Plenary 201 (8:30 a.m., Friday, September 13)
Title: The Truth Shall Make You Free by Marlin K. Jensen
Abstract: The Mountain Meadows is a highland desert valley in Southern Utah where approximately 120 men, women, and children, mainly Arkansas emigrants bound for California, were massacred in September 1857. The full story of this tragedy, including the culpability and motives of the principal perpetrators, local leaders and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was slow to emerge. The result was historical confusion and ill feeling between Church members and descendants of the victims that persisted for nearly 150 years.
In the early 2000’s senior leaders of the LDS Church authorized and gave full editorial control to professional historians in its history department to comprehensively study the massacre and to write a book fully detailing their findings. The resulting book, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, is an unflinching account of the tragic event that concludes that the perpetrators of the massacre were indeed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aided by Indians. The emergence and admission of the truth about the massacre by the LDS Church and a cooperatively staged sesquicentennial commemoration of the massacre in 2007 were catalysts in changing minds and hearts on all sides of this contentious issue.
Recent years have seen a remarkable reconciliation occur between the Church and descendants of the victims. Lasting friendships have been formed, memorial gatherings have been held, cooperative efforts have been made to preserve and protect the massacre site as a hallowed burial ground, and vital lessons of the past and present are being preserved and shared in an atmosphere of mutual trust and understanding.
Biographical Sketch: Marlin K. Jensen served as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1989 until 2012. During that time, he served as Executive Director of the Church Historical Department from 1996 to 1998, as Executive Director of the Family and Church History Department from 2004 until 2008, and as Executive Director of the Church History Department from 2008 until 2012. In April 2005, he also became the first Church Historian and Recorder to serve since 1997. In these roles, he oversaw efforts to research and share the truth about tragic events surrounding the Mountain Meadows Massacre. He was given emeritus status in October 2012. Since then, he has returned to his real passion of ranching as a partner in Jensens’ Middle Fork Ranch.
Session 211: (10:00 a.m., Friday September 13)
Title: Birth Control: A Case Study of the Relationship between Doctrine, Policy, and a Changing World by Sean Magoffin
Abstract: An oft confused difference among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is that between policy and doctrine. In an ever-shifting society Church policies seem to be changing constantly while doctrine remains unchanged. Birth control is a wonderful case study for understanding the relationship between doctrine and policy along with the influences that attribute to policy changes. The Church’s first policies and teachings about birth control likely had many influences from doctrinal understanding, societal movements, and past Church practices such as polygamy. Birth control in the U.S. was illegal for many years which aligned with Church teachings. However, as Margaret Sanger and her birth control movement gained popularity and acceptance things began to change. Along with major changes in the world and American society, the Church changed their policy on birth control. The ability to understand the difference between doctrine and policy is critical to keeping our testimony of the Savior firm despite the changes in the Church that inevitably will come and help us have the right lens to understand the Church’s evolving views toward birth control.
Biographical Sketch: Sean Magoffin is a junior at Brigham Young University studying Mechanical Engineering. Sean is a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and graduated their seminary program. He served a mission in Everett Washington using American Sign Language while working with the Deaf community. Despite his major being Mechanical Engineering, he spends much of his free time studying the history and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and is especially interested in providing faithful explanations of some more controversial and difficult topics.
Title: Evolving Practice and Policy in Latter-day Saint Missionary Work by Dr. Maria Farha Blewster, Carly Blewster Blais
Abstract: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has expanded its way of teaching and proselytizing since the first missionary’s call in 1830. In this presentation, we will address the positives and negatives of these changes, and how the evolving full-time missionary program has affected converts, members, and the missionaries themselves. This has been done through the transformation of rule handbooks and teaching manuals, alongside many suggestions and statements from church leaders. We have analyzed mission practices throughout the Church’s existence, and we will propose some alterations to the modern-day missionary program in order to benefit all involved in the work. In order to create the best experience within the missionary field, we believe that by knowing its history and by offering recommendations, this goal can be accomplished. We also believe certain changes to missionary policies may allow for improved physical and mental health for male and female missionaries
Biographical Sketch: Dr. Maria Farha Blewster is a Licensed Psychologist in private practice in Wichita, Kansas. She holds a Master’s and a Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology and a Master’s in Social Work. She currently specializes in psychological assessments for ADHD, Autism, Surgery, Court Evaluations, and General Diagnostic Evaluations. Before moving to Wichita, she lived in Phoenix, Arizona where she worked in the mental health field for over 30 years. Her work history includes LDS family services, Arizona State Hospital, and private practice where she treated children and adults with a variety of mental health problems. Dr. Blewster was a faculty member for the Psychiatric Residency Training program in Phoenix where she supervised Child Psychiatry Residents and Fellows while in their training for group therapy and parent therapy. Dr. Blewster served a mission in Geneva, Switzerland in the 1980’s. She is married and has adult children.
Biographical Sketch: Carly Blewster Blais, a 22-year-old student attending Brigham Young University, is from Phoenix, Arizona. During her upbringing, Carly cultivated a passion for dancing and performing. While at BYU, she is studying Exercise and Wellness with hopes to become a medical doctor. Alongside her studies, Carly is actively involved in cancer research, having dedicated over a year and a half to a biochemistry research lab, reflecting her deep passion for medicine and healing. She has developed a special interest in Church History that began while serving her full-time for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her commitment to understanding Church History is intertwined with her mission to serve and uplift others, displaying her broader dedication to community and the collective welfare.
Session 212 (10:00 a.m., Friday, September 13)
Title: The Arrival and Activities of Reorganized Latter Day Saints in Southwest Utah by Michael H. Nielsen
Abstract: It is well known in RLDS history that Edmund Briggs and Alexander McCord were the first commissioned evangelists of the Reorganized Church to arrive in Utah in 1863 in a long-term endeavor to turn the Mormons from perceived tyrannical leaders and devilish doctrines. What remains largely untold, and is the aim of my paper, is the story and impact of RLDS missionaries and members in pioneer southwest Utah. Early RLDS missionaries inconsistently but resolutely trod into places like Saint George and Beaver making known their message and seeking to find the disaffected and questioning. Though in no way comprehensive, the paper substantially highlights the labors of these under-appreciated and lesser known individuals from the 1860s to the 1910s. It also elevates our collective understanding of peripheral dissent in rural pioneer Utah. After fifty years of this endeavor, the costs in human labor and financial resources simply outweighed any real profit in new believers and publicity.
Biographical Sketch: Michael H. Nielsen is a native of Saint George, Utah, and alumnus of Dixie State (Utah Tech) University where he won the history student of the year award for which he got a fancy rock despite not learning about that fact until later. He worked as an intern at the Joseph Smith Historic Site in Nauvoo, Illinois; the Kirtland Temple Historic Site in Kirtland, Ohio; and as a docent at Silver Reef Museum in Leeds, Utah. When he is not researching or reading, he enjoys hiking, amateurly attempting to play the piano, and homemade chocolate chip cookies.
Title: If the Past is a Foreign Country, Who’s Teaching Kids the Language? by Shalisse Johnstun
Abstract: L.P. Hartley’s 1953 declaration that “The past is a foreign country” has been widely accepted, and some historians have taken it as a mantra. Many young students have not been given the chance to experience history in an engaging way. This new generation of students wants to know why they should study history at all when a quick Google search will give you the who, what, and where? The problem for current historians is how do we engage the next generation, teach them to use the different lenses of a historian to discover the why. Lewis Johnstun looks at how historians can partner with teachers and open up as a community to find ways to help the next generation find their way to this beautiful, complex country we call history.
Biographical Sketch: Shalisse Lewis Johnstun is a kick-ass high school educator/adjunct professor/raptor-wrangler on a mission to ignite a love of lifelong learning in her students. Many students will tell you that history is boring or has nothing to do with them. It seems that it is only as we grow older that we appreciate the value of studying the past. Shalisse teaches that there is a difference between knowledge and information. Information—the what—can be accessed and recalled quickly, particularly in the digital age. Knowledge requires analysis of the why and the how.
Session 213 (10:00 a.m., Friday, September 13)
Title: Come Up Hither to Zion: William Marks and the Mormon Concept of Gathering by Cheryl L. Bruno, Christopher James Blythe, Kyle Beshears, John Dinger, Rachel Killebrew
Abstract: Three reviewers with different areas of expertise: LDS, Community of Christ, and the James Strang movement, comment on a new biography, “Come Up Hither to Zion: William Marks and the Mormon Concept of Gathering,” by Cheryl L. Bruno and John S. Dinger. William Marks is the most important early Mormon figure that you may know next to nothing about!
Biographical Sketch: Cheryl L. Bruno has a B.S. in Recreation Management from Greensboro College, Greensboro, N.C., and did graduate work in Educational Psychology at Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. She is an independent researcher in Mormon studies, with an interest in the intersection of Mormonism and Freemasonry, Mormon esotericism and Mormon plural marriage. Cheryl is the author of Method Infinite: Freemasonry and the Mormon Restoration with Joe Steve Swick III and Nicholas S. Literski. She is editor of Secret Covenants: New Insights on Mormon Polygamy. Her publications can be found in the Journal of Religion and Society, the John Whitmer Historical Association Journal, and the Journal of Mormon History. Most recently, she and John Dinger have completed a biography on early Mormon leader William Marks.
Biographical Sketch: Christopher James Blythe is an assistant professor of folklore and Latter-day Saint literature at Brigham Young University. He is the author of Terrible Revolution: Latter-day Saints and the American Apocalypse (Oxford, 2020) and co-editor of Open Canon: Scriptures of the Latter Day Saint Tradition (Utah, 2022). Blythe also hosts the podcast, Angels and Seerstones with his wife, Christine.
Biographical Sketch: Kyle R. Beshears (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is a minister in Mobile, Alabama, and an independent researcher in Mormon studies. His dissertation focused on the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) after the death of its founder, James J. Strang. He is the author of the forthcoming 40 Questions about Mormonism (Kregel Academic) and has taught religious studies at the University of Mobile.
Biographical Sketch: John S. Dinger is a graduate of the S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah, Salt Lake City. In addition to his juris doctorate, he holds degrees in political science and history from the University of Utah. He has published in the Journal of Mormon history, John Whitmer Historical Association Journal, Idaho Law Review, and Utah Law Review. His book The Nauvoo High Council and City Minutes won Best Documentary Book Award from the Mormon History Association and the Best Book Award from the John Whitmer Historical Association. He is an attorney in Boise, Idaho.
Biographical Sketch: Rachel Killebrew has a B.S. in Education and History from William Jewell College, and an MLIS from the University of Missouri. She is the World Church Librarian-Archivist and Records Manager for the Community of Christ Church. Rachel is a past President and board member of the John Whitmer Historical Association.
Session 214 (10:00 a.m., Friday, September 13)
Title: The Life and Faith of William Clayton: Insights from His Nauvoo Journal by Alex Smith, Jessica Anne Lawrence, Jeffrey Davis Mahas, Robin Jensen
Abstract: William Clayton’s personal journal is one of the most important contemporaneous sources for understanding the Nauvoo era of Mormon history. This session will consider some of the historical contributions that the project team has observed while preparing this anticipated manuscript for publication. Papers will examine Clayton’s creation of the journal and its subsequent provenance as well as significant content themes such as church business practices and finance, Joseph Smith’s activities during his final years, Nauvoo social life, and Clayton’s own character traits and faith as depicted in the pages of the journal.
Biographical Sketch: Alex D. Smith Alex is a historian with the Church History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served as a volume editor of six volumes in the Journals and Documents series of the Joseph Smith Papers. He currently leads the William Clayton Nauvoo journals project and is working on a book that explores the causes of Joseph Smith’s assassination.
Biographical Sketch: Jessica Anne Lawrence is an editor in the Church History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, working on Saints, Carry On, and the William Clayton Nauvoo journal projects. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Brigham Young University and is receiving a second bachelor’s degree in English from Utah Valley University.
Biographical Sketch: Jeffrey D. Mahas received a BA from Brigham Young University and an MA in history from the University of Utah. He has worked for the Church History Department since 2013.
Biographical Sketch: Robin Scott Jensen is a historian at the Church History Library and served as editor and archivist for the Joseph Smith Papers and coedited the five volumes in the Revelations and Translations series (published 2009, 2011, 2015, 2018, and 2021). 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. In 2019 he earned a PhD in history at the University of Utah. He is currently studying the textual culture of Mormonism and launching a Mormon book history program at the Church History Library.
Session 221 (11:45 a.m., Friday, September 12)
Title: Off The Stand, But Standing Up: A Contemporary View of Latter-day Saint Women’s Power and Authority by Zachary Brady
Abstract: From women being ordered off the stand by men to maintain long-established common meeting practices, to questionable statements during the 2024 Worldwide Relief Society Devotional, recent decisions made by leadership within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seemed to have kindled a frenzy, igniting outpours of outrage on social media concerning the churches inequality of priesthood power and authority between men and women. This paper explores these inequalities by examining the differences between priesthood power and governing power and attempting to unlink power and authority with traditional gender roles by looking at the history of the early Relief Society. Like our Heavenly Parents—who cocreate side by side—women in the Church deserve to have their voices represented alongside their brothers in Christ.
Biographical Sketch: Zachary Brady is a Utah State University senior earning his BS in English with a minor in Chemistry. He has spent several years as a student research volunteer for the Gender, Sexual, & Religious Identities Lab, (Dr. Tyler Lefevor), and is currently researching Latter-day Women’s experience under the mentorship of Patrick Q. Mason for his honors capstone project. He loves creative writing and has published written works through USU’s Sink Hollow Magazine and Cherish: The Love of Our Mother in Heaven Volume 2. After graduation, Zach will apply to medical school, with hopes to further understand humanity through fertility medicine
Title: “World Religions and Historical Imagination in Exploring the Book of Mormon: Teaching Scriptural Pasts and Presents to Twentieth-century Reorganized Youth” by Makoto Hunter
Abstract: In 1960, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (today known as Community of Christ) published Exploring the Book of Mormon, a reader for youth. Written by Biloine Young and illustrated by Edith Brockway, this series taught the Book of Mormon to middle school-age members of the Reorganization. This paper will explore Exploring the Book of Mormon by placing it in the wider Christian contexts of the World Religions paradigm and biblical visualization.
Biographical Sketch: Makoto Hunter is a graduate student in history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She researches the overlap of antipolygamy and antiprostitution in policy and culture as well as the shape of historical memory in the twentieth century Latter Day Saint movement.
Session 222 (11:45 a.m., Friday, September 13)
Title: “This Branch of the Church:” the Evolution of Local Church Administration by Brandon Plewe
Abstract: During Joseph Smith’s lifetime, he gradually introduced localized institutions to minister to the growing church, such as branches, bishops, stakes, and wards. Yet these operated quite differently from anything we would recognize today. After his death, the congregations of the Church that followed Brigham Young continued to evolve into a wide variety of localized practices, including some that have survived to the present, and some that may seem very strange. After decades of little central effort to standardize, President Young and the Twelve completely reorganized every ward, branch, and stake in 1877 according to a common standard that is remarkably similar to the present. By building a comprehensive database of the organizational history of every early church unit and deconstructing our assumptions (and the assumptions of past historians) about administrative patterns, we are starting to understand how and why this evolution occurred.
Biographical Sketch: Brandon Plewe has taught Geography, GIS, and Cartography at Brigham Young University since 1997. His research focuses on historical cartography, especially mapping the history of the Intermountain West and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and his wife Jamie have 5 children and 4 grandchildren.
Title: From Parowan to the Pacific: The overland travel of China missionaries from Southern Utah to Southern California in 1852 by Reid L. Neilson
Abstract: In August 1852, Brigham Young called over one hundred me to leave their families and serve proselyting missions throughout the world. More specifically, he assigned four men to evangelize the Chinese in Hong Kong, then a British colony in the strategic South China Sea. These men, along with about three dozen other missionaries called to serve in the Pacific Frontier Basin, left the pioneer settlement of Parowan, Utah, then the furthest south colony of the Latter-day Saints, and crossed the Mojave Deseret as the followed the “Southern Route” to San Bernardino, California, and then on to the Pacific port of Los Angeles at San Pedro. Their journey lasted several weeks and was fraught with dangers and challenges. My paper will tell their story and what it meant for the larger Latter-day Saint experience in the Asia-Pacific world.
Biographical Sketch: Dr. Reid L. Neilson joined the BYU faculty in August 2022, when he began leading as the assistant academic vice president for religious scholarly publications, a newly created position at the university. He oversees three organizations on campus: the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, the Religious Studies Center, and BYU Studies. Prior to rejoining the faculty at BYU, Dr. Neilson and his wife, Shelly, served as the leaders of the Washington DC North Mission. Before his mission presidency, Neilson was appointed Assistant Church Historian and Recorder of the Church in 2015. He also worked as the managing director of the Church History Department from 2010 to 2019. In 2006, Dr. Neilson began his academic career as an assistant professor of Church history and doctrine in Religious Education at BYU, where he received the university’s Young Scholar Award. He is the author and award-winning editor of more than thirty books, including “Restless Pilgrim: Andrew Jenson’s Quest for Latter-day Saint History” (with Scott D. Marianno in 2022). A native of Orange County, California, Neilson received a bachelor’s degree (international relations) and two master’s degrees (business management and American history) from BYU and holds a doctorate in religious studies (American religions) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He later completed the Harvard Business School’s General Management Program.
Session 223 (11:45 a.m., Friday, September 13)
Title: Using Artificial Intelligence to Predict the Skills Needed to Reproduce the Book of Mormon by Brian C. Hales
Abstract: According to available historical documents, Joseph Smith dictated the Book of Mormon to scribes without notes in less than three months. By identifying specific literary characteristics of that dictation as found in the 1830 printing, artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots can predict the skills needed to create a similar narrative. Accordingly, this question was compiled:
“What skills would be needed to compose and dictate in three months without notes a book with: 269,320 words; Sentences: 6,852; Average sentence: 39.3 words; Reading level: eighth grade; Dialect: Early Modern English; Unique words: 5,600; College-level vocabulary words: dozens; Original proper nouns: 170; Distinct titles for God: over 100; Literary style: Christological epic, lengthy, complex; Characters: 207; Socio-geographic groups: 44; Chronological systems: 3; Geographical locations in the fictional destination: 149; Geographical locations in known world: at least 15; Storylines: 77 major plus more minor; Genealogies greater than twenty generations: 2; Flashbacks and embedded storylines: 5; Ecological references: 2,065; Monetary Weights: 12; Sermons: 63 comprising over 87,000 words; Sermon topics: over 80; Parallel poetic devices like chiasmus: over 400; Bible intertextuality: at least 650 allusions; Editorial promises: at least 121; Internally fulfilled prophecies: at least 120; and Subjects discussed with precision include biblical law, olive tree husbandry, and warfare tactics?”
This presentation will review the skills identified by eleven artificial intelligence chatbots: Chat GPT 4 (subscription), Chat GPT 3 (free version), Google Bard, Anthropic’s Claude, iAsk.AI, Microsoft Copilot, Meta’s Llama2-7B and Llama2-13B, Inflection’s PI, Quora’s POE, and Perplexity. It will also compare those predictions to the descriptions of Joseph Smith’s 1829 skillset.
Biographical Sketch: *Brian C. Hales {brianhales@msn.com} is the author or co-author of seven books dealing with plural marriage, including the three-volume Joseph Smith’s Polygamy: History and Theology (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2013). He is a retired anesthesiologist. His new book, Authoring the Book of Mormon should be out next year.
Title: A “Newsie Messiah”: the Lives and Teachings of Israel A. J. Dennis by Kirk Watson
Abstract: The life of “Israel” A. J. Dennis (1852-1933) has always been told in a fragmentary manner. This paper will cover his life holistically as a dissident in multiple religious traditions: from a Methodist holiness revivalist he became a preacher for the Seventh-day Adventists, and eventually came to Utah and joined the LDS Church. As an end-times prophecy enthusiast, he had visions that led him to found the “Church of the First Born”, and then become the leader of the “Restored Church of the Messiah” and the Davidic King of the “Restored Kingdom of God”. Throughout his life he was declared insane, he was persecuted, prosecuted, incarcerated, and even interdicted by federal authorities, all for the sake of his unique religious mission.
Biographical Sketch: Kirk Watson was born and raised in Sanpete county, Utah, where some of the events described in his presentation took place. He studied at the University of Utah and the University of Denver. He and his wife have lived in London and Belfast, where their two children were born. Since 2015, he has worked in the digital library and archive at the Marriott Library, University of Utah.
Session 224 (11:45 a.m., Friday, September 13)
Title: Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo Freemasonry by Kenneth L. Alford
Abstract: Hyrum Smith, an older brother of Joseph Smith Jr, played an important role in the organization and expansion of Freemasonry in Nauvoo, Illinois—serving as Senior Warden pro tem, Master pro tem, and Worshipful Master of the Nauvoo Masonic Lodge. This presentation will share interesting information and anecdotes regarding the role Freemasonry played in the life and history of Nauvoo and the Smith family’s long association with Freemasonry—beginning with Hyrum’s father, Joseph Smith Sr. Summary demographic information will also be shared about the many hundreds of Nauvoo citizens who became Freemasons based on the Nauvoo Masonic Lodge Minutes and other historical records.
Biographical Sketch: Kenneth L. Alford is a professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University and a retired U.S. Army Colonel. Prior to teaching at BYU, he served as a professor of computer science at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York and as a department chair and professor of strategic leadership and organizational behavior at the National Defense University in Washington, DC. Ken served in numerous assignments during almost 30 years on active duty in the Army. He has published and presented on a wide variety of subjects—authoring or editing a dozen books and over 150 articles.
Title: “Telling the Truth: A Journey in Documentary History of the Church of Christ (Temple Lot)” by Jason R. Smith
Abstract: For the past several years, I have been combing through publications and periodicals of the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), headquartered in Independence, MO in order to produce a documentary history of this small, but unique, branch of the Smith-Rigdon Movement. During this process, I have collected (mostly digitally) thousands of articles and other official documents pertaining to the church’s rich history. In my presentation, I would like to take the audience through a brief tour of what I have discovered. The journey would begin with early church records and would then explore statistical patterns and trends in the church’s official periodicals, as well as discussing how major and minor theological changes were expressed through the press. I would also include commentary on how these were influenced by and responded to interactions with other Restoration churches.
Biographical Sketch: Jason has a B.A. in History from Cameron University and is currently working toward an M.A. in Religious Studies at Chicago Theological Seminary. He works as the IT Manager for a local governmental agency in Duncan, Oklahoma, where he lives with his wife and too many dogs. Jason also serves on the Board of JWHA and has an avid interest in all of the many expressions of the Smith-Rigdon Movement.
Session 241 (2:45 p.m., Friday, September 13)
Title: Hamblin Missions from St. George to Hopi Villages by Ryan Combs, Brandon Plewe
Abstract: Jacob Hamblin led multiple missions from St. George to the Hopi villages in northeastern Arizona. These missions required crossing the Colorado River, the route was based on information from the Old Spanish Trail and led to Latter-day Saint settlements in northern Arizona. One of those missions in 1862/1863 was documented by John Steele. Steele was an Irish convert who was a member of the Nauvoo Legion, Mormon Battalion, first postmaster of Las Vegas, and amateur physician. One of the most fascinating parts of his records is a hand drawn map of the route taken. We will go through an analysis of the map including plotting the map to real-world locations.
Biographical Sketch: Ryan Combs has a BA in Middle East history and an MS in Library Science, until recently he worked for the Church History Department, he still works for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but now in the IT department. He also previously worked as a religious studies librarian at the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU. He lives in Provo with his wife Elizabeth and 4 children.
Biographical Sketch: Brandon Plewe has taught Geography, GIS, and Cartography at Brigham Young University since 1997. His research focuses on historical cartography, especially mapping the history of the Intermountain West and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and his wife Jamie have 5 children and 4 grandchildren.
Title: “Creating Micro Economic Peace Settlement with the United Orders (1873-1877): Knab, Orderville, and St. George Settlements” by Glen Larson
Abstract:
Session 242 (2:45 p.m., Friday, September 13)
Title: Both RLDS and LDS Erred in their Method of Presidential Succession by William Russell read by Michael L. Nielsen
Abstract: The choice of Brigham Young as LDS prophet made sense since Hyrum was killed at Carthage and Sidney Rigdon was no longer highly regarded by the saints. And Joseph Smith III was a good choice for the various saints who did not want to follow Brigham to what became Utah. Young Joseph was well suited for the Midwestern Saints who lived among Methodists, Lutherans, Baptists, Catholics, and their neighbors. Giving up Joseph Jr.’s Nauvoo innovations like polygamy, the plurality of gods, baptism for the dead and other temple rituals was a better fit for the Midwestern Saints.
But both churches erred in making that first presidential succession the rule for the future. The RLDS were stuck with the small pickings of male members of one family, while their Utah cousins have been stuck with in many cases very old men. I will explain why both of these systems were a big mistake.
Biographical Sketch: William D. Russell received a B.A. in religion from Graceland University, an M.Div from Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, and a J.D. from the University of Iowa at Saint Paul. He has been the President of both the Mormon History Association and the JohnWhitmer Historical Association. Bill has been the author of at least 50 book reviews and 40 articles in the John Whitmer Historical Association Journal, the Mormon Historical Association Journal, Sunstone Magazine, the Utah Historical Journal, and the Christian Century.
He served on the faculty at Graceland University for 41 years, 1966-2007, and part-time for 10 years thereafter. He taught Introduction to Christianity, Old Testament, New Testament, the History of Christian I and II, RLDS/Community of Christ History, History of Religion in America, History of the American Presidency, History of American Law, Political Parties and Pressure Groups, American Government, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Racism and Discrimination, and History of Women in America.
Title: Beehive Girls and the Priesthood: Reactions to Women’s Ordination and Feminism in LDS Church Curriculum in the 1970s and 1980s by Nancy Ross, David Howlett
Abstract: A host of studies have focused on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Equal Rights Amendment, showing how the Church’s opposition to the latter served as a proxy for its stance on feminism and liberal modernity (Bradley, 2005). Martha Sontag Bradley has shown how conservative LDS leaders and conservative BYU scholars saw the ERA as a threat to the all-male priesthood. We want to know if the messages of the memos and letters she cites made it into the formation of young LDS members through official, correlated educational materials about priesthood. To answer this query, we want to examine the manuals in the Prince Collection at UVA related to Beehive girls. In the 1970s until the recent past, “Beehive girls” denoted LDS girls ages 12 and 13. At this age and coinciding with the general onset of puberty, LDS girls began single-gender education classes in which they were taught a curriculum written explicitly for girls. We theorize, then, that Beehive Girl manuals will be potent sources for understanding what the LDS Church was saying (or not saying) about women and the priesthood in the 1970s and 1980s. In particular, we want to know how these sources 1) describe priesthood holders, 2) describe priesthood-specific activities, 3) define manhood, 4) define womanhood, 5) prescribe activities appropriate for women, 5) describe the proper relationship between women and priesthood holders, and 6) evidence the expansion or contraction of women’s roles as a result of awareness of expanding roles of women (including ordination) in other traditions.
Biographical Sketch: David J. Howlett is visiting assistant professor of religion at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and is the author of Kirtland Temple: The Biography of a Shared Mormon Sacred Space (University of Illinois Press, 2014) and co-author of Mormonism: The Basics (Routledge, 2017). He is the immediate past-president of the Mormon History Association and a volunteer church historian for Community of Christ.
Biographical Sketch: Nancy Ross is a department chair and associate professor in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Department at Utah Tech University, where she has been teaching for 18 years. Her Ph D is in art history, but her current research focuses on the history and sociology of religion. She is an ordained elder in Community of Christ and pastor of the Southern Utah congregation.
Session 243 (2:45 p.m., Friday, September 13)
Title: “Armed Men, Furious Men, With Murder In Their Hearts”: The Men Who Killed Joseph and Hyrum Smith—Claims, Accusations, and Pus-filled Wounds by Joseph Johnstun
Abstract: Since the murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith 180 years ago, many attempts have been made to determine who actually did the deed. Many contemporaries compiled lists of those whom they believed had been a part of the mob that stormed the Hancock County jail or those whom they believed ultimately responsible. Additionally, as years passed, several participants, their families, and associates, revealed their presence. Here, Johnstun reviews the early lists, confessions, claims, and statements, to come up with a new list of most-likely participants.
Biographical Sketch: Joseph Johnstun is an historical analyst from Fort Madison, Iowa. He has been an historical consultant and advisor for numerous publications, projects, and media presentations on historic sites, documents, and artifacts. He is one of the leading scholars on Nauvoo history, and is the expert on the murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. He is the director of the Tomb of Joseph Museum in Nauvoo, Illinois.
Title: Did Joseph Smith Really Faint? —The June 25, 1844, Militia Review in Carthage, Illinois by Bryon Andreasen
Abstract: This presentation is a comparative analysis of conflicting 19th-century accounts of the militia review when Joseph and Hyrum Smith were paraded before militia members assembled on the public square in Carthage, Illinois, two days before the Smiths were murdered in the Hancock County jail.
An accurate understanding of this event is important for correctly assessing the conduct and motivations of political leaders and militia officers, as well as contrasting moods and tempers among the various militia units assembled from a four-county region during the tragic last weeks of June 1844. It is also important for understanding how Latter-day Saints and their opponents perceived and interpreted events differently based on prejudices and biased assumptions. Finally, it is a cautionary case study in how reconstructing history from conflicting primary sources is fraught with difficulty and uncertainty.
Biographical Sketch: Bryon Andreasen has a J.D. from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in 19th Century American History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was Research Historian at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum in Springfield, Illinois; authored the feasibility study on which Congress based legislation creating the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area; and edited the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. In 2013, he became historical curator at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is working on a biography of Illinois pioneers Miner & Abigail Deming. This presentation is a spin-off from that project.
Session 244 (2:45 p.m., Friday, September 13)
Title: Striving to Make Peace with the Mountain Meadows Massacre by LaJean Purcell Carruth
Abstract: How does one seek to make peace with an atrocity, with the effects of many years working and research on sheer horror? Starting in May 2002, I transcribed and proofread the 1400 pages of extant shorthand records from John D. Lee’s two trials for his role in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. I presented an account of my descent into PTSD from that work at MHA in June 2024. This paper will be a discussion on my personal efforts to seek peace with the Massacre itself and with my work thereon.
Biographical Sketch: LaJean Purcell Carruth is a professional transcriber of documents written in Pitman shorthand, Taylor shorthand, and in the Deseret Alphabet at the Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. She is fascinated (and often frustrated) by anything written in these scripts. She is also an avid weaver; her weaving hangs in historic sites in Harmony, Palmyra, Kirtland, and Nauvoo
Title: The Influence of Juanita Brooks on Restoration History by Teresa Reber Bell, Sharla Brooks Moody
Abstract: In this session, Juanita Brooks’ granddaughter and grandniece will present a captivating exploration into her personal life and legacy. Against the backdrop of the newly thriving city of St. George, Brooks played a vital role in nurturing the ragged edge of civilization by ensuring its growth and prosperity through her ability to gather and expose its earliest history. As we delve into her remarkable journey, we will uncover her tireless efforts in research and advocacy, shedding light on her invaluable contributions to the Restoration movement. We will also explore her unwavering faithfulness and address persistent misconceptions and provide clarity on her enduring legacy.
Biographical Sketch: Teresa Reber Bell is professor of German and Second Language Acquisition at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She has been fascinated by the life of her great-aunt Juanita Brooks since she was a little girl and has followed in Juanita’s footsteps to become an educated woman who researches and writes. Her current research focuses on successful language learning and designing language courses to assist students in becoming global citizens. She regularly leads study abroad programs to Vienna, Austria. She’s married to Ryan Bell from Tucson, and they have two young adult children.
Biographical Sketch: Sharla Brooks Moody grew up in St George where she could see the Dixie Sugarloaf from her bedroom window. She was tutored in all things’ family, and history, by her dad Karl Brooks while either living with, or next door to, her Grandma, Juanita. Thanks to her parents and grandparents, she also had a front row seat in the classroom of community service and connection. She graduated from Dixie High, Dixie College and then SUSC (Southern Utah State College) where she followed in the footsteps of her mother and both of her grandmothers by majoring in English. She then taught English as an adjunct at SUU (Southern Utah University) while her husband finished his masters. She is married to Paul Moody and is the mother of 4 children and 5 grandchildren. She’s passionate about learning, walking long distances, and her faith. In addition to traveling to spend time with family, she loves old music, old people, and old stories and regularly spends time with all three. She has family history in her heart and red dirt between her toes and hopes to pass both of these on to her children and grandchildren.
