Comments on: “Not Humiliation, But Heroism”: Mormon Refugees in El Paso, 1912

By: Kent Larsen

Kent Larsen — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 16:12:42 +0000

Still an undertold part of the Mormon story. We really need a much more thorough and detailed history of the Mormon colonies.

By: James Goldberg

James Goldberg — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 04:41:48 +0000

Wow. My great-grandparents were kids then. They ended up bouncing north and south of the border a lot over the next forty years, including a few years way south in Hidalgo.

Very cool to see this.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:27:21 +0000

Zionssuburb, email on its way. I recently saw an article about the 1930 (1931? crumbling memory here) dedication of the building, with a picture as of that date — it would be great to see a contemporary one.

By: Zionssuburb

Zionssuburb — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:45:01 +0000

Wow..? Great timing. I happened to be in El Paso for work and heading home today with a few hours to kill before hopping on a plane.

I saw from the utep site some places to visit and decided to swing by the old first ward Chapel. FANTASTIC BUILDING. Beautiful architecture, and fun to know the church history that passed through its doors…. Shoot me an email and I’ll get you the pictures if you like.

By: Mina

Mina — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:08:14 +0000

The conference sounds very interesting! I’m not sure I have anything applicable, but I’ve bookmarked the Call for Papers so I can mull it over and pass it on to others who might be interested. Thanks for the head’s up!

By: Jared T.

Jared T. — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:29:46 +0000

Great article, and thank you for helping spread the word about the conference, it’ll be a good time.

By: The Other Clark

The Other Clark — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:36:28 +0000

Fantastic find! Among the prominent refugees were the Romneys (Marion G. and the grandparents of Mitt) the Eyrings (including Camilla, and the grandparents of Henry B.) and numerous Pratts, Calls, and Ivins’.

I can only assume that the Church estimated income based on tithing receipts. The fact that this information was shared with the newspaper is surprising (As is the report that Mexico was per capita the weathiest part of the Mormon Corridor.) If this was really the case, I would have expected more refugees to return to their homes, but the fact is the relatively few of them did.