Updates: After reading this post, please read the Addendum, especially if you don’t plow through all the comments on this post. Readers need to be aware of how quickly and how well Seth Adam Smith worked to revise his blog and video to reflect his growing understanding of the complexities of history. Also, perhaps partly in response to my unfamiliarity with Paul Thomas Smith, who had kindly offered his assistance to Seth, Seth has posted a short biography of Paul Thomas Smith which should also be a part of this whole story. Although I have edited my own attempt in this post to identify Brother Smith and his work, I have left some of those original lines intact; had I removed them completely, too much discussion by commenters would have been unintelligible. Thanks to all of you who have made positive contributions to the discussion, and especially to Seth for, well, everything he has done and said since this post was published.

[This post, originally published on the morning of 27 June 2011, is being republished on 30 June 2011 in an effort to draw attention to the above updates. Other than the addition of these update paragraphs and the deletion of a few lines regarding Paul Thomas Smith, nothing has been changed since that original posting.]

(more…)

William P. MacKinnon – immediate past president of the Mormon History Association, leading authority on the history of the Utah War, and contributor of several previous guest posts to Keepa – was asked recently for his opinion of the current state of Mormon history, access to records of the institutional church, partisanship of younger historians, and other matters affecting Mormon historical studies. This query was prompted by Richard L. Bushman’s statement at the recent symposium celebrating his 80th birthday (reported by Ben Park in “The Age of Cultural Power” at Juvenile Instructor) that we are living in “a golden era of Mormon history.” Parts of Bill’s essay were quoted by Peggy Fletcher Stack in her recent article reviewing 30 years of development in Mormon historical studies.

.

As a former human resources vice president of the old General Motors Corporation (1980s) and the newest past president of the Mormon History Association (2010-2011), I’ve learned that it’s extremely difficult, if not risky, to make sweeping generalizations about the behavior of large, people-intensive organizations. This applies both in terms of them as institutions and with respect to how their members function as individuals. As the old saying goes, the devil is in the details. One has to look below surface generalizations to piece together a reasonably accurate picture of what is really happening over time. With that caveat in mind, I’ll try to answer your several interrelated questions as briefly as I can.

(more…)

Discussion 6 – The True Spirit of Hospitality

For Tuesday, March 13, 1962

Objective: To point out that the development of the art of being a good hostess and an ideal guest is a woman’s responsibility and that the pleasures derived therefrom are her special privilege.

To have people in one’s home, however humble it may be, to make them welcome without apology, to provide for their comfort and pleasure, is a woman’s special privilege and one she should not neglect. It is under these circumstances that the art of living, rather than the mere essentials of it, are brought into focus.

While the details may differ between a formal dinner and patio picnic held in a home – with or without employed help – the warmth and graciousness of both occasions should not vary. Ideally, the situation can be summed up this way; it is a delight to have guests in the home. for their pleasure we have used our best efforts to make the arrangements attractive, the food delicious, and the company compatible and stimulating. These, of course, are obvious requirements of a hostess showing unselfishness and lack of pretense. Anything done to impress or strengthen one’s own social position through entertaining can almost always be detected, and it detracts from the atmosphere of the party.

(more…)

This takes me right back to those most painful afternoons of eighth grade dances — only, by then, dances were only for youth. Pine for your younger days if you want to, but you couldn’t pay me to be Mary Ellen’s age again!

From the Relief Society Magazine, January 1955 –

Wallflower

By Alice Morrey Bailey

Mary Ellen felt as though her face had frozen in a stiff smile as her last girl friend was chosen to dance, and she was left on the long, bare bench of the amusement hall by herself. She could not control a swift glance over near the entrance where there were a few boys looking out across the dance floor with the supreme indifference that only boys can achieve; nor could she control the fervent wish that once, just once, one of them would come and ask her to dance.

The saxophone wailed and the floor rocked slightly with the rhythm of the dancers whirling past. There were laughter and gay snatches of chatter, and bright colors mingled in a dizzying spectograph. Mary Ellen, watching them, felt wretchedly conspicuous and hurtingly alone. Why was she left out?

(more…)

From the pages of the Juvenile Instructor, presumably written, or at least approved, by George Q. Cannon –

It becomes a question of some importance in these days whether the Latter-day Saints can divide on politics and still be Latter-day Saints, still have fellowship for one another, and still preserve that respect one for the other that the gospel requires.

The discussion of politics has brought to the surface many strange exhibitions of feeling among members of the Church. Such exhibitions would have been deemed incredible a short time ago. Many have yielded to a spirit that produces anything but harmony and love, and there is considerable danger that this agitation may almost prove too strong an ordeal for the faith of many men who have passed through a good many trials in the past and been undisturbed thereby.

(more…)

This post supplements yesterday’s post evaluating William W. Phelps’ account of a dream he claimed to have heard from Joseph Smith in the last day’s of Joseph’s life. Rather than burying this in a comment there, I’m posting it separately in hopes of drawing the attention of all those who read the original post.

Update: In addition to this addendum, please also see the short biography of Paul Thomas Smith posted by Seth on his website, which should also be a part of this whole story.

In that post, I discussed some of the ways in which a historian might evaluate the reliability of such a document. The questions and considerations raised there are the same kinds of points I raise for myself when I find an interesting account that I consider posting on Keepa: although for a casual medium like blogging I can’t always invest the same time and effort that I would put into a more formal publication (I can and do correct a posted story if I later discover that I got a date wrong or mistranscribed a place name), I aim for accuracy as well as catching your interest or sharing my admiration for an early Saint’s faithful life.

That post confirmed much of the background of the published dream claimed by Seth Adam Smith on his blog post introducing his new video; it also noted some problems with the account and Phelps’ credibility that would have caused me to choose not to post the dream on Keepa, at least not without alerting readers to the difficulties.

(more…)

Shawn Young comes to Keepa after landing on February’s post about the man-eating shark caught at Laie by Hamana Kalili, subject of Shawn’s work-in-progress. A website for that biography is under construction (this page is blank today, but I’m preserving the link for readers who check back in a few weeks). Shawn’s personal website includes his published account of Kalili’s wave as the origin of the shaka sign.

Give him a good welcome, and maybe we can coax him to share further stories of Kalili or Hawaii, or to announce here the publication of the biography. — AEP

-oOo-

In 1915, Joseph. F. Smith, nephew of the late Prophet and acting President of the Church, was in Laie on church business. It was at least his fourth trip to the remote Pacific islands, located about a week’s journey by steam ship from San Francisco. He had been in Hawaii from 1854–1857 while a teenager as a missionary. A few years later, in 1864, he was sent there again as part of a delegation from the Church to straighten out the debacle being conducted by Walter Murray Gibson at the Palawai settlement. And, finally, he lived in Laie from 1884–1891 while in exile to evade federal prosecution for polygamy (at the time the Hawaiian Islands were a sovereign kingdom, outside of the formal jurisdiction of the United States).

(more…)

Let’s take a week’s hiatus  between serials to catch our collective breath after that last one!  Here’s another story of Janet and Stevie, the one-time orphans we’ve met before:

From the Relief Society Magazine, September 1941 –

Pink Lemonade for the Boys

By Olive W. Burt

The ice cream in the tightly clutched cones was melting faster than small pink tongues could lap it up, and the brown hands were speckled with drops of strawberry red, but neither Janet nor Stevie noticed this, and kept on licking automatically, while their eyes watched the men.

The men were fascinating creatures, perched high against the billboard in the summer sun. But the work they were doing was even more fascinating, for they were posting bills about the circus – brilliant bills that showed prancing horses with beautiful ladies standing on their backs; swinging trapeze bars, from which hung strong-armed men tossing smiling ladies back and forth; raging lions, teeth bared and eyes gleaming; elephants and clowns; all the dazzling attractions of a three-ringed circus.

(more…)

You know how it’s impossible to teach anything in a Gospel Doctrine class that hasn’t been said a gazillion times before? Unless, that is, it’s so speculative and far-fetched that even the tin-foil-hat crazies haven’t thought of it yet? Something new and true and somehow meaningful?

Never happens.

It did today, the only time in my teaching life that has ever happened, so I want to document it. It came about so simply, too.

(more…)

Lesson 23: “Love One Another, As I Have Loved You”

Luke 22:7-30
John 13-15

Purpose: to inspire class members to follow Jesus’ example by loving and serving others.

Introduction

I think it’s normal for us to hope that we will be remembered after we are gone. For most of us, the people we expect to remember us are probably children and grandchildren. But even if, like me, you won’t be leaving any descendants when you pass on, we all still want to be remembered, to believe that the world is better, somehow, than it would have been had we never been born. Maybe the people you hope will remember you are the ones who will find and appreciate the poetry you’ve written that you’ve been too shy to share. Or maybe they won’t even know your name, but someone will be gladdened by a garden you make, or a charity you support, or an improvement you have made to something in the course of your life’s work. Who will those people be? (rhetorical question – don’t seek answers)

(more…)

Lesson 25: “Not My Will, But Thine, Be Done”

The year reaches its peak, perhaps, in the lesson on the Atonement. The current manual divides the events into four lessons: the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus’s trial, his crucifixion, and the resurrection. This lesson on the first of those events has as its purpose not only the forgiveness that can come to each of us through the Atonement, but also peace and eternal life.

The lesson below, another from O.C. Tanner’s seminary text, is a standard example of how we have taught this lesson in the past.
(more…)

For background, see here
previous episode
next episode (to be added when posted)

.
(more…)

The Particular Way

Barber: “Do you want a hair cut, sir?”

Customer: “No. I want them all cut!”

Barber: “Any particular way, sir?”

Customer: “Yes, off!”

(more…)

His Father’s Son

By Ivy Williams Stone

Previous episode

Chapter 9

Upon a beautiful morning in June, Kareen wakened her son unusually early and smiled happily into his half comprehending eyes.

“Richard,” she cried gaily, “Richard, wake up! This is your birthday! You are twenty-one today! We are going out to the farm, and to Father Haven’s; and then to the lawyer’s office; and there you will receive the second installment of your father’s will. And while we are there, we might as well make a day of legal transaction, and prepare the deed to the Japanese farmers, and get the money and come back and start to pack. We are going to Europe!”

“Uncle Oliver and Aunt Esther have a pair of twin girls,” announced Richard nonchalantly, now fully awake. “I saw Uncle in the market yesterday. He’s got a stall of his own now, and more people came to his place last Saturday than to all the others put together. He sells dressed chickens, and asparagus and spinach, Burbank’s white blackberries, and everbearing strawberries. He’ll have the first cucumbers and watermelons. I’d like to run the stand. It has a sign reading “Haven Farms, Incorporated.”

(more…)

You’re probably familiar with the popular 19th century ballad about “Sweet Betsy from Pike, who crossed the broad prairie with her lover Ike.” (Or maybe she crossed the mountains in your version, or the desert, or the ocean, or a river – there are certainly enough variants out there to suit just about any setting.) Betsy and Ike traveled everywhere, met Indians, went hungry, outwitted outlaws, survived stage crashes and prairie fires, wore out their clothes, went dancing, ate shoe leather, repaired their wagon, got married, got divorced, did just about anything that any singer’s imagination could devise. In many versions –

They stopped at Salt Lake to ask for the way,
And old Brigham said that sweet Betsy must stay.
But Betsy was skeered, run around like a deer,
And old Brigham pawed up the ground like a steer.

(more…)

Its official website announces this new movie with the statement:

Based on unbelievable actual events, and brought to you by filmmaker T.C. Christensen (Praise to the Man, The Work and the Glory), 17 Miracles will open your eyes to the stories of the Mormon Pioneers as you have never seen them before. Something extraordinary is about to happen.

It’s probably never a good idea for a movie that claims to be based on actual events to introduce them as “unbelievable.” Just sayin’.

In countless interviews during the course of making this movie (a process heavily reported by the Deseret News as Googling quickly shows), T.C. Christensen cautioned potential viewers that his movie was not a documentary. I didn’t expect it to be. I knew, for instance, that for dramatic purposes the director had combined experiences from two distinct handcart companies – despite how often we refer to “The Martin and Willie Handcart Company,” these were two separate companies under separate leadership that left Iowa at different times, did not meet each other on the trail, and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley three weeks apart. As is common with historical fiction, I also expected that several real persons might have been combined into single composite characters, that events would be telescoped, and so on. No problem, really.

(more…)

His Father’s Son

By Ivy Williams Stone

Previous episode

Chapter 8

Richard Haven crawled out from under the truck, where he had been assisting in changing a tire, and surveyed his handiwork with satisfaction. “Getting those bolts off was sure some job,” he admitted, “but it was fun, too. My, but she’s a beauty!” He stepped back and looked over the shiny new truck with the joy of possession. He ran his hand lovingly over the gold sign “Haven Farms, Incorporated.” “That means me, too,” he half whispered. “My, I’m glad you got it, Uncle Oliver. Soon I’ll be driving it for you. I can bring the load to market every day. Your having to come at night, like you do, makes it sort of hard. I will be there; I will get up early and reach the markets long before the horse teams.” The boy glanced sympathetically at his Uncle Oliver, who still wore the protecting shield over his face, and who still avoided meeting people.

“You’ll have to wear different clothes than what you got on now, Richard, if you expect to get very far with a truck. I’d say that suit is sort of dirty. Was you expecting to go some place when you saw me?”

(more…)

The Mormon tradition of Fathers and Sons Outings was solidified in the 1920s under the auspices of the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association. Reproduced here is the full text of the 1926 manual (the photos in that manual, except for the cover, could not be reproduced – I have access only to a negative microfilm copy).

Have you been on many Fathers and Sons Outings? Are they as well planned, with goals as clear as those here? Comments on the eats? the songs? the activities?

WHY HAVE A FATHERS AND SONS OUTING?

Fathers and Sons outings offer great opportunity for fellowship and companionship between father and son. The great out-of-doors is a natural setting in which this purpose may be best accomplished. While the period is very brief, lasting perhaps from three to ten days, yet because of the close relationships which it brings – in sleeping, eating, hiking, playing, fishing, enjoying one another – great opportunities are offered for the formation of lasting friendships.

From reports submitted to our office, we are pleased to learn that presidents of stakes and others who have attended successful Fathers and Sons outings are unanimously enthusiastic in their approval of such gatherings. Every father and son in the Church should be privileged to secure the thrill and pleasure associated with these organized excursions.

(more…)

.

.

.

.

.

.

From the Children’s Friend,
August 1926

Previous installment

A Sequel, by J. Arthur Meacham

The entries in my Journal for August 11 and 12, 1904, are a sequel to the story published in the Church Section of The News … under the title “Leaves from a Life’s Journal,” prepared by my friend Isaac B. Ball from the journal of Elder Gaston L. Braley.

My story runs thus:

Thursday, August 11, 1904. After leaving Mr. Campbell’s this morning we canvassed the houses along our road till about noon when we began asking for something to eat – which we did not get, however, as we are in territory where the elders have, in the past, been rather badly treated. But we continued our tracting, talking to any and all who would grant us that privilege. Late in the afternoon we began asking for entertainment for the night which we were refused many times, by some on flimsy excuses, and by some because, as they emphatically said, “We do not entertain Mormons.”

(more…)

His Father’s Son

By Ivy Williams Stone

Previous episode

Chapter 7

Life in a city apartment house was vastly different from that of the Haven Farms. Kareen hunted about until she found one with the “Bohemian air,” as the landlord laughingly explained. All of his tenants were artists, and if the musicians did not object to the occasional odor of turpentine paints, the painters did not mind the continuous practicing. Their first purchase was a second hand baby grand piano, delivered with a small “down payment.” This was a wonderful way of securing what you needed, while you needed it, and Kareen blissfully signed the contract papers without reading it.

“Father would never have done it that way,” expostulated Richard. “Father always said to go without things until you could afford to pay for them.”

(more…)

Advice from Catherine Hurst, queen of deportment, child care, stain removal, and the enigmatic answer that makes us wish we knew what question had been asked! From the pages of the 1912 Young Woman’s Journal –

—oooOooo—

I have small children and get so tired, and can never find time to read. Can you give me any suggestions that will help me? – Mrs. Irene W—.

My dear girl, I believe you have learned the art of working, but not of resting. Relaxation or getting off tension is resting. Cultivate the habit of letting things go, also get in the habit of napping, it is wonderful how refreshed one feels after a few trials at this. Change of work is restful. When a woman has the power to “let things go” and snatch an hour in the midst of confusion to finish a good article or study a page, she will scarcely have nervous prostration. Do not think this is the last day on earth or that the world depends on you. Go to the theatre occasionally and forget home duties.

—oooOooo—

(more…)

A waaay over-long navel-gazer of a post:

Seraphine at Zelophehad’s Daughters has had a long-running series of (to me) fascinating posts on what it is like to be a 30-something single in the church (current post here). With apologies for poaching on her idea, I’d like to jump forward a couple of decades and explore what it’s like to be a 50-something single in the Church.

The good news is that it’s almost – almost – always easier and better to be a 50-something single than a 30-something single. Most of that has to do with your own maturity; virtually nothing has to do with improvements in the situation at Church.

(more…)

For background, see here
previous episode
next episode (to be added when posted)

.
(more…)

Applied Cookery

The superintendent of a Sunday School was one afternoon explaining to his scholars the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal; how Elijah built an altar, put wood upon it, and cut a bullock in pieces and laid it on the altar.

“And then,” said the superintendent, “he commanded the people to fill four barrels with water, and to pour it over the altar; and they did this four times. Now, I wonder if any boy or girl can tell me why this water was poured over the bullock upon the altar?”

There was silence for a few moments, when one little girl spoke up:

“Please, sir, to make the gravy.”

(more…)

His Father’s Son

By Ivy Williams Stone

Previous episode

Chapter 6

The news of the death of Richard Haven the II quickly spread over the entire county. The fame of the Haven Farms had been far reaching; and the tragic death of the elder son, coupled with the uncertain accident to the foster daughter, added to the sympathy which the entire community had already felt for the family since Oliver’s accident. Father Haven, white faced and with drooping shoulders, moved as if in a trance. Mother Haven, seemingly endowed with a superhuman calm, took charge of all the funeral details. Oliver sat beside Esther’s bed, in the darkened room, holding her hand and whispering words of endearment and comfort.

“Taint right I should be talking of marriage while my brother lies dead,” he muttered, “but as soon as you’re well enough we’re going to be married. I always felt you ought to have your chance to marry a man who didn’t have a blemish on his face. I figured you’d get sickened of looking at a man without a nose, but now —”

(more…)

We all learned in grade school about the influence of the moon on Earth’s oceans, that a combination of the gravitational force of the moon and the rotation of the Earth causes the incoming and outgoing tides. Some of us – not me – may even have learned that twice a month, at the new and full moons when the sun, moon and Earth are aligned, the sun reinforces the gravitational pull exerted by the moon, and “spring tides” – referring to the bursting forth of water as a spring, without reference to the spring season – increase the range of the high tide.

The night of January 31-February 1, 1953, was the date of such a spring tide. The waves of the North Sea beat against the land in Britain and France and the “low countries” of Holland and Belgium. This was nothing to be especially concerned about – it happened twice every month. But on that Saturday, January 31, a strong northwest wind also began to blow. The storm grew more and more severe and added its force to that of the spring tide, raising the level of tidal surges to more than 18 feet above the mean level of the sea.

Fishing trawlers around the North Sea were overwhelmed and sank, as was a ferry east of Belfast, Ireland (133 deaths). In Belgium, 28 people on land were drowned; in England, the loss of life reached 307. In Holland, much of whose land was lower than sea level, having been claimed from the ocean by the building of dikes and the draining of seawater, the losses were catastrophic.

(more…)

One of my old columns for the Salt Lake Tribune:

On July 7, 1908, a laborer digging the foundation for John M. Knight’s wagon factory on Salt Lake City’s Social Hall Avenue bent to take a closer look at the rubble. Then he climbed out of the pit and went to find a policeman.

He had found a human skeleton, one showing signs of European origin, buried where no white cemetery had a right to be. An undertaker carefully gathered all the bones that could be found, together with bits of clothing, and conveyed them to the police station. Investigators determined that the burial was decades old; if foul play was involved, they would be unlikely to solve it.

Without so much as a notice in any of the newspapers, the bones were boxed and put into a storage closet at police headquarters. They lay forgotten there as the months passed.

(more…)

His Father’s Son

By Ivy Williams Stone

Previous episode

Chapter 5

The new cloth, a strong, tough cotton, was called khaki. An officer named Roosevelt had introduced it for his “Rough Riders.” His men did not suffer intolerable heat with woolen uniforms, and the drab color made the soldiers inconspicuous. Esther spread the bolt of cloth out on her bed, measuring and calculating the number of masks that could be fashioned from it. Quilt making was laid aside; the deft needle of Esther made fine, smooth seams, and button-holed two small breathing holes in each mask. In addition, she rose extra early each morning to serve Oliver a special breakfast which he ate alone before the rest of the family came to eat. The mask had to be removed and even Esther, after her loving service, left the room, leaving Oliver alone with his affliction. He never deviated from this custom – always his meals were served to him alone.

“You ought to go out more, Esther, and get to care for someone else,” he admonished. “You ought to marry soon.”

(more…)

Previous installment

During the dictation of the above hour’s work, Brother Braley was abed, but he seemed a little stronger. He expressed the regret that he was not himself on account of his illness. He said that if his mind were clear and strong as before, his vocabulary would be much improved. He has been seriously ill for two years. He resumed the narrative the next day.

While on my way back to South Carolina I saw a man traveling in the same direction in which we were going. The road that he was on and the one we were on came together right at the river.

When we met the man, he asked if we were Mormon missionaries. We told him that we were. He said he had read one of the tracts that had been left somewhere and sent to Salt lake City and had received other literature. He said, “Now I am a thorough convert, and would like very much to be baptized.”

(more…)

Dreading another meeting or telephone conference this afternoon? Print off a copy of Miss Columbia, get out your highlighters (aka, grown-up crayons), and doodle while your boss drones on. From the February 1919 Juvenile Instructor –

(more…)