- Mormon History Association
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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 under the leadership of Latter-day Saint and 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." 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]
Contents
Presidents
MHA presidents are recognized contributors to the field of Mormon history and serve for one year.
Years Name Prominence at the time of service 1966–67 Leonard J. Arrington MHA co-founder; Utah State University history professor; author of Great Basin Kingdom 1967–68 Eugene E. Campbell Brigham Young University (BYU) history professor 1968–69 T. Edgar Lyon 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 history professor 1971–72 Davis Bitton MHA co-founder; University of Utah history professor 1972–73 James B. Allen MHA co-founder; Brigham Young University history professor 1973–74 Reed C. Durham Jr. Director of Institute of Religion at the University of Utah 1974–75 Thomas G. Alexander 1975–76 Charles S. Peterson University of Utah history professor; former director of the Utah State Historical Society. 1976–77 Paul M. Edwards 1977–78 Douglas D. Alder 1978–79 Milton Backman Brigham Young University religious education professor 1979–80 Jan Shipps Indiana University professor of history and religious studies 1980–81 Dean C. Jessee Author of Letters of Brigham Young to his Sons; archivist and researcher with the LDS Church. 1981–82 Melvin T. Smith 1982–83 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 English professor with the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History. 1985–86 Richard L. Bushman Columbia University history professor; author of Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism. 1986–87 Richard W. Sadler 1987–88 Valeen Tippetts Avery Co-author of Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith 1988–89 Stanley B. Kimball Southern Illinois University Edwardsville history professor; author of Heber C. Kimball: Mormon Patriarch and Pioneer 1989–90 Carol Cornwall Madsen Brigham Young University history professor with the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History. 1990–91 Richard P. Howard World Church Historian of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 1991–92 Ronald W. Walker 1992–93 Marvin S. Hill Brigham Young University history professor and author of Quest for Refuge: The Mormon Flight from American Pluralism 1993–94 Roger D. Launius 1994–95 Mario S. DePillis 1995–96 David J. Whittaker Brigham Young University archivist 1996–97 Linda King Newell University of Utah history professor; co-author of Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith; former co-editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought; former John Whitmer Historical Association president 1997–98 Armand L. Mauss Washington State University professor of sociology and religious studies 1998–99 Jill Mulvay Derr BYU History professor, later director of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute 1999–2000 Newell G. Bringhurst 2000–01 William G. Hartley 2001–02 Dean L. May Professor of History, University of Utah, specializing in social history of the American West 2002–03 Larry Foster 2003–04 Martha Sonntag Bradley 2004–05 Donald Q. Cannon Brigham Young University professor 2005–06 Philip L. Barlow Harvard-trained professor of theology and American religious history at Utah State University 2006–07 Ronald K. Esplin Director of Joseph Smith Papers Project; former Brigham Young University professor; former Joseph Fielding Smith Institute director. 2007–08 Paul L. Anderson BYU Museum of Art curator 2008–09 Kathryn M. Daynes Brigham Young University history professor; author of More Wives Than One. 2009–10 Ronald E. Romig Community of Christ archivist 2010–11 William P. MacKinnon[1] Independent historian; author of At Sword's Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858. Journal of Mormon History
Since 1974, MHA has produced the Journal of Mormon History, one of the premier academic journals 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 Journal of Mormon History editors
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[2] Editor 2009–present 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); and the Thomas L. Kane Award, usually given to a non-Mormon historian "in the grand tradition of Thomas L. Kane, the Pennsylvania native [and non-Mormon] who, in 1857, put his reputation on the line in behalf of compromise and peace."[3]
Notes
- ^ "MHA Officers and Board Members". Mormon History Association. July 14, 2009. http://www.mhahome.org/about/officers.php. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ Ben (January 29, 2009). "New JMH Editor: Martha P. Taysom". Juvenile Instructor. http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/new-jmh-editor-martha-p-taysom/. Retrieved 2009-10-26.
- ^ "MHA Awards". MHAHome.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2010. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:r_aEPqwCNZUJ:www.mhahome.org/awards/index.php+%22Mormon+History+Association+Awards+Summary%22&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
External links
Categories:- Historians of the Latter Day Saint movement
- History organizations
- Latter Day Saint organizations
- Mormon studies
- Organizations based in Utah
- Organizations established in 1965
- Utah culture
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