Comments on: Guest Post: A “Sea Change” in Mormon Historical Studies

By: Diane Peel

Diane Peel — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:09:29 +0000

Once again I find I missed a real gem because I don’t stay current enough with important reading during the gardening season. In my defense in south eastern Idaho the growing season is so short everything has to be crammed into 115 days.

But I was lucky enough to hear Bill speak at both the MHA and the Utah Historical Society this year – so count myself very lucky.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:48:54 +0000

Thanks for this, Bill.

By: SmallAxe

SmallAxe — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:18:15 +0000

This is wonderful, thank you.

By: David Y.

David Y. — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:14:04 +0000

This is wonderful. I loved reading your personal assessment. Thanks.

By: kevinf

kevinf — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:43:06 +0000

Great thoughts. Certainly we do seem to have recovered from the reactionary pullback following Leonard Arrington’s tenure as Church Historian, and I would believe that several recent events have probably positively reinforced the new openness at the Church History Library and the Church hierarchy in general. First, the Joseph Smith Papers project has been well received and recognized as a major scholarly achievement. Second, the net result of publishing Walker, Turley, and Leonard’s Massacre at Mountain Meadows, while painful in some aspects, has been a positive and perhaps cathartic experience for the Church and its members. Providing access to the CHL catalog online is also a sign of a growing confidence in the new openness, I believe.

The Church as both purveyor and protector of its message will always be watchful. However, the sense of being a persecuted minority, reinforced through the Church’s first century of existence, is waning, it would appear.

By: middle-aged Mormon Man

middle-aged Mormon Man — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:33:11 +0000

Great line: “the lions guarding the waterhole of truth”

By: Ben Park

Ben Park — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:31:52 +0000

This is great, Bill; thanks for your reflections. It is indeed a great age to be doing Mormon history, thanks in large part to the shoulders we are now standing upon.