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…)

[This is a repost from March 24, 2010.]

Perhaps perpetuating a horrible stereotype about historians (stuck in the past, not up on the cutting edge of technology), the JI is finally on Facebook (I guess you can search for “Juvenile Instructor” and it’ll come up) and Twitter (@MormonHistoryJI). So take a second to  become a Fan or to follow us.

Wish I could be there. Our own Brett D. will be presenting. Congrats, Brett! (more…)

H/T: Keith Erekson.

[forwarded message] Please join us on Thursday, February 17, at 4:00 p.m., for a talk by Prof. Paul Gutjahr about his forthcoming book, The Book of Mormon: The Biography of a Book.  This book, which will be published by thePrinceton University Press in its series on “The Lives of Great Religious Books,” tells the story of The Book of Mormon from its publication in 1830 to the present day.  Professor Gutjahr states in his abstract: (more…)

Hitting shelves this April is this long-awaited collection of essays edited by Paul Reeve and Michael S. Van Wagenen and which features the work of two JIers: Matt and Stan. The book’s webpage states that,

Mormons gave distinctive meanings to supernatural legends and events, but their narratives incorporated motifs found in many cultures. Many such historical legends and beliefs found adherents down to the present. This collection employs folklore to illuminate the cultural and religious history of a people.

The contents: (more…)

The Journal of Mormon History 37:1 (Winter 2011) (more…)

In 2004, J. Spencer Fluhman joined the faculty of the department of Church History and Doctrine in the BYU Department of Religious Education (“The Religion Department” as it’s commonly known) as a full-time employee. In the interim he has rapidly gained a reputation not only for solid scholarship but for his engaging and entertaining teaching style. He recently published an important piece about Joseph Smith’s polygamy in the latest number of Mormon Historical Studies and his dissertation, “Anti-Mormonism and the Making of Religion in Antebellum America” will be published within the year. He also recently finished a term on the board of the Mormon History Association. Many of us here at the JI count Spencer as a mentor and a friend as well as a colleague.

We’re pleased to announce that this past week, Spencer was hired by the BYU department of history and will begin teaching in the fall.  Please join us in congratulating Spencer on this new chapter in his career.

2011 JWHA Annual Meeting Call for Papers (more…)

*Updates in comments 7, 11, 25, 27, 30 and 32. Also, in the Signature Books section I’ve added anticipated release dates for forthcoming publications provided by the publisher.*

Last year I put together, with help from a number of publishers, booksellers, and friends, a list of forthcoming and recently published books on Mormon history.  Most of those books highlighted last year have indeed found a place on bookshelves, so it’s about time to do it again.  There are some exciting books that have recently come off the press and which are still forthcoming. Ben did a good job last week of mentioning some highlights from recent publications, so I’m going a bit light on the “recently published” aspect of this list. Generally speaking, the books that were on last years list and have been published I will not list here.  As always, I’m sure I missed some titles, so if you know of others or have heard rumors of other forthcoming books/projects, please leave a comment and I’ll add it to the list. (more…)

Taken summer 2010. (more…)

On December 23, 1805, Joseph Smith was born in Sharon, Vermont. As David observed a few years ago, Joseph asserted his identity as a New Englander in petitioning for redress for the Missouri persecutions: (more…)

The Provo Daily Herald has a whole page dedicated to continuing coverage of the Provo Tabernacle Fire with updates and lots of photos, including this aerial video of yesterday’s fight against the fire. (more…)

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Mormon Historical Studies 11:1 (Spring 2010) (more…)

CALL FOR PAPERS

For a conference on

“Mormonism in Cultural Context”

The friends and former students of Professor Richard Lyman Bushman invite submissions for a conference, on the occasion of his 80^th birthday, to be held June 18, 2011, at the Springville Art Museum in Springville, Utah. (more…)