Owenites, and Mormons to communes from the 1960s, the Israeli kibbutzim, and other on-going groups today. The Mormon United Order movement, Utah pioneer heritage, and community formation received special attention at the St. George conference from Mormon scholars such as Martha Sonntag Bradley, Doug Alder, Dean May, Jill Mulvay Derr, Eric Eliason, Ken Driggs, Craig Foster, Janet Seegmiller, Mario De Pillis, and Will Bagley. A conference highlight was a tour of the contemporary polygamous community at Colorado City.

MHA members are encouraged to submit paper proposals on Mormon or other topics for next year's CSA conference 28-30 Sept 28-30 2000, at the historic Ephrata community in Pennsylvania, to Dr. Donald Durnbaugh/Juniata College/P.O. Box 948/ Huntingdon, PA 16652, durnbaughd@juniata.edu, no later than April 1, 2000. A special focus of that conference will be on the relationship between leadership and the creation of distinctive family and communal structures for living.

Larry Foster

RLDS members and friends joined together in a unique Heritage Day Hymn Festival Sunday evening, 19 Sept 1999, at 6:45 P.M. (CST), sponsored by the RLDS First Presidency's at The Temple in Independence, Missouri. The festival featured hymns of historical significance allowing celebrants to gather and sing of the good news of the gospel as depicted by the words and music of an earlier day. World Church Historian Mark Scherer's stirring narration provided an appropriate historical context for each hymn and acknowledged important contributions of Saints in former days. Viewers across North America participated in the Heritage Day Hymn Festival via satellite broadcast, as Jack Ergo directed the gathered congregation as one large choir, accompanied by Temple organist Janet Kraybill and a brass ensemble. A historical hymnal display, courtesy of Church Librarian Sue McDonald, was available to attendees in the Temple foyer. The inclusion of Church heritage images from the Church Archives enriched the broadcast experience for remote viewers. The event proved memorable. Gordon Conk, a satellite viewer responded, "It was well received by everyone in attendance for the broadcast. The programs and music were downloaded from the Church web page, printed and distributed to each person. We were fully part of the congregation. We appreciate your support in making it possible." This positive reception is a reflection on the quality of support by Festival planners and the Church's Electronic Media staff.

Ron Romig

The 1999 JWHA annual meeting at Camp Doniphan was a "reunion" in many ways. First, it was held at a RLDS reunion site. I went with great fear about the facilities, but those disappeared. The lodge was very comfortable; I did not hear anyone complain about the "dorm" rooms. The meals was good; the session rooms adequate. I even learned a little RLDS reunion folklore. There was always a jar of peanut butter and packets of jam and honey for those who got hungry between meals. And being set out in the middle of nowhere provided opportunities for quiet walks around the lake and into the woods.

Second, it was a reunion because JWHA (and MHA) members that we have not seen for awhile spoke. I feared that Grant McMurray had gone completely serious on us, but it was great to see he still has the delightful sense of humor that he had before the "mantle" fell on him. Richard Howard also came out of his Florida retirement to give the Sterling McMurrin lecture. Seeing him and Barbara brought back a flood of fond memories.

Grant introduced Dick, and Dick introduced Grant, both providing lots of laugh. Dick poked fun at Grant's love of the new technology, describing Grant's onboard computer and the "hot air" we could expect since he hit the wrong button to print, caused an accident, and released the air bag. Grant, on the other hand, explained how Dick could not give up his quill pen because it worked so well to scratch his back.

Finally, it was a reunion because it always fun to see friends and make new ones at JWHA. The conference is just small enough that there is time to visit with almost everyone. There were informative papers including several by students and lots of good visiting. You should try out the JWHA meeting sometime. Next year's meeting will be the last weekend in Sept in Independence.

Jessie Embry

"Dissent and Apostasy in Mormonism" was a panel drawing a large audience at the Oct 1999Western History AssociationConference in Portland. Thomas G. Alexander's paper "William E. McLellin and the Independent Restorationist Tendency in Early Mormonism" compared McLellin's views when he first left the church and when he was much older, revealing a range in the views of the early followers of Joseph Smith and offering "a glimpse into the operation of the human mind in reenvisioning and reconstructing the past." In her paper "Dissent and Apostasy in Modern Mormonism," Jan Shipps concluded that the increasing number of intellectuals excommunicated in the late twentieth century has resulted in large part from the church's instituting the Correlation program. This program ensures that "Mormonism will be essentially the same wherever it is," enforcing conformity throughout the world and among "those born with Mormon DNA." In their comments, Ferenc M. Szasz put Mormonism's experience into the context of dissent within other religious traditions, while Newell G. Bringhurst pointed out that both McLellin's apostasy and recent dissent were "reaction to an increasingly centralized, authoritarian Mormonism."

Kathy Daines

Seven MHA members participated in the Quincy History Symposium held in Quincy, IL, on 5-6 Nov 1999. The meeting was held in connection with the 160^thanniversary commemorating the arrival of the Mormons in Quincy following their expulsion from Missouri during the winter and spring of 1839. The symposium was organized by Loren and Annette Burton, Public Affairs missionaries for the LDS Church. More than three hundred people, representing a number of civic, religious, and local community groups, were in attendance. Susan Easton Black, professor of Church History and Doctrine at BYU gave the keynote address, entitled "Quincy-A City of Refuge." During the opening session, William G. Hartley, MHA president-elect, presented Quincy Mayor Charles W. (Chuck) Scholtz with MHA's Thomas L. Kane award in recognition of his efforts to recognize the history and contributions made by the Mormons in Quincy and the surrounding area. Significantly, MHA's recognition of Mayor Sholtz received front-page billing in the 6 Nov. issue of theQuincy Herald-Whig. MHA members Bill Hartley, from the Smith Institute; and Richard E. Bennett, Larry C. Porter, Fred E. Woods, Richard O. Cowan, and Alexander L. Baugh, from the Department of Church History and Doctrine at BYU also delivered papers. Several of the papers delivered by the MHA participants dealing primarily with Mormon history will be published in the winter issue ofMormon Historical Studies (formerly The Nauvoo Journal). Additional plans are underway to try to have all the papers included in a future book compilation

Alex Baugh

Nominees

President-Elect, Dean May

I am honored to be nominated as President-elect of the Mormon History Association. I might even be qualified. Born in Wyoming, raised in Idaho, missioned in California, and for 25 years now residenced in SLC, I've been immersed in most of the Mormon heartland and touched much of its domain. Still, it is fair to say that until my wife, Cheryll and I moved to SLC in 1974, I was a provincial, born and raised at the very fringes of Mormonland.

On hot June days, thinning row upon row of sugar beets, one eye glued to the western sky, hoping for even a wisp of a comforting cloud, I doubt that my boyish thoughts touched on communalism, hierarchies, or patterns of authority. They didn't need to. In the provincial world of western Idaho Mormons of the 1950s all these were givens. They were part of my life; like the day the whole Star Branch showed up to help us get our sugar beets out before frost; or the excitement and fun of stake quarterly conferences in Nampa, where despite being occasionally AWOL from the afternoon sessions, (mentally, if not physically), we youth were keenly aware of the dignity of the visiting general authority, and listened to his counsel, in those days often and direct.

My understanding of what those experiences meant was enhanced when as an undergraduate at BYU I took a church history course from Gustive O. Larsen, and a Utah history course from Eugene Campbell, plus memorable and valuable courses from Richard L. Bushman, Van L. Perkins, and Hugh Nibley. I had taken beginning language training in Paris and Berlin between my junior and senior years at BYU, and returned to Germany after my graduation to attend the University of Cologne as a Fulbright student. My graduate years at Harvard and Brown were a time of intense focus on US history, Medieval English history, and the history of economic thought. I worked most closely with historians Ernest R. May, Frank Freidel, John L. Thomas, Gordon Wood, Barry D. Karl and James T. Patterson. I especially enjoyed being a teaching assistant to Brown Professor John L. Thomas in his renowned two semester course in American Social History. My dissertation was a study of the Recession of 1937 as a cultural crisis for the New Deal, published in 1983 by Garland Press as From New Deal to New Economics: The American Liberal Response to the Recession of 1937. I of course took during these years every course in the history of the American West and Utah history offered by Harvard and Brown, and, as a hobby, read extensively in the surprisingly rich collection of Mormon materials at

Harvard. In exploring the history of the Saints in Boston I found the first Mormon meeting hall in Boston (#82 Commercial Street, then a decrepit waterfront warehouse, now a chic condo near Long Wharf) which led me and a close friend, architect John L. Hammond, to do an article for the Ensign, my first publication in Mormon history.

In 1973 Leonard Arrington was the guest speaker at our Boston Stake Education week. Prompted, I suspect, by Richard L. Bushman, he attended a talk I gave and later invited me to join the history division staff of the Church Historical Department. Cheryll and I and our infant son Tim left a dark and clammy Boston in December 1973, to find SLC bright and cheery, as if there were no world fuel crisis. It seemed a good omen. Leonard, James B. Allen, Davis Bitton and their remarkable staff welcomed me warmly and provided countless opportunities to learn and grow as scholar and historian under their tutelage. It was an extraordinary time that I will always be grateful to have been a part of. The work I did there with Leonard on Building the City of God has had a profound effect in shaping my scholarly and personal perspective on the purposes and fundamental meaning of the Restoration. It was there that I met Jan Shipps, who has been a loyal friend and colleague and from whom I have learned much. In 1977 the U of Utah was making plans to found a center to encourage scholarly use of the LDS Family History library records. On the same day, that summer of 1977, I received my appointment as founding director of the Center for Historical Population Studies, assistant professor of history, and bishop of the Emerson II Ward in Salt Lake City's Sugarhouse area. Long hoping to find an academic teaching position, I "left the church" as people then said, and began to teach at the U, where I have been since that time. My Idaho youth and my post-graduate training in quantitative methods led me closer to social history, especially rural studies, family, and demographic history which I developed further. This interest led to many article length studies and finally to Three Frontiers: Family, Land and Society in the American West, published by Cambridge University Press in 1994. I consider this book my magnum opus as a social historian. Its publication led to my promotion to Full Professorship in 1994.

My sense that the life blood of historical study is the interest thousands of non-professionals have in their roots has been a consistent preoccupation. It led me to serve willingly for twelve years on the Board of State History, part of them as chair, and to a deep appreciation for the understanding all people have of their own past. These convictions made me jump at the opportunity to help in the production of the twenty-part video series A People's History of Utah between 1981 and 1988. The series was produced by Instructional Media Services at the U of U, with major support from the Utah Humanities Council, other foundations, and from KUED, Channel 7. It has been shown regularly each year since its completion and its companion book, Utah: A People's History is in its third printing. Fred Esplin, Helen Lacey, Scott Iverson, and Kirk Strickland were all of major importance in the project, the former two as producers, the latter two as directors of the twenty programs. In 1995 I was given the opportunity to produce Utah Remembers, a seven part series for Larry H. Miller and KJZZ, Channel 14. This series took the people's history concept a significant step further. It consisted of interviews with some 50 Utahns from all walks of life, woven into seven programs, each a mosaic of ordinary people on camera telling of their family's coming to Utah, the hard times they endured, the good times, making a living, family life, and the forming of ties to this land. Utah Remembers is a true folk history, rich in its evocation of the human side of Utah's past. I am enormously proud of having been a part of its production and grateful to Larry Miller for making it possible.

I must admit I do not at this time have a hard agenda for changes I would like to see in MHA. It seems to me the very able people who have given countless hours over the years building and sustaining our society have taught us correct principles, and now all we have to do pretty much, is to govern as they have taught us. History at its best tells a good story. But it is more than that. It is the story of how we got from point A to point B. It is the study of the process of change in the human past. It involves a careful, thoughtful encounter with thousands of bits of evidence, a critical evaluation of each source and document, and then a shaping of a tiny portion of that harvest, those sources that eloquently summarize the greater body of evidence, into a concise, coherent whole. We as historians perform a god-like act, stepping back to contemplate the chaos of detritus from past time and make of it order. We are attempting to discern in all that confusion patterns of coherence, and continuity that help us better understand the human condition and move with confidence into the future. It is no small burden to be speakers for the dead. Still, despite decades of professional training and experience, I must say that what I learned in life, growing up in the Mormon provinces, thinning sugar beets, giving two-and-a-half minute talks, and milking cows, does much to shape my interests and my understanding of our common heritage. That is why I would earnestly encourage us to retain and reach out even more to the thousands of people who find satisfaction and even joy in their study and remembrance of the Mormon past. My decades in MHA have been as enriched by the ordinary people who love to learn of and study Mormon history as by the professional historians from whom I have learned so much. That distinctive, mutually enriching blending of the folk and the professional I would wish to see expanded and perpetuated in the new century of MHA.

Council Members

Richard L. Jensen

Richard L. Jensen is research associate professor of church history at the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History, BYU, where he serves as associate director of research. His career in Mormon history began in 1972 when he joined Leonard Arrington's "Camelot" crew. He was book review editor for Journal of Mormon History, 1991-1998, and served on the Board of Directors of the John Whitmer Historical Association, 1991-93. He is currently co-chair (with Carol Cornwall Madsen) of the program committee for MHA's annual meeting in 2000 in Denmark. He has published numerous articles on Mormon history, co-edited Mormons in Early Victorian Britain with Malcolm R. Thorp, and co-authored C. C. A. Christensen (1831-1912): Mormon Immigrant Artist with Richard G. Oman. Jensen wants to help MHA expand its involvement of, and interaction with, students, scholars, and other potentially interested individuals worldwide. He would appreciate suggestions to that end, which can be e-mailed ( jensenr@byu.edu).

Greg Christofferson

My background is perhaps different from most others in our organization. I am not a professional historian nor associated with a particular university (except as a BYU Alumni). I am a businessman who lives in Southern California. I do not recall a time when I have not had an enthusiasm for Mormon History. This has led me to collect over a period of years original documents and books relating to Mormon history. I joined MHA several years ago and have enjoyed attending our annual meetings. I have presented papers at three conferences. In the fall of 1997, the Journal of Mormon History published an article I wrote on the economic history of a Western Canadian flour milling company, which I understand was the first economic history to be published in JMH. I am honored to be nominated to the Board. I feel I can bring a fresh perspective to the MHA Board and contribute to its ongoing success.