He will be given Emeritus status at the October General Conference and Elder Steven E. Snow will become the new Church Historian.

I don’t know a lot about Elder Snow, but I do know that Elder Jensen will be sorely missed. He has been a tremendous advocate for Church History and those who have had even the most passing personal contact with him know him to be a genuine gem of a person. (more…)

UPDATES: See comments: 1, 13, 16, 17, 22, 24, 25, 28.

It’s time for the yearly round up of recently published and forthcoming Mormon history books. See last year’s list here. Be sure to also check out Ben’s recap of significant scholarship in 2011 and Stapley’s Christmas Gift Book Guide. Be sure to let me know what I missed in the comments. Rumors about book projects are always welcome! Finally, according to the WordPress stats, this is our 1000th published post. Not a bad milestone for any blog.

Arthur H. Clark & Oklahoma University Press

Gregory K. Armstrong, Matthew J. Grow, Dennis J. Siler. Parley P. Pratt and the Making of Mormonism. (AHC 2011)

James C. Work. Don’t Shoot the Gentile. (OUP 2011) “A witty memoir of a non-Mormon teacher’s rookie years in Utah” (more…)

[Update] I learned today from a friend in San Benito that the Stake President recently announced the construction of a new stake center–in San Benito. It is due to be completed in 2013. I spoke to Brother Maya about it. We rejoiced together in the news that finally, the San Benito Saints will have a place to rest their feet. I inquired after Sister Garza. “She’s alive and kicking,” he reported. Into her 92nd year, we shared the hope that she as well as other pioneering Saints from San Benito would be able to see this as only the latest of many fruits of their faith.

[Originally posted Oct. 5, 2009] (more…)

From Benchmark Books:

From Benchmark Books. Wish I could be there.

(more…)

From the event announcement at USU.

Richard V. Francaviglia, a former university professor and administrator, now an independent consultant and researcher, has been selected to present the 17th annual Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lecture. (more…)

The Tanner Humanities Center is proud to present
the 2011 David P. Gardner Lecture in the Humanities and Fine Arts

Please join us for a lecture by 

Richard Bushman (more…)

We are thrilled that Susanna Morrill, assistant professor of religious studies at Lewis and Clark College, has been kind enough to share her insights on the visionary culture of early LDS women here at the JI. Susanna’s article “Relief Society Birth and Death Rituals: Women at the Gates of Mortality,” Journal of Mormon History, 36 (Spring 2010), 128–59 as well as her book, White Roses on the Floor of Heaven: Nature and Flower Imagery in Latter-day Saints Women’s Literature, 1880-1920 have garnered wide praise. Let’s give Susanna a warm welcome.

In 2003, faithful LDS member Stephenie Meyer dreamed of a girl and a beautiful, sparkly vampire boy, in love and having an intense conversation in a meadow. Meyer could not get the dream out of her head. Whenever she could get a chance, she wrote a story inspired by the dream. It became the first book in the Twilight series. Meyer described this experience: “To be honest, I felt like I was guided through the process.”[i] (more…)

Call for Papers

The History of Mormonism in Latin America and the U. S.-Mexico Borderlands

We are pleased to announce a call for papers for a conference on the history of Mormonism in Latin America and the U.S. Mexico Borderlands to be held in El Paso, Texas on July 28, 2012 in conjunction with a 100^th Anniversary Commemoration of the “Exodus” of settlers from the Mormon Colonies in northern Mexico to the United States. (more…)

Drew Briney. Silencing Mormon Polygamy: Failed Persecutions, Divided Saints & the Rise of Mormon Fundamentalism, Volume 1. Hindsight Publications, n.p., 2008.

This book, a free review copy, has been sitting on my shelf for perhaps the last two years as I’ve done all I can to avoid a) reviewing it and b) paying for it. I think part of my trepidation was that the issues I had with it were so vast that I just didn’t know where to begin or how to possibly provide a glimpse of the web that the book weaves. I will not take the time to take you through all the twists and turns of the story the author tells, but will instead focus on some issues that make that story suspect. You’ll note in the picture that I read the book thoroughly (what can I say, the summer of 2009 must have been slow). (more…)

There has been a lot of excellent discussion recently at BCC on the issue of blacks and the priesthood. I highly recommend readers to the three part series Margaret Young has put together on differing views on the priesthood ban in light of the release of Keith Hamilton’s recent autobiography and his perspective therein which has gained some attention recently. In Part III, Margaret tells us a fascinating story about a revelation Darius Gray received and which he submitted to President Hinckley for permission to teach in the context of his stewardship in leadership of the Genesis group. That permission was granted. (As a side question–is there a parallel story like this in the history of the Church? If so, I’m drawing a blank. Absolutely fascinating!) Also highly recommended is J. Stapley’s summary of a lesson he gave on the subject. (more…)

Joseph Smith Jr. Dec. 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844.

Some past thoughts/remembrances are here, here, and here.  (more…)

Our own Chris Jones’ excellent article, “The Power and Form of Godliness: Methodist Conversion Narratives and Joseph Smith’s First Vision,” explores, first, the significance of the rebuke Joseph Smith related in his 1838 First Vision account that all other Churches had a form of Godliness but denied the power thereof. (more…)

It’s that time again. The latest issue of the Journal of Mormon History is rolling out to a mailbox near you (if you’re lucky enough to be a subscriber–if not–what are you waiting for?). (more…)

I submitted the following abstract in response to MHA’s call for papers for the 2011 conference, underway as we speak. I was pleased to receive notice that my proposal had been accepted, but in the time between submission and acceptance, circumstances had changed. My family was now expecting a new arrival, due May 23, 2011 (he arrived a week early—welcome, Hyrum!). Since the due date was the very week of MHA, I declined acceptance, and I’m jealously following reports of those who are attending. Here is the abstract: (more…)

With the participation of a host of notable scholars (and including a number of JIers), this looks like it’s going to be an amazing event.  (more…)

For the past three years Patricia Lyn Scott has served the Mormon History Association, first as Co-Executive Director and then as Executive Director, just the most visible period of her decades of dedicated service to the organization as a member of councils, boards, and committees. As Pat concludes her three-year service as Executive Editor, we, her current Board colleagues, express our heartfelt appreciation for Pat’s significant contribution to the advancement and perpetuation of the Association. Her term as Executive Director will end later in the summer on July 31, 2011, consistent with her original appointment, after directing the work for the imminent St. George Conference. Along with her notable work on the earlier Sacramento, Springfield, and Independence conferences, as well as the 2012 Calgary conference, her kindly manner and friendly cheer have helped MHA in equally important ways. We wish Pat well in her current and future scholarly projects, which are several. (more…)

The 2012 Sidney B. Sperry Symposium

You Shall Have My Word (D&C 5:10): Exploring the Text of the Doctrine and Covenants

Call For Proposals (more…)

A few years ago, while discussing seer stones with Steve Sorensen, he mentioned that there was an obscure reference in someone’s papers that gave a formula for how to make a seer stone and that wasn’t in Quinn’s Early Mormonism and the Magic World View. Later that day he forwarded me his notes from the John Steele collection (MS 1847) at the Church Archives (now Church History Library) and it was like nothing I’d ever seen before. (more…)