Mormon History Association

2025-04-26T17:26:01Z

2607:F470:34:2303:205E:9A4A:215C:D375: /* Journal of Mormon History */Updated the editor of the Journal of Mormon History. Jessie Embry stepped down at the end of 2023 and Christopher Cannon Jones has been the sole editor since then. See https://usreligion.substack.com/p/journal-editor-q-and-a-christopher?r=2n5sh5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true

{{Short description|Organization to study Mormon history}}
The '''Mormon History Association''' ('''MHA''') is an independent, [[non-profit organization]] dedicated to the study and understanding of all aspects of [[Mormon]] history to promote understanding, scholarly research, and publication in the field. MHA was founded in December 1965 at the [[American Historical Association]] (AHA) meeting in [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]] under the leadership of [[Latter-day Saint]] and [[list of historians|historian]] [[Leonard J. Arrington]]. In 1972, MHA became an independent organization with its own annual conferences and publications. ''The Journal of Mormon History'', the official biennial publication of the association, began publication in 1974. MHA also publishes the quarterly ''Mormon History Newsletter'' and is an affiliate of both AHA and the [[Western History Association]].

MHA "welcome[s] all who are interested in the Mormon past, irrespective of religious affiliation, academic training, or world location." It is not formally affiliated with the LDS Church.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Swensen |first=Jason |date=2018-06-11 |title=Mormon History Association conference says the past of the LDS Church is not frozen |url=https://www.deseret.com/2018/6/11/20646736/mormon-history-association-conference-says-the-past-of-the-lds-church-is-not-frozen |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=Deseret News |language=en}}</ref> Its members are composed of people both within and without [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) and the [[Community of Christ]], including those who reject [[Mormonism]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

==Presidents==
MHA presidents are recognized contributors to the field of Mormon history and serve for one year.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Years
! Name
! Prominence at the time of service
|-
| 1966–67
| [[Leonard J. Arrington]]
| MHA co-founder; [[Utah State University]] historian; author of ''Great Basin Kingdom''
|-
| 1967–68
| [[Eugene E. Campbell]]
| [[Brigham Young University]] (BYU) history professor
|-
| 1968–69
| [[T. Edgar Lyon]]
| [[Nauvoo, Illinois|Nauvoo]] Restoration
|-
| 1969–70
| [[S. George Ellsworth]]
| [[Utah State University]] history professor
|-
| 1970–71
| [[Richard D. Poll]]
| [[Western Illinois University]] vice-president; former [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] historian
|-
| 1971–72
| [[Davis Bitton]]
| MHA co-founder; [[University of Utah]] history professor
|-
| 1972–73
| [[James B. Allen (historian)|James B. Allen]]
| MHA co-founder; [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] history professor
|-
| 1973–74
| [[Reed C. Durham Jr.]]
| Director of [[Institute of Religion]] at the [[University of Utah]]
|-
| 1974–75
| [[Thomas G. Alexander]]
| [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] history professor
|-
| 1975–76
| [[Charles S. Peterson]]
| [[University of Utah]] historian; former director of [[Utah State Historical Society|USHS]]
|-
| 1976–77
| [[Paul M. Edwards]]
|
|-
| 1977–78
| [[Douglas D. Alder]]
| [[Utah State University|USU]] history professor and director of honors program
|-
| 1978–79
| [[Milton V. Backman]]
| [[BYU Religious Education]] professor
|-
| 1979–80
| [[Jan Shipps]]
| [[Indiana University]] professor of history and religious studies
|-
| 1980–81
| [[Dean C. Jessee]]
| [[Joseph Smith]] researcher and archivist with the LDS Church.
|-
| 1981–82
| [[Melvin T. Smith]]
|
|-
| 1982–83
| [[William D. Russell (historian)|William D. Russell]]
| Professor of history at [[Graceland University]]
|-
| 1983–84
| [[Kenneth W. Godfrey]]
| LDS Institute of Religion Director
|-
| 1984–85
| [[Maureen U. Beecher]]
| [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] English professor with the [[Joseph Fielding Smith Institute]].
|-
| 1985–86
| [[Richard L. Bushman]]
| [[Columbia University]] historian; author of ''Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism''
|-
| 1986–87
| [[Richard W. Sadler]]
|
|-
| 1987–88
| [[Valeen Tippetts Avery]]
| [[Northern Arizona University]] historian, Co-author of ''[[Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith]]''
|-
| 1988–89
| [[Stanley B. Kimball]]
| [[SIU Edwardsville]] historian; biographer of [[Heber C. Kimball]]
|-
| 1989–90
| [[Carol Cornwall Madsen]]
| [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] historian with the [[Joseph Fielding Smith Institute]].
|-
| 1990–91
| [[Richard P. Howard]]
| World Church Historian of the [[RLDS Church]]
|-
| 1991–92
| [[Ronald W. Walker]]
| [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] history professor
|-
| 1992–93
| [[Marvin S. Hill]]
| [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] historian; author of ''Quest for Refuge: The Mormon Flight from American Pluralism''
|-
| 1993–94
| [[Roger D. Launius]]
| [[JWHA]] president; chief historian for [[NASA]]
|-
| 1994–95
| [[Mario De Pillis]]
| Professor of American Religious history at the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]]
|-
| 1995–96
| [[David J. Whittaker]]
| [[Brigham Young University]] archivist
|-
| 1996–97
| [[Linda King Newell]]
| [[historian]]; author of ''[[Mormon Enigma]]''; editor of ''[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|Dialogue]]''; [[JWHA]] president
|-
| 1997–98
| [[Armand L. Mauss]]
| [[Washington State University|WSU]] professor of sociology and religious studies
|-
| 1998–99
| [[Jill Mulvay Derr]]
| [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] historian; authored women's histories
|-
| 1999–2000
| [[Newell G. Bringhurst]]
|
|-
| 2000–01
| [[William G. Hartley]]
| Director of the Family History and Genealogy Research Center at [[Brigham Young University|BYU]]
|-
| 2001–02
| [[Dean L. May]]
| [[University of Utah]] historian specializing in social history of the American West
|-
| 2002–03
| [[Lawrence Foster (historian)|Lawrence Foster]]
| [[Georgia Institute of Technology]] professor of history, technology, and society
|-
| 2003–04
| [[Martha Sonntag Bradley]]
|
|-
| 2004–05
| [[Donald Q. Cannon]]
| [[Brigham Young University]] professor
|-
| 2005–06
| [[Philip L. Barlow]]
| Professor of theology and American religious history at [[Hanover College]]
|-
| 2006–07
| [[Ronald K. Esplin]]
| [[Joseph Smith Papers Project]] director; [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] historian; [[Joseph Fielding Smith Institute]] director
|-
| 2007–08
| [[Paul L. Anderson]]
| [[BYU Museum of Art]] curator
|-
| 2008–09
| [[Kathryn M. Daynes]]
| [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] historian; author of ''More Wives Than One''
|-
| 2009–10
| [[Ronald E. Romig]]
| [[Community of Christ]] archivist
|-
| 2010–11
| [[William P. MacKinnon]]<ref>{{cite web | title=MHA Officers and Board Members | publisher=Mormon History Association | date=July 14, 2009 | url=http://www.mhahome.org/about/officers.php | access-date=2009-07-14}}</ref>
| Independent historian; author of ''At Sword's Point''
|-
| 2011–12
| [[Richard L. Jensen]]<ref>{{cite web | author=R. Scott Lloyd | title='Utah's Dixie' is site for annual Mormon History Association conference | date=June 4, 2011 | work=[[Church News]] | url=http://www.ldschurchnewsarchive.com/articles/print/60992/Utahs-Dixie-is-site-for-annual-Mormon-History-Association-conference.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140916192255/http://www.ldschurchnewsarchive.com/articles/print/60992/Utahs-Dixie-is-site-for-annual-Mormon-History-Association-conference.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 16, 2014 | access-date=2014-09-22}}</ref>
| Research historian with LDS [[Church History Department]]
|-
| 2012–13
| [[Glen M. Leonard]]
| Independent historian; author of ''Nauvoo''
|-
| 2013–14
| [[Richard E. Bennett]]
| [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] professor of Church History and Doctrine
|-
| 2014–15
| [[Laurel Thatcher Ulrich]]
| [[Harvard University]] historian of early America and women; [[Pulitzer Prize|Pulitzer]] and [[Bancroft Prize|Bancroft]] winner
|-
| 2015–16
| [[Laurie Maffly-Kipp]]
| Professor at Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, [[Washington University in St. Louis]]
|-
| 2016–17
| [[Brian Q. Cannon]]
| [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] historian and director of the [[Charles Redd Center for Western Studies|Charles Redd Center]]
|-
| 2017–18
| [[Patrick Q. Mason]]
| [[Utah State University]] Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture, professor of history; former Howard W. Hunter Chair at Claremont University
|-
| 2018–19
| [[W. Paul Reeve]]
| [[University of Utah]] professor of history and the director of graduate studies in the history department
|-
| 2019–20
| [[Ignacio M. Garcia]]
| [[Lemuel H. Redd Jr.]] professor of [[Western United States#History|Western American History]] at [[Brigham Young University]]
|-
| 2020–21
| [[Jenny Lund (historian)|Jenny Lund]]
| Director of the Historic Sites Division of the [[Church History Department]]
|-
| 2021–22
| [[Claudia Bushman]]
| Professor of [[American Studies]] emerita at [[Columbia University]]
|-
| 2022–23
| Matthew Bowman
| Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies, [[Claremont Graduate University]]
|-
| 2023–24
| David Howlett
| Mellon Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion at [[Smith College]]
|-
| 2024–25
| Andrea Radke-Moss
| Department of History and Political Science, at [[BYU-Idaho]]
|}

==''Journal of Mormon History''==
[[File:JournalofMormonHIstory.gif|thumb|Cover of the Fall 2008 issue (Vol. 34, No. 4). Covers between 1991 and 2009 were variations on this abstracted window from the Salt Lake City Tenth Ward building.<ref>{{cite journal | title=COVER | page=ii | journal=Journal of Mormon History | volume=34 | issue=4 | url=http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory/vol34/iss4/1/ | access-date=2015-11-23}}</ref>]]
Since 1974, MHA has produced the ''Journal of Mormon History'', an [[academic journal]] in the field of [[Mormon studies]]. From the founding of MHA until 1974, ''[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought]]'' was a principal venue for articles on Mormon History written by MHA members.

A DVD archive of past issues of the journal is available at MHA's web site.

===List of editors===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name !! Position !! Term
|-
| Richard Sadler || Editor || 1974–1981
|-
| [[Dean L. May]] || Editor || 1982–1985
|-
| [[Leonard J. Arrington]] || Editor || 1986–1987
|-
| Lowell M. Durham Jr. || Editor || 1988–1990
|-
| [[Lavina Fielding Anderson]] || Editor || 1991–2009
|-
| Martha P. Taysom<ref>{{cite web | author=Ben | title=New JMH Editor: Martha P. Taysom | date=January 29, 2009 | work=[[Juvenile Instructor (blog)|Juvenile Instructor]] | url=http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/new-jmh-editor-martha-p-taysom/ | access-date=2009-10-26}}</ref> || Editor || 2009–2016
|-
| Jessie L. Embry<ref>{{cite web | author=J. Stuart | title=New Editor of the Journal of Mormon History: Jessie Embry | date=October 21, 2015 | work=[[Juvenile Instructor (blog)|Juvenile Instructor]] | url=http://juvenileinstructor.org/18241-2/ | access-date=2015-11-05}}</ref> || Editor || 2016–2019
|-
| Christopher James Blythe<br/>Jessie L. Embry || Co-editors || 2020–2022
|-
| Christopher Cannon Jones<br/>Jessie L. Embry || Co-editors || 2023-2024
|-
| Christopher Cannon Jones || Editor || 2024-

|}

== Mormon History Association Awards ==
Among the awards presented by the association are: the [[Leonard J. Arrington]] Award "for distinguished and meritorious service to Mormon history" – named for the MHA's founder, and father of [[New Mormon history]]; Best Book Award; Best First Book; Best Documentary or Bibliography; Best Biography; an award for an outstanding International Mormon history; an award for an outstanding history of a Mormon family (or grouping of families in one community).<ref>{{citation |url= http://mormonhistoryassociation.org/awards |title= MHA Awards |work= MormonHistoryAssociation.org |publisher= Mormon History Association }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://mormonhistoryassociation.org Official website (new)]
* [http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory/vol40/iss4/ DigitalCommons.USU.edu/MormonHistory]
* [http://www.mhahome.org Official website (old)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080612051305/http://www.mhahome.org/awards/index.php Awards given by the MHA]
* [http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory/ Digitized archive of the ''Journal of Mormon History'']

{{Western U.S. historical societies}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mormon History Association}}
[[Category:1965 establishments in California]]
[[Category:Historians of the Latter Day Saint movement|*Mormon History Association]]
[[Category:Historical societies in Utah]]
[[Category:History organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saint organizations]]
[[Category:Mormon studies]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Utah]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1965]]
[[Category:Non-profit organizations based in Utah]]

Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Mormon History Association