Davis Bitton

{{Infobox Latter Day Saint biography

| name = Davis Bitton

| image = R. Davis Bitton.jpg

| image_size = 150px

| alt = Photo of Davis Bitton

| caption =

| birth_name = Ronald Davis Bitton

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|02|22|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = Blackfoot, Idaho, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2007|04|13|1930|02|22|mf=yes}}

| death_place = Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.

| resting_place = Salt Lake City Cemetery

| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|40|46|37.92|N|111|51|28.8|W|type:landmark|display=inline}}

| notable_works = Author of notable Mormon histories

| education = Ph.D. in history

| alma_mater = Brigham Young University
Princeton University

| employer = University of Utah

| occupation = Historian
Professor of History

| title = Charter member and president of the Mormon History Association

| portals = LDS

| position_or_quorum1 = Assistant Church Historian

| called_by1 = Leonard J. Arrington

| predecessor1 = E. Earl Olson

| successor1 = None until 2008
Richard E. Turley, Jr.

| start_date1 = 1972

| end_date1 = 1982

| end_reason1 = The LDS Church transferred its History Division to BYU in 1982

}}

Ronald Davis Bitton (February 22, 1930 – April 13, 2007){{sfn|Parshall|2007}} was a charter member and president of the Mormon History Association, professor of history at the University of Utah, and official Assistant Church Historian in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) working with Leonard J. Arrington.

Biography

Bitton was raised in the area of Blackfoot, Idaho. He started playing piano at age six and was a talented pianist.{{sfn|Parshall|2007}} After two years at Brigham Young University (BYU), he served as an LDS missionary in France{{sfn|In Memoriam}} where he edited the church's L'Etoile periodical.{{sfn|Arrington|1998}} While on his LDS mission he performed on the piano to assist in proselyting.{{sfn|Parshall|2007}} He then served in the United States Army during the Korean War.{{sfn|Arrington|1998}}{{sfn|Davis Bitton}} Bitton returned to BYU where he was president of his Phi Alpha Theta chapter. While president of the Phi Alpha Theta chapter at BYU he invited Arrington to address the spring banquet. Arrington also wrote a letter of recommendation for Bitton during this time.{{sfn|Arrington|1998|p=82}} He graduated in 1956 from BYU with a BA in history.{{sfn|Arrington|1998|pp=82–3}} Afterward, he studied at Princeton University; there he received a M.A. in 1958 and earned his Ph.D. in French History in 1961.{{sfn|Davis Bitton}}{{sfn|Bitton|2004}}

Bitton was a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin until 1961 when he started teaching at the University of California, Santa Barbara.{{sfn|Arrington|1998}} He then joined the University of Utah faculty in 1966{{sfn|Arrington|1998}} where he taught for 29 years{{sfn|Noted LDS historian R. Davis Bitton die}} until his retirement in 1995.{{sfn|Davis Bitton}} Coming out of retirement, from 2005–2006 Bitton was a visiting professor at Brigham Young University Hawaii.{{sfn|In Memoriam}}

He was an original member and founder of the Mormon History Association in 1965 and he served as president from 1971–1972.{{sfn|Acknowledging Davis Bitton}}{{sfn|Bitton|1983}} Bitton served as an official Assistant Church Historian to Leonard J. Arrington from 1972–1982.{{sfn|Noted LDS historian R. Davis Bitton die}}{{sfn|Arrington|1998|p=215}} Bitton referred to this time as "Camelot", an exciting time of unprecedented development of new Mormon historical research. Bitton published several works with Arrington.{{sfn|Bitton|1983}} With Arrington's help, Bitton was appointed as a consultant for BYU to the newly created Joseph Fielding Smith Institute with an honorarium of $1,000 per year. However, this position only lasted two years before it was terminated.{{sfn|Arrington|1998|p=215}}

Bitton married his wife Joan in 1984,{{sfn|Arrington|1998|p=235}} and later in life they served together as guides on Temple Square for five years.{{sfn|Bitton|2004}} He died at the age of 77 in Salt Lake City.{{sfn|In Memoriam}}

Awards and honors

Davis Bitton has been presented five awards by the MHA. His first award granted by the MHA was in 1975 for the Best Article By A Senior Author for his works Ritualization of Mormon History and The Making of a Community: Blackfoot, Idaho, 1878 to 1910. Two years later he won the Outstanding Bibliography Award for his Guide to Mormon Diaries and Autobiographies. In 1979, Arrington and Bitton were given the MHA Best Book Award for The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latterday Saints. For his biography on George Q. Cannon, Bitton was honored with the MHA Best Book Award in 1999; in 2006, the Mormon History Association awarded Bitton the Leonard J. Arrington Award for "distinguished and meritorious service to Mormon history."{{sfn|MHA Awards, Year 2006}}

Although his specialty was French history, Bitton made many contributions to Mormon history. Bitton was given the "Silver Award" from Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought for an essay on B. H. Roberts.{{sfn|Noted LDS historian R. Davis Bitton die}} Bitton's biography of George Q. Cannon was described by Deseret News "as a definitive study of one of the most important of all Mormon leaders."{{sfn|Lythgoe|1999}}

Published works

The following is only a partial list of Bitton's published works:

=Books=

{{cite book|author=Bitton, Davis|title=The French Nobility in Crisis, 1560-1640|url=https://archive.org/details/frenchnobilityin0000bitt|url-access=registration|year=1969|publisher=Stanford University Press|location=Stanford, California}}
{{cite book|author=Bitton, Davis|title=Wit and Whimsy in Mormon History|year=1974|publisher=Deseret Book}}{{sfn|Arrington|1998|p=123}}
{{cite book|author=Arrington, Leonard|authorlink=Leonard J. Arrington|author2=Bitton, Davis|title=Guide to Mormon Diaries and Autobiographies|year=1977|publisher=Brigham Young University Press|location=Provo, Utah|isbn=0-8425-1478-3|format=PDF|url=http://paperity.org/p/83568687/guide-to-mormon-diaries-autobiographies-davis-bitton|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907150409/http://paperity.org/p/83568687/guide-to-mormon-diaries-autobiographies-davis-bitton|accessdate=2016-01-20|archive-date=2018-09-07}}
Winner of Outstanding Bibliography Award (Mormon History Association){{sfn|MHA Awards, Year 2006}}
{{cite book|author=Arrington, Leonard|authorlink=Leonard J. Arrington|author2=Bitton, Davis|title=The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints|year=1979|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location=New York|isbn=0-394-46566-0}}
Winner of Best Book Award (Mormon History Association){{sfn|MHA Awards, Year 2006}}
{{cite book|author=Arrington, Leonard|author2=Bitton, Davis|title=Saints Without Halos: The Human Side of Mormon History|year=1981|publisher=Signature Books|location=Salt Lake City|isbn=0-941214-01-X|url=http://signaturebookslibrary.org/saints-without-halos/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906014113/http://signaturebookslibrary.org/saints-without-halos/|archive-date=2018-09-06}}
{{cite book|author=Bitton, Davis|title=The Redoubtable John Pack: Pioneer, Proselyter, Patriarch|year=1982|publisher=The John Pack Family Association-Eden Hill|location=Midvale, Utah}}
{{cite book|author=Arrington, Leonard|authorlink=Leonard J. Arrington|author2=Bitton, Davis|title=Mormons and their Historians|year=1988|publisher=University of Utah Press|location=Salt Lake City|isbn=0-87480-280-6}}
{{cite book|author=Bitton, Davis|title=The Ritualization of Mormon History and Other Essays|year=1994|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Urbana|isbn=0-252-02079-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ritualizationofm00bitt}}
{{cite book|author=Bitton, Davis|title=George Q. Cannon: A Biography|year=1999|publisher=Deseret Book|location=Salt Lake City|isbn=1-57345-490-7}}
Winner of Best Book Award (Mormon History Association) and Evans Biography Award (Utah State University){{sfn|Turley|2010}}

=Articles=

{{cite journal|author=Bitton, Davis|title=Ritualization of Mormon History|journal=Utah Historical Quarterly|date=Winter 1975|volume=43|issue=1|pages=67–85|doi=10.2307/45059451 |jstor=45059451 |s2cid=254449523 }}
Winner of Best Article by a Senior Author (Mormon History Association){{sfn|MHA Awards, Year 2006}}
{{cite journal|title=Ten Years in Camelot: A Personal Memoir|journal=Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|date=Autumn 1983|volume=16|issue=3|pages=9–19|doi=10.2307/45225167 |jstor=45225167 |s2cid=254398971 |url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V16N03_11.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422015817/https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V16N03_11.pdf|archive-date=2017-04-22 |last1=Bitton |first1=Davis |ref=none}}

Notes

References

{{cite web

|ref= {{harvid|Acknowledging Davis Bitton}}

|title= Acknowledging Davis Bitton

|url=https://mormonhistoryassociation.org/about/awards-nominations/

|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170112150006/https://mormonhistoryassociation.org/about/awards-nominations/

|accessdate= 5 September 2018|archive-date= 2017-01-12

}}

{{cite book

| title = Adventures of a Church Historian

| last = Arrington

| first = Leonard J.

| authorlink = Leonard J. Arrington

| year = 1998

| publisher = University of Illinois Press

| location = Urbana, Illinois

| isbn = 0-252-02381-1

}}

{{cite journal

|last=Bitton

|first= Davis

|title=Ten Years in Camelot: A Personal Memoir

|journal=Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought

|date=Autumn 1983

|volume=16

|issue=3

|pages=9–19

|doi= 10.2307/45225167

|jstor= 45225167

|s2cid= 254398971

|url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V16N03_11.pdf

|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170422015817/https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V16N03_11.pdf

|accessdate= 6 September 2018|archive-date= 2017-04-22

}}

{{cite web

|last=Bitton

|first= Davis

|title=About the Author

|work=Meridian Magazine

|year=2004

|accessdate=22 July 2008 |url-status=dead |url=http://www.meridianmagazine.com/historybits/040205cannon.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081119062802/http://www.meridianmagazine.com/historybits/040205cannon.html

|archivedate=2008-11-19 }}

{{cite web

|ref= {{harvid|Davis Bitton}}

|title=Davis Bitton

|work=Mormon Literature Database

|publisher=Brigham Young University

|url=http://mormonarts.lib.byu.edu/people/davis-bitton

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108011247/http://mormonarts.lib.byu.edu/people/davis-bitton

|accessdate=22 July 2008|archive-date=2015-01-08

}}

{{cite news

|title=In Memoriam

|work=U-News & Views

|publisher=University of Utah Alumni Association

|date=May 2007

|url=https://www.alumni.utah.edu/u-news/may07/memoriam.htm

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021193842/https://www.alumni.utah.edu/u-news/may07/memoriam.htm

|accessdate=22 July 2008|archive-date=2015-10-21 |ref={{harvid|In Memoriam}}

}}

{{cite web

|last=Lythgoe

|first=Dennis

|title=Biography details the talents, genius of George Q. Cannon

|publisher=Deseret News

|year=1999

|url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/727860/Biography-details-the-talents-genius-of-George-Q-Cannon.html

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905213816/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/727860/Biography-details-the-talents-genius-of-George-Q-Cannon.html

|accessdate= 5 September 2018|archive-date=2018-09-05

}}

{{cite web

|ref= {{harvid|MHA Awards, Year 2006}}

|title=MHA Awards, Year 2006

|publisher=Mormon History Association

|url=http://www.mhahome.org/awards/07_Awards.pdf

|accessdate=22 July 2008

|url-status=dead

|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213160031/http://www.mhahome.org/awards/07_Awards.pdf|archivedate=2012-02-13

}}

{{cite news

|ref= {{harvid|Noted LDS historian R. Davis Bitton die}}

|title=Noted LDS historian R. Davis Bitton dies

|work=Deseret Morning News

|date=16 April 2007

|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/660212140/Noted-LDS-historian-R-Davis-Bitton-dies.html

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022083626/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/660212140/Noted-LDS-historian-R-Davis-Bitton-dies.html

|accessdate=22 July 2008|archive-date=2016-10-22

}}

{{cite web

|last=Parshall

|first= Ardis

|title=Ronald Davis Bitton, 1930-2007 (Updated)

|work=Times and Seasons blog

|date=13 April 2007

|url=https://www.timesandseasons.org/harchive/2007/04/ronald-davis-bitton-1930-2007/

|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180609220434/https://www.timesandseasons.org/harchive/2007/04/ronald-davis-bitton-1930-2007/

|accessdate=22 July 2008|archive-date= 2018-06-09

}}

{{cite web

|ref= {{harvid|Past MHA Presidents}}

|title=Past MHA Presidents

|publisher=Mormon History Association

|url=http://www.mhahome.org/about/past_presidents.php

|accessdate=22 July 2018

|url-status=dead

|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213160038/http://www.mhahome.org/about/past_presidents.php|archivedate=2012-02-13

}}

{{cite web

|ref= {{harvid|Religious Studies Center}}

|title=Religious Studies Center

|url=https://rsc.byu.edu/authors/bitton-davis

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107043706/https://rsc.byu.edu/authors/bitton-davis

|accessdate= 5 September 2018|archive-date=2017-11-07

}}

{{cite web

|last= Turley

|first= Richard E.

|title=Assistant Church Historians and the Publishing of Church History

|year=2010

|url=https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/preserving-history-latter-day-saints/2-assistant-church-historians-and-publishing-church-0

|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171108101230/https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/preserving-history-latter-day-saints/2-assistant-church-historians-and-publishing-church-0

|accessdate= 7 September 2018|archive-date= 2017-11-08

}}

External links

[http://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/resources/471 Davis Bitton papers, MSS 7441] at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
[https://web.archive.org/web/20150108011247/https://mormonarts.lib.byu.edu/people/davis-bitton/ Davis Bitton] at the MLCA Database
Talk given by James B. Allen at Bitton's funeral: [https://web.archive.org/web/20180905222408/https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1690&context=msr Davis Bitton: His Scholarship and Faith]

Category:1930 births

Category:2007 deaths

Category:20th-century American historians

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:20th-century Mormon missionaries

Category:United States Army personnel of the Korean War

Category:American Latter Day Saint writers

Category:American Mormon missionaries in France

Category:Brigham Young University alumni

Category:Brigham Young University–Hawaii faculty

Category:Historians of France

Category:Official historians of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints