John Turner, assistant professor of history at the University of South Alabama and contributing editor at the Religion and American History blog, asked me to post the following for him. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. (more…)

“The history of our persecutions is unparalleled in the history of past ages.”[1] So argued George A. Smith, leader and historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on July 24, 1852 in Utah territory, five years after the Latter-day Saints left their homes in the Midwest and settled in the Great Basin. Smith, like most other Americans, of course ignored the history of oppression of Native Americans and slaves of African descent. For Smith, the only history of persecution that mattered in this context was that of biblical prophets, the early Christians, and all true followers of Christ. What made the nineteenth-century persecutions of the Latter-day Saints “unparalleled” in Smith’s argument was that they had (more…)

I’m happy to be blogging for JI on a more permanent basis. I have always enjoyed being a token “model-minority” in Mormon country:)

I thought it might be interesting to post some the words of Japanese Americans used when dealing with Mormonism. Some of these quotations come from oral interviews and probably represent the Nikkei’s long-standing relationship with the the area’s dominant religion as well as their perceptions of history, while the other addresses how Japanese American ethnicity and Mormonism interacted historically. If you like this first set of sources, maybe I’ll do a post with more of them. (more…)

Bit by bit, the Juvenile Instructor is diversifying. We now have a female permablogger (Heidi), two permas that wish they were Latinos (David and Chris), a Latino that was raised to be more white than Latino (Jared, hehe), two permas that wish they were black (Stan and Jordan), a member of AARP (SC), a young kid with the hairline of an AARP member (Ben), and now an Asian American…Joel.

In all seriousness, we are happy to announce that Joel has agreed to remain with us. He’s a fine young scholar that brings a new and fascinating perspective to our discussions here at the JI. Let’s welcome Joel.

Ok, not the most original title for a blog entry about Reed Smoot, but anyway…On February 22, 2008, Mike Paulos, editor of The Mormon Church on Trial: Transcripts of the the Reed Smoot Hearings and Harvard Heath, editor of In The World: The Diaries of Reed Smoot spoke at Benchmark Books on what has been recognized as one of the pivotal moments for Mormonism’s 20th Century transition (and a pivotal individual). Again, a special thanks to Brent Brizzi for his laborious and well done transcription. [I’ve left in the incidentals this time…it’s just part of the experience]:

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In 1841, apostle John Taylor traveled to the Isle of Man, a small island situated in the middle of the Irish Sea, in between Ireland and England.  He there introduced the gospel to the Cannon family (his in-laws), as well as other future prominent Mormon families, including the Quayles and the Cowleys.[1]  Taylor encountered fierce opposition from the primarily Methodist clergy he encountered in the Isle of Man, as well as from the Manx press.  The following excerpt comes from a letter to the editor of Mona’s Herald in April 1841.  This satirical piece of poetry purports to represent the Mormon message being spread by Elder Taylor. (more…)

The Juvenile Instructor is happy to present here a lecture by Robert Millet given at a book signing at Benchmark Books in October of 2007. We want to recognize our friend Brent Brizzi for his painstaking work of recording and transcribing the lecture. In addition to this one, Brent has provided us with transcripts of additional lectures given at Benchmark Books in the recent past which he has in the past distributed, and has been gracious enough to make available to our blog. This lecture and accompanying Q&A session is quite lengthy, but there are a number of gems here. I have edited it only slightly for incidental content [bathroom directions, etc]. Enjoy:

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I have been trying to figure out how to summarize some of my findings about the way that Mormon identity affected Japanese Americans in Utah and Idaho during World War II for this post, but I have been having some trouble extracting the Mormon aspect of the story from the greater argument while still maintaining nuance and a grasp of the larger picture. Thus, I have decided to focus in on Mike Masaoka as both an emblematic and exceptional example of the way that Mormon identity interacted with Japanese American identity in Utah. Most of the narrative I am going to present represents my reading of his somewhat presumptuously titled, They Call Me Moses Masaoka and much comes from a chapter entitled “Moses in Mormonland.” Because the process of autobiographical writing inherently involves the construction and reconstruction of memory, I mostly use this narrative as an example of how a prominent Mormon Nikkei wanted to frame his and others’ experiences with Mormons. [1] (more…)

Jon W. over at Banner, Sword, and Shield has a post about a fun website that gauges a blog’s reading level (Jon got it from Emily at Mormon Times). Here’s what I get when I type in a few of my favorite blogs:

Juvenile Instructor: College (Postgrad) Genius (more…)

For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed singing hymns. In high school I sang in the ward and stake choirs. As a missionary I tried to sing at every appointment. In the years since my mission, I have gone nearly every Sunday to a local retirement center to sing to the residents there. As I sing I always like to let my eyes wander to the bottom of the page to see who wrote the song and when. I’ve always found it fascinating that many of the hymns in our hymnbook were not written by Mormons, but rather come from Protestant writers. For me at least, making this realization has always (more…)

Graduate school provides rare opportunities to find obscure references to Mormonism in texts one would otherwise never think to look at.  These sources often provide interesting insights, usually alongside flawed analysis.  Constance Rourke’s American Humor: A Study of the National Character is one such source. (more…)

I recieved the following this morning:

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From H-Religion: 

The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis will sponsor a conference entitled:

“Mormons and American Life”

Saturday, April 12, 2008 (more…)

As I have been reading massive amounts of books on American History in preparation for my first PhD Comprehensive exam, I have started to ponder about the ways which historians have examined Mormonism as part of larger narrative in American History, Western History, the History of American Religion, or the History of Religion in general. I was reading through Battle Cry of Freedom the other day and was surprised to find that McPherson placed Joseph Smith and Mormonism into his narrative as part of the Western expansion that preceded the Civil War. His coverage isn’t extensive, but he does track the Mormons from New York to Ohio to Missouri and then to Salt Lake City. [1] (more…)

In 1874, Brigham Young assigned Daniel Webster Jones, Mormon convert and noted rescuer of the ill-fated Willie Handcart Company of 1856, to lead a group of missionaries into Mexico–the first expedition to that country by the Latter-day Saints.[1] At the time of this call, Young explained to Jones “that he would like to have some extracts from the Book of Mormon translated to send to the people of Mexico,” and asked Jones and Henry Brizzee to begin the translation. (more…)

In 1892, as the Jubilee Celebration of the Relief Society approached, Elvira S. Barney authored an article in the Woman’s Exponent entitled “Fifty Years Past, and One Hundred Years Hence.”  (more…)

After having shared some of my personal connections to the story of Japanese Americans in Utah and Idaho and to set up a future post about my own research which looks at the experience through the eyes of these racialized “others,” I thought it might be nice to summarize one of my favorite articles by Leonard Arrington.[1] Although it looks like someone is giving a paper at the next MHA conference on this topic, Arrington’s essay represents one of the only attempts by a historian to explain how the World War II internment of Japanese Americans affected Utah and how the unique dynamics of Mormonism affected Utah’s relationship to these Nikkei.[2]
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Dear readers, the Juvenile Instructor has been nominated for three Niblets (the ‘nacle equivalent of the Oscars, etc.). Here are the categories:

Best Blog

Best Big Blog

Best New Blog

 The competition is intense in each category, so please vote for us!

This is just a note to point interested readers in the direction of the latest issue of Mormon Historical Studies which contains, among other wonders, a candid and fascinating interview with Thomas Alexander (conducted by former Alexander student David Hall). Even for those of us fortunate enough to count Tom as a mentor, there is plenty of material here that he hasn’t spoken much about before. Check it out.

I am currently trying to situate Joseph Smith within the larger American romantic movement, and am hoping for some help. While there are a lot of similarities between Smith and the likes of Emerson, I also agree with Clark in believing that these similarities can be easily overstated (see here and here). While both hoped to collapse the distance between the sacred and the profane, I just can’t get over Joseph’s institutional thought. To me, while they both wanted to bring people into the presence of God, Emerson focused on self-reliance and nature while Joseph utilized the priesthood. It seems like for the early Mormons romanticism merely serv (more…)

The historian of American history loves to quote Tocqueville, and the historian of U.S. religious history is no different. Even historians of Mormonism find him helpful.[1] Yet what place does Tocqueville’s work have in helping us understand early nineteenth century American religion? (more…)

This morning, Elder Oaks presided at a Family and Church History Department meeting at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square where it was announced that the department will be split into The Family History Department and the Church History Department.  Elder Marlin K. Jensen will remain as Church Historian and Recorder.  Richard Turley was released as managing director of the Family and Church History Department and is now the Assistant Church Historian and Recorder.  These changes have been immediately effective with the split occuring in April. 

More details should be forthcoming as they are made available.  I think I speak for a great deal of people when I say that I have a great appreciation and admiration for both Elder Jensen and Richard Turley, and I am very happy they will be serving (continuing to serve) in these capacities. 

Before I get into the meat of my first post, I would like to offer a few explanations for offering up a bit of personal and family history. First, I feel like it is essential for a historian to reveal his own positionality so that readers can understand the context for the rest of his work. Second, many of my motives for becoming a historian and much of my work involve a search to understand my own identity. And finally, I think that Mormon historicity has more connection to the self and family than other types of historical inquiry. (more…)

In recent months we’ve had our threads improved upon by the comments of Joel, a fellow academic in training. He’s accepted our invitation to spend some time with us and share some of his insights. Incidently, this past week Joel served as a commentator on the JI’s Stanley Thayne’s paper given at a conference on sexuality and gender (although Stan’s paper was on a celibate twentieth-century female prophet, his session also contained papers on transgenderism). Anyway, here is Joel’s autobiographical act:

Although I was born outside the Jello belt in Cortez, Colorado, my family’s ancestral home has always been in Rexburg, Idaho where my parents continue to live to this day. I served in the Trujillo, Peru Mission and spent four months in Cajamarca near the plaza where Pizarro infamously encountered the Incan leader Atahualpa. I have a B.S. in History from BYU-Idaho and an MA from USU. My Masters thesis explored the lives of (more…)

Thanks to BHodges for taking the time to transcribe Bushman’s talk and provide footnotes. Enjoy!

“Rough Stone Rolling and the Intellectual Prospects for Mormonism”

Richard L. Bushman
Weber State University, Ogden, Utah
March 5, 2008

Well it’s wonderful to be back at Weber State, it’s getting to be habit. I spoke here two years ago and gave a commencement address when Paul Nelson was President so every year I get an invitation to the commencement asking for my measurements for the cap and gown and I feel like I’m really part of the community here. We’re now in Californ (more…)

In addition to the annual conference of the Mormon History Association coming up in May (discussed by Justin at Mormon Wasp here), other notable conference dealing with Mormon Studies are scheduled for this Spring.  For those interested, here is a brief rundown of those conferences: (more…)

If you are looking for a post that explores the rich theological possibilities of theodicy, this post is not it. While I find the topic interesting, I don’t want to address the questions associated with it here. Rather, I want to use the topic of theodicy as a starting point for a discussion on how we use Joseph’s teachings. (more…)

Such, more or less, was Darius Gray’s summary of his initial reaction to the 1978 revelation.

Today was the Ogden screening of Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons. I along with Christopher, Ben, and our female companions drove up from Provo to support Margaret and Darius. Margaret told us afterward that we couldn’t use such words as amazing or incredible to describe this documentary, but such words do indeed fit. But I’ll humor her and give a more substantial response to the film. (more…)

In reading through Phil Barlow’s ground breaking work on Mormons and the Bible, I came across this soundbite from page xvii of the introduction:

If God works through imperfect human beings, one danger among others is that human, culturally defined allegiances and perceptions will displace God’s work.  Whether or not one is a believer, the good faith attempt to critically examine human tendencies ought not induce defensiveness.  The historical task can and should be essentially a constructive work for humanity, possibly having as one of his positive goals the distinguishing of moral, spiritual, and intellectual wheat from chaff.

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In hopes of living up to the recent declaration that the Juvenile Instructor is a “big LDS blog,” we’re pleased to announce that Jordan W. will be joining the team here at JI as a permablogger.  Jordan’s posts as a guest blogger were well received (well, mostly well received, see comment #11!!!!!!!), and we look forward to his future contributions. Please help us welcome Jordan as the newest full-time blogger at the Juvenile Instructor.

The First Presidency of the Latter-day Saint Church has never made a direct statement in response to Darwin, his book, or his theory of evolution. Yet, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the church did respond indirectly. Less formally, certain leaders openly attacked Darwin’s ideas, while other church officials and lay members disliked transmutation but contemplated other forms of evolution. Various personalities and their corresponding works exemplify these responses. (more…)