We at the Juvenile Instructor proudly welcome Robin Jensen—one of the foremost experts of Joseph Smith’s revelatory texts, rising star in the Mormon studies community, and all-around good guy—as a full-time contributor. This is how Robin introduces himself:

Robin Jensen is project archivist for The Joseph Smith Papers and helped edit the first two volumes in the Revelations and Translations series (published 2009 and 2011, respectively). In 2005 he earned an MA degree in American history from Brigham Young University, and in 2009 he earned a second MA in library and information science with an archival concentration from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He is now pursuing a PhD in history at the University of Utah. His first MA thesis explored the initial Strangite proselytizing effort and his second MA thesis explored the sacred record-keeping practices of early Mormonism. He believes that there is nothing better than the smell of old documents in the morning.

While obvious, it should bear mentioning that any posts/comments by Robin are not endorsed by the Joseph Smith Papers or the Church History Library.

I am especially lucky to count Rob as a collaborator and one of my good friends. As everyone who is familiar with his work already knows, we are all in for a treat with his blog contributions.

(I’ve closely followed Mormon history for only six years, but the previous twelve months were, by far, the strongest year in Mormon historical studies that I’ve seen yet. As always, JI is the place to be for looking at past and present scholarship in Mormon history. Besides the following recap of the 2011 year, Jared T’s perennially exhaustive “Recently Released and Forthcoming” list will appear later this week. Also make sure to check out Stapley’s Christmas Book Guide here.)

Continuing a tradition from the last two years, this post will give a quick run down of what I thought were important articles and books in Mormon history from the past twelve months. I like this format because it not only allows discussion of different media of publication, but it also encourages us to contemplate broader themes that are currently “hot” in Mormon historiography. (more…)

From Patrick Mason:

At the January 2012 meeting of the American Society for Church History, I’ll be on a panel called “Teaching Mormonism in a Digital Age.” In my comments I’ll be considering the impact of the “bloggernacle” on Mormon studies, specifically in regard to the current generation of graduate students. I have designed the following questionnaire to get a better handle on why people read Mormon blogs and what they get out of them. The questionnaire is for any graduate student, full or part time, LDS or non-LDS, in any academic field. The informed consent form on the first page will explain more, or you can contact me at patrick.mason@cgu.edu with any questions. Thanks for participating.

The link to survey is found here.

Though they haven’t held a “bloggernacle event” or “virtual launch” yet, the Joseph Smith Papers just released the most recent addition to their foundational series. Journals, Volume 2 (1841-1843) covers the first half of Smith’s Nauvoo journals, and includes many great gems that will help future researchers of this important period in Mormon history. While there is much to cover in the actual journals—I’ll leave that to J Stapley, who I hope will do another excellent review of the overall text like he’s done for the other volumes—I just want to comment on a single section of the introduction; in fact, only about seven pages of the introduction. (more…)

The Church History and Doctrine Department at BYU’s School of Religious Education seeks applicants for two new faculty positions. The first will teach world religions—a booming topic at BYU, I hear—and the second will focus on the more traditional curriculum of the department, preferably with a PhD in history.

Applications for these positions are to be completed online, and are found through this link.

[Part I on the importance of narrative is found here. Also, see Blair's review of Harline's book at BCC yesterday, which gives an excellent overview of the book's narrative(s).]

Craig Harline, professor of history at Brigham Young University and noted Reformation scholar, has long been noted as a skilled author whose prose and approach reach a much broader audience than is typical for academic books. Whether it’s a Reformation archbishop, a seventeenth century nun, or a comprehensive history of Sunday, Harline is widely respected for making historical stories accessible for general readers.

But while finishing his book on conversion in seventeenth-century Europe—focusing on a family whose father was a Protestant minister, whose son was a convert to Catholicism, and how they balanced these tough issues of tolerance—Harline considered ways to make the book more relevant to contemporary readers. He narrates how he came to this conclusion in the epilogue to the book: during a chance meeting with some family friends at a local restaurant, he learned about their college-age daughter’s recent choices and the grief and disappointment it brought to their close-knit family. Trying to bring comfort to the troubled parents, Harline shared the story and lessons of his current book-in-progress. Satisfied with the (albeit limited) relief that this brought, he felt justified in his desire to use his book “to show explicitly how the distant past could possibly have meaning in the present, and vice versa.” History, he concluded, was too often seen as “something mostly suitable for school, or hobbyists, something to be discussed recreationally..rather than as something that might inform present experience” (269-272). Hoping to reverse this trend, and hoping to better reach people an audience like his friends with the wayward child, Harline re-envisioned the overall framework and methodology of what is now published as Conversions: Two Family Stories from the Reformation and Modern America (Yale UP, 2011). (more…)

Last month, at the end of a nearly month-long east-coast research trip, I had the privilege of attended a splendid graduate-student conference hosted by the University of Pennsylvania’s McNeil Center for Early American Studies, titled “The Power of Stories: Authority and Narrative in Early America.”[1] The weekend was filled with spectacular papers, wonderful networking, and I came away invigorated and excited to dig into my own dissertation research. But, not surprisingly, the most provoking paper of the conference was the plenary presentation given by respected Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore. Her paper, “Telling Histories: Or, What Narrative Does,” poses important questions to American scholars in general, and may be of similar importance to practitioners of Mormon studies. (more…)

For a book project I am currently working on, I recently revisited Ron Walker’s Wayward Saints: The Godbeites and Brigham Young (which you can download for free here). I had glanced through the book years ago, but it never really made that big of an impression. However, this time through it struck me as a phenomenal volume. Not only is it full of nuance, sophistication, and exhaustive research, but it is better written than a majority of Mormon history books I’ve read. It made me better appreciate Leonard Arrington’s description of Walker as the “best writer” in Mormon studies.

This got me thinking: what other books do we sometimes overlook in the field? Wayward Saints, for instance, only received one vote in a recent survey here on JI, and I failed to include it on my list of the “Mormon History Canon.” (I would probably add it were I to try the list over again.) Some other books that come to mind: (more…)

From our good friend Rachel Cope:

The Department of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University is hosting a talk titled, “Prophet of Doom, Apostle of Hope: Slavery, Marriage and an Antebellum Search for Authority,” by visiting Scholar David Holland on Thursday, Sept 29, at 7:00 pm. It will be held in W111 Benson. All are invited to attend.

Holland’s recent book, Sacred Borders has received great praise, both from the ‘nacle and the broader academic community. Holland, who teaches history at UNLV, is a rising young scholar in American intellectual, religious, and cultural history. He is also the dissertation advisor of (at least in spirit) JI contributor Jordan Watkins. His (somewhat dated) C.V. is found here.

I hope it gets good attendance, and I wish I could attend!

CALL FOR PAPERS
CHURCH HISTORY SYMPOSIUM
JOSEPH F. SMITH ERA
MARCH 2–3, 2012

Jointly sponsored by the Department of Church History and Doctrine of Brigham Young University and the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Joseph F. Smith, the sixth President of the Church and the last to have personally known the Prophet Joseph Smith, served for 52 years as a General Authority, including as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as a counselor to four Church Presidents, and as President of the Church from 1901 to 1918. Joseph F. Smith’s tenure as Church President was a key transitional period in Church history. We invite paper proposals that consider the life, teachings, and family of Joseph F. Smith and the social, political, religious, and historical developments during his tenure as President. (more…)

[What follows are the final six responses from Terryl Givens and Matthew Grow on their recent volume, Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011). Part I can be found here. We wish to sincerely thank Terryl and Matt for participating and offering such insightful answers.]

7. From David G: “Historians often separate “the Joseph Smith era” (1820-1844/47) from the “territorial period” (1844/47-1890). Does Pratt’s life problematize this periodization scheme? Stated differently, does looking at Pratt reveal more continuity or change after JS’s death (at least in the Brighamite group)?”

All periodization schemes are inherently problematic. I think that Pratt could be used to support either argument—either continuity or change between the Joseph Smith era and the territorial period. Pratt and the other apostles saw themselves as faithful inheritors of the legacy of Joseph Smith and they sought to extend what they understood as his legacy (including activities from missionary work to plural marriage). Some discontinuities which Pratt’s life highlights includes a decline in doctrinal innovation after Joseph Smith’s death, the establishment of plural marriage as an open system, the turn of missionary work towards the Pacific (including Pratt’s mission to Chile and his supervision of missionary work in California, Hawaii, and other Pacific islands), and an eventual decline in the rich print culture of early Mormonism (Parley’s writing dropped off after the migration to Utah, with the major exception of his Key to the Science of Theology). (more…)

[We are honored that Terryl Givens and Matthew Grow have agreed to participate in this Q&A about their recent volume, Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011). These questions are a composite of those solicited in a previous thread. Part I includes the first six responses; Part II, which will be posted tomorrow, includes the last six.]

1. First, let’s start with the book’s subtitle: “The Apostle Paul of Mormonism.” One of the reasons for this descriptor, you write in the introduction, was that Pratt helped systematize and popularize Mormonism’s beliefs. Could you elaborate more on this? How has Pratt’s influence lasted long since his death, even after many of his theological tracts are forgotten?

We may not read Pratt’s tracts today, but they gave shape to many core Mormon doctrines directly and indirectly. His views on spirit birth influenced Orson, who was quoted by Young, who has been quoted by prophets and primary songs ever since. He was first to formulate many of the Articles of Faith in rough form. He boldly taught theosis six years before Joseph Smith’s King Follett sermon, and we describe other such examples in the biography. His works were considered on a par with the standard works by the 19th century church, were studied in Utah Sunday Schools generations before the Book of Mormon was, and were Mormonism’s most widely used proselytizing texts all the way into the 20th century. (more…)

In order for the “Mormon Moment” (however you define it) to be successful, there must be able explicators. In the last half-dozen years, there have been few better faces of Mormonism than Richard Bushman. (See, for instance, the recent write-up here.) Whether the topic is Joseph Smith, religious fanaticism, or even the “Book of Mormon” musical, Bushman has been a go-to voice for reporters, and his insights are often poignant and insightful. He is the perfect blend of approachability, reasonable credentials (many of the highest academic awards, prestigious chair at an Ivy League institution), and brilliance. What makes him so likable in the public sphere is not just what he says, but how he says it.

Importantly, that is also one of the things that makes him so likable in academia. (more…)

This past week, the long-overdue biography of Parley P. Pratt was finally delivered. And boy was it delivered. Authored by two of the top stars in Mormon history, Terryl Givens (personal website here) and Matthew Grow (bio found on this page), Parley Parker Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism (New York: Oxford University Press) weighs in at 500 pages—and it could not have been one page less. In their introduction, Givens and Grow write that “the narrative of [Pratt's] life could have formed the basis of a page-turning novel. By 1853, he had already become, after Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, the most influential figure in shaping early Mormon history, culture, and theology. Pratt exerted that influence across an astounding spectrum, excelling as a missionary, explorer, hymnist, pamphleteer, autobiographer, historian, and theologian” (3-4). It would be difficult to keep a narrative of such a life to any page count!

Givens and Grow give three reasons for calling Pratt the “Apostle Paul of Mormonism.” First is the fact that Pratt’s writings “served the same function in early Mormonism” as Paul’s (or the author of Paul’s) did in early Christianity: it helped systematize and popularize the movement’s ideas (5). Second is Pratt’s Paul-like missionary career, travelling all across America, the Atlantic, and even South America. And third, “like Paul, Pratt reveled in opposition and Persecution, and in his own eyes and the beliefs of the Latter-day Saints, met a martyr’s death” (8). In total, it is a phenomenal volume, and should not only garner much praise but encourage even more dialogue. (Personally, I found chapter 12, Parley and Mrs. Pratt(s), and examination of Pratt’s family dynamics, to be one of the most compelling chapters of recent Mormon historiography.)

We’ll eventually have a full review of the book. In the meantime, we are pleased to announce that both of the book’s authors have agreed to do a Q&A post with Juvenile Instructor. Thus, we solicit your help: please provide below the questions you would like Givens and Grow to answer about their newly-released biography.

Ask away! (more…)

There was once time when historians of LDS history were forced to rely on BH Roberts’s Documentary History of the Church—commonly known today as History of the Church (hereafter referred to as HC). Put crudely, the HC is a heavily-edited and problematic documentary history of a heavily-edited and problematic documentary history. This 7-volume series—the first volume printed in 1903—has been very significant. They are probably amongst the most read and referenced history texts read by Latter-day Saints, they are largely influential in Church curriculum (just note their presence in D&C section headers), and they have even been foundational for many scholarly monographs. This was especially the case before the Church opened up it’s numerous archival sources, as even Fawn Brodie based much of her Joseph Smith narrative on these books. (more…)

The scholar/blogger Historiann (if you are a young Mormon scholar interested in academia, you should really read her blog) has a new post on the ethics of conference participating. Partly because I am lazy, and partly because I think we can generate a good discussion, I’d like to bring part of that debate over here. (more…)

Continued from Part I.

Sarah Reed, “Fantasy, Fraud, and Freud: The Uncanny Gold Plates in 19th Century Newspaper Accounts.” Sarah, a graduate student in German studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, had the honor of bringing Freud to the party. Specifically, she explored the debates surrounding the Gold Plates through the lens of Freud’s “uncanny,” the idea that a thing or concept can be both familiar and foreign at the same time. Sarah examined how newspaper accounts presented Joseph Smith’s narrative—which in itself possessed many home-grown or native elements—in a way that repressed the familiar and emphasized the exotic. Attackers often contrasted JS’s message with Enlightenment ideals, thereby creating a safe distance between the Mormons and the audience. Fun stuff. (more…)

The Mormon Scholars Foundation Summer Seminar, founded by Richard Bushman and recently co-directed with Terryl Givens, has a tradition of gathering the brightest young Mormon scholars for six weeks to research, engage, and present on specific themes or periods. This year’s group was no exception. A dozen participants ranging from an undergraduate majoring in engineering to an Assistant Professor in Religious Studies (our own SC Taysom!) gathered together to explore the theme, “The Cultural History of the Gold Plates.” I had the great privilege to attend their presentations today, and what follows is my brief recap, broken into two parts. (more…)

This last week, FAIR went live with their Mormon Defense League website.[1] Among the “false claims” the website seeks to debunk concern the LDS Church’s current relationship to polygamy. In an effort to distinguish the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from polygamous groups in the western United States, the MDL emphasized that plural marriage was a limited practice that had been officially stopped over a century ago. (Including perpetuating the unfortunate rhetorical battle over the label “Mormon”–a battle of deep irony when considering our frustration of others refusing us the label “Christian.”) To answer the question of the number of Mormons who practiced polygamy, it replied that “modern estimates of LDS members practicing polygamy prior to 1904 range between 2% and 20%.” While the website does admit that it is tough to get an accurate number, and that it depends on who you count within the statistics, their final number (2% to 20%) is unfortunate in that it is not only false but misleading. (more…)

We received the following from our good friends at Historic Sites Committee. A few of us JIers (both past and present) have interned with Historic Sites and can attest to the fantastic environment, wonderful people, and important work involved in their projects.

_______________________________

Purposes: The Church History Department is currently looking for candidates for the position of Historic Sites Curator in the Museums & Historic Sites Division. This individual will assist in identifying, researching, preserving, restoring, and interpreting historic sites significant to the history of the Church.

Work will include: intensive historical research, master planning, large-scale collaborative development projects, interpretive message and exhibit design, interpretive curriculum development, websites, and global outreach. Much of the Historic Sites Curator’s work will bear the imprimatur of the Church and must be of the highest quality and integrity. (more…)