This is continued from the previous PPP post. As with the other, this is a only a preliminary set of observations and explorations. With that disclaimer, we join Parley P. Pratt in Los Angeles, California in June, 1851. (more…)

A few minutes ago I was reading a Talking Points Memo article on the guy who took an AR-15 rifle to an Obama event earlier this month. Apparently Chris Broughton attends a fundamentalist Baptist church whose pastor Steven Anderson has prayed that Obama die and go to hell, sentiments that Broughton shares. (more…)

As we continue to get settled into our new apartment, and as I continue to unpack books (where on earth did I get so many books?), I came across a box that contained primarily devotional writings by Latter-day Saint leaders, including two or three compilations of Eza Taft Benson’s religio-political writings and speeches. (more…)

BHodges tipped me off recently to a notice on the University of Utah Religious Studies site about an informal conversation on Religious and Mormon Studies. Intrigued, I emailed around and was able to find out some more information. (more…)

Well, here is my modest and somewhat impromptu contribution to this most excellent series. Pratt’s Autobiography offers the reader some interesting perspectives about his views on race and native populations. This great series inspired me to dust off my copy of the Autobiography and give a brief look at how Pratt deals with these issues on his Chilean Mission. For time and other constraints, I have not done the extensive reading or thought that this topic merits, but I offer the following, very preliminary, observations as food for thought. (more…)

If you read the current heading to Section 39 of the Doctrine & Covenants, you will learn of one James Covill, a prospective convert to Joseph Smith’s nascent Church of Christ “who had been a Baptist minister for about forty years” at the time the revelation was given in 1831. (more…)

I.
First, definitions.

(And already, you know this will be long.)

(more…)

Yesterday the newest issue of the Journal of Mormon History arrived in my mailbox. This is the first JMH issued under the editorship of Martha Taysom. This issue’s cover departs from that of nearly the last twenty years of past issues, replacing the “abstraction of the window tracery, Salt Lake City Tenth Ward” with a section from the front page of a Finnish newspaper depicting Brigham Young (though the cover description of the window tracery remains along side the actual cover description) and trades the two-toned color scheme for a solid color. Unfortunately, the volume and issue number have been omitted from the spine, which may annoy bibliophiles, collectors, and possibly even some researchers. Perhaps this was done for space since the font is significantly larger on the spine than in past issues. Hopefully this is an oversight and the volume/issue designation will return. (more…)

We all have different stories. And we all have different stories that led us here, reading the same blog post on Juvenile Instructor!  Some of you have chosen to jot these stories down in one form or another and, thankfully, so did many of your nineteenth-century ancestors.

Life writings—autobiographies, biographies, diaries, and correspondence—captured the Victorian imagination and came to the foreground of public and private life as never before. Published autobiographies and biographies were among the best sellers of the nineteenth century. (more…)

Please welcome our new guest blogger.

Brittany has an MA in Victorian Studies from the University of Leicester (U.K.) and BA in Humanities from BYU. She takes special interest in nineteenth-century life writings (diaries, autobiographies, correspondence) and Utah women’s history. Brittany is currently editing the life writings of Ruth May Fox, which will be published by the University of Utah Press in 2010. She works at the LDS Church History Library in Salt Lake City and likes to do fun stuff–especially if it involves the outdoors, travel, literature, and being with friends and fam. And Red Robin hamburgers.

I’m looking to fill a few panels for some conferences in 2010. If you are interested in participating, please email me at mormonhistory1830[at]yahoo.com.

1) I’m looking for a panelist for the 2010 Western History Association Conference (See the Call For Papers here). I am proposing a paper on native Mexicans (Mormons and not) in the Mormon Colonies of Chihuahua, Mexico in the 19th century. A second panelist is proposing a paper on Pancho Villa and the Mormon Colonies.  A third panelist would ideally deal with some aspect of Mormonism in the US-Mexico borderlands, the Mormon Colonies, or Mormons and some other western context (the theme of the Conference is “Many Wests” which invites studies of international and non-traditional “wests”).  This request is time critical as proposals are due September 1. (more…)

In 1898 the Improvement Era introduced a three-page description of suttee with the following explanation:

In years past the Latter-day Saints were frequently referred to the suppression of the SUTTEE in India by act of the British Parliament, as a precedent and justification of certain congressional enactments…. [W]e thought perhaps a description…would be of interest to our readers. [1]

They weren’t kidding about the “frequently.” (more…)

Three years ago here at Claremont Graduate University (CA) we formed an LDS student group, the Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association (CMSSA). The group consists of (mostly) graduate students studying in and around the Claremont area who are interested in Mormon studies, but mainly serves as an extension of the Mormon Studies program in the School of Religion at CGU. (more…)

A year ago, almost to the day, I found myself discussing my masters’ thesis on the role of memory and persecution in shaping Mormon identity during the 1840s and 1850s with Mary Richards, a professor of history at BYU. She mentioned wryly that she enjoyed my thesis a great deal, but that she had noted my heavy reliance on the writings of Parley P. Pratt. She suggested in a joking way that perhaps I should change my title to “Parley Pratt’s Memory of Persecution.” I laughed along with her, but defended myself by saying that Pratt had written far more about the persecutions than anyone else. Historian Ken Winn agrees with me, arguing in his Exiles in a Land of Liberty that Pratt was the foremost Mormon commentator on the Missouri conflict (147). (more…)

Session on Mormon Book Publishing [As always, this is not a transcript, but my imperfect, typed notes of the session which I have reworked for readability and does not presume to accurately represent the totality of the conversation.]

[Jana Riess] I came to publishing through grad school, if you think of the amount of people in academic programs and how many jobs are in academics, the extra has to go somewhere. I’m one of those. I worked for publishers weekly, book review editor. During the course of that decade, every religion book published in N. America came to my house, that was a great experience, to see what was going on in publishing across the board, major presses, evangelical publishers, small publishers. (more…)

In my spare moments this summer, I returned to Pratt’s Autobiography just to see what would strike me. Probably because of my continuing work on Mormon theodicy, my interest in the changing Mormon conceptions of evil and the accompanying shift in apotropaic ritual, I was most interested in several passages dealing with Pratt’s view of evil in the world. (more…)

Moving onward, ever onward, through the simile and metaphor zoo, we arrive at Bos primigenius, “civilization’s most important animal,” the cow. [1] Mormonism’s pre-eminent bovine octet first lumbered across a public screen in 1969 when Johnny Lingo used them to buy a bride, perpetuate his culture’s patriarchal commodification of women, and teach us that if we’re nice and/or Machiavellian enough we’ll get a hot wife. Or something. [2] Fittingly for a Mormon-produced film, plurality dominated the plot. (more…)

I was at the Church History Library and inadvertently struck gold as I picked up a pamphlet at the desk.  I say gold because I’m in an ongoing effort to preserve my family history and these lectures seem like a great opportunity to get ideas and direction in this from professional archivists and conservators from the Church History Library and the Church History Museum. Here is the Schedule: (more…)

Here are my notes from Dennis Horne’s presentation. As always, these are imcomplete notes and not a complete transcript.

(more…)

After salivating over Mystic Pizza and briefly, very briefly, missing Connecticut, I flipped to KBYU for a little late-night telethon watching. I was pleased to have my appetite whetted again. The fare was a documentary miniseries called Road to Zion: Travels in Church History, France. (more…)

[Yet another post in the Perspectives on Parley Pratt's Autobiography series. Joe recently received a MLS degree from San Jose State University, but has decided to turn from the practical back to the abstract and will be applying to PhD programs in philosophy this fall. He is active in the Society of Mormon Philosophy and Theology, Mormon Scholars in the Humanities, and the Mormon Theology Seminar, and is well-known in the bloggernacle for his Priesthood/RS lesson posts over at Feast Upon the Word blog. Joe is married with a  handful of kids, and his only flaw is his belief that continental philosophy can solve all the world's problems.]

Parley P. Pratt is still well known for his poetry, didactic and pedestrian as it often enough is. (more…)

On August 6, 2009, I attended two sessions from Bret Eborn’s 2nd annual book event. It was a small affair, under 30 people when I was there.  Here are notes from Brent Ashworth and Harvard Heath on the McLellin manuscript (I’ll put up notes from the second session I attended next week):

Brent Ashworth

I’ve been honored to have the assistance of Harvard Heath to put this journal into context, we have the beginnings of that, once we have the complete text roughed out, I will say as preparing for this, my first goal was to try to avoid talking about Hoffman, but it’s impossible to do that.  (more…)

Here are some notes from Ron Barney’s presentation and that of Robert White. I would encourage everyone to read these notes, especially from White’s talk. There is a lot there to digest including jabs at the “Sunshine” symposium and other things. As always, these are notes and are not a complete transcript. Official proceedings including transcripts and MP3s will be made available at the FAIR official site. Please see their site for full proceedings. (more…)

As reported first by Ardis at Keepapitchinin, Ron Romig, MHA President and recently displaced Community of Christ archivist, has been appointed as the new site director for the Kirtland Temple. From Ardis: (more…)

[This is another installment of the Perspectives on Parley Pratt's Autobiography series. BiV is a legend around the 'nacle, blogging at Hieing to Kolob and Mormon Matters, and a common contributor to JI.]

Searching the Parley P. Pratt autobiography for clues about his love and marital experiences is a fascinating enterprise, both because of what he includes, and what he purposely leaves out. (more…)

I went back home to South Texas in May. You’ll get tired of hearing about it eventually, but for now, I want to just share something that came out in an interview I conducted. A sister told me that many people cannot go to the temple even though they are worthy. I was confused. She said that it is because many brothers and sisters are illegal immigrants. She continued by explaining that they don’t want to risk being picked up at the Border Patrol checkpoint. (more…)

[This is the fourth post in the Perspectives on Parley Pratt's Autobiography series. Adriane Rodrigues Coelho was baptized nearly 23 years ago. She is married to Ricardo Choairy Coelho and they have four children. She received her B.A. degree in English Language and Literature from Faculdade de Letras, of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil, in 2000. After working for 15 years as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language for primary students in her country, she dedicated herself to her graduate program. In 2006 she received her M.A. degree from the same University. Her thesis Ordinary Accounts of Extraordinary Value: Mormon Pioneer Women’s Life Writings was a pioneering effort on Mormon Studies in Brazil. During the Summer Seminar on the Pratts, she wrote "Parley Pratt's Ready Pen and Satire." Her future projects include further research in the field.]

Parley Pratt’s high command of the English Language as well of the use of some of his notable literary skills are even expanded in chapters 33 and 34 when he describes his runaway from prison in Missouri. (more…)

Just in my email is a notice about a forthcoming publication from Eborn Books. In January the Deseret News had a story about a newly discovered William McLellin manuscript that had been previously known and subsequently lost.  Brent Ashworth, the owner of the manuscript has made it available for publication through Eborn Books with Harvard Heath as editor.  Details are slim, I don’t know of any set title or timetable for publication, but Brent Ashworth will be presenting on the manuscript this Thursday at the 2nd Annual Eborn Book Event. I will be going back and forth between the Eborn Book Event and the FAIR conference Thursday and will provide notes from selected presentations from each including Brent’s presentation. (more…)

In my effort to understand Mormons’ cultural position by studying names applied to them, I recently encountered an unfamiliar epithet:

Bluebeard asks for a seat in the Senate. He stands with one hand locking the door of his chamber of horrors, and with the other he knocks for admission to the supreme legislative assembly of the foremost Christian republic of all time….

How large is the territory over which the Mormon Bluebeard exercises sway? …[two paragraphs describing the Great Basin] …The American Bluebeard rules over the American Potosi. [1]

The flower genus Caryopteris goes colloquially by “bluebeard” (See Figure 1: C. incana). So far as I know, however, no one compared Mormons to vicious flowers. The name “Bluebeard” comes from a French fairy-tale, “La Barbe-bleue [The Blue-beard],” that Charles Perrault published in 1697. [2] In the story, a young woman marries a rich nobleman despite his cerulean whiskers, which make him “frightful and ugly.” [3] Afterwards, he gives her all the keys, forbids her to enter one particular room, and leaves on (supposed) business. Then, as later made into a nursery rhyme (!) (more…)