Mormon History Association
{{Short description|Organization to study Mormon history}}
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." It is not formally affiliated with the LDS Church.{{Cite web |last=Swensen |first=Jason |date=2018-06-11 |title=Mormon History Association conference says the past of the LDS Church is not frozen |url=https://www.deseret.com/2018/6/11/20646736/mormon-history-association-conference-says-the-past-of-the-lds-church-is-not-frozen |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=Deseret News |language=en}} 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|date=April 2010}}
Presidents
MHA presidents are recognized contributors to the field of Mormon history and serve for one year.
| class="wikitable" |
| Years
! Name ! Prominence at the time of service |
|---|
| 1966–67
| MHA co-founder; Utah State University historian; author of Great Basin Kingdom |
| 1967–68
| Brigham Young University (BYU) history professor |
| 1968–69
| Nauvoo Restoration |
| 1969–70
| Utah State University history professor |
| 1970–71
| Western Illinois University vice-president; former BYU historian |
| 1971–72
| MHA co-founder; University of Utah history professor |
| 1972–73
| MHA co-founder; BYU history professor |
| 1973–74
| Director of Institute of Religion at the University of Utah |
| 1974–75
| BYU history professor |
| 1975–76
| University of Utah historian; former director of USHS |
| 1976–77
| |
| 1977–78
| USU history professor and director of honors program |
| 1978–79
| BYU Religious Education professor |
| 1979–80
| Indiana University professor of history and religious studies |
| 1980–81
| Joseph Smith researcher and archivist with the LDS Church. |
| 1981–82
| |
| 1982–83
| Professor of history at Graceland University |
| 1983–84
| LDS Institute of Religion Director |
| 1984–85
| BYU English professor with the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute. |
| 1985–86
| Columbia University historian; author of Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism |
| 1986–87
| |
| 1987–88
| Northern Arizona University historian, Co-author of Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith |
| 1988–89
| SIU Edwardsville historian; biographer of Heber C. Kimball |
| 1989–90
| BYU historian with the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute. |
| 1990–91
| World Church Historian of the RLDS Church |
| 1991–92
| BYU history professor |
| 1992–93
| BYU historian; author of Quest for Refuge: The Mormon Flight from American Pluralism |
| 1993–94 |
| 1994–95
| Professor of American Religious history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst |
| 1995–96
| Brigham Young University archivist |
| 1996–97
| historian; author of Mormon Enigma; editor of Dialogue; JWHA president |
| 1997–98
| WSU professor of sociology and religious studies |
| 1998–99
| BYU historian; authored women's histories |
| 1999–2000
| |
| 2000–01
| Director of the Family History and Genealogy Research Center at BYU |
| 2001–02
| University of Utah historian specializing in social history of the American West |
| 2002–03
| Georgia Institute of Technology professor of history, technology, and society |
| 2003–04
| |
| 2004–05
| Brigham Young University professor |
| 2005–06
| Professor of theology and American religious history at Hanover College |
| 2006–07
| Joseph Smith Papers Project director; BYU historian; Joseph Fielding Smith Institute director |
| 2007–08
| BYU Museum of Art curator |
| 2008–09
| BYU historian; author of More Wives Than One |
| 2009–10
| Community of Christ archivist |
| 2010–11
| William P. MacKinnon{{cite web | title=MHA Officers and Board Members | publisher=Mormon History Association | date=July 14, 2009 | url=http://www.mhahome.org/about/officers.php | access-date=2009-07-14}} | Independent historian; author of At Sword's Point |
| 2011–12
| Richard L. Jensen{{cite web | author=R. Scott Lloyd | title='Utah's Dixie' is site for annual Mormon History Association conference | date=June 4, 2011 | work=Church News | url=http://www.ldschurchnewsarchive.com/articles/print/60992/Utahs-Dixie-is-site-for-annual-Mormon-History-Association-conference.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140916192255/http://www.ldschurchnewsarchive.com/articles/print/60992/Utahs-Dixie-is-site-for-annual-Mormon-History-Association-conference.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 16, 2014 | access-date=2014-09-22}} | Research historian with LDS Church History Department |
| 2012–13
| Independent historian; author of Nauvoo |
| 2013–14
| BYU professor of Church History and Doctrine |
| 2014–15
| Harvard University historian of early America and women; Pulitzer and Bancroft winner |
| 2015–16
| Professor at Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, Washington University in St. Louis |
| 2016–17
| BYU historian and director of the Charles Redd Center |
| 2017–18
| Utah State University Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture, professor of history; former Howard W. Hunter Chair at Claremont University |
| 2018–19
| University of Utah professor of history and the director of graduate studies in the history department |
| 2019–20
| Lemuel H. Redd Jr. professor of Western American History at Brigham Young University |
| 2020–21
| Director of the Historic Sites Division of the Church History Department |
| 2021–22
| Professor of American Studies emerita at Columbia University |
| 2022–23
| Matthew Bowman | Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies, Claremont Graduate University |
| 2023–24
| David Howlett | Mellon Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion at Smith College |
| 2024–25
| Andrea Radke-Moss | Department of History and Political Science, at BYU-Idaho |
''Journal of Mormon History''
File:JournalofMormonHIstory.gif
Since 1974, MHA has produced the Journal of Mormon History, an academic journal 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 editors=
| class="wikitable" | ||
| 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{{cite web | author=Ben | title=New JMH Editor: Martha P. Taysom | date=January 29, 2009 | work=Juvenile Instructor | url=http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/new-jmh-editor-martha-p-taysom/ | access-date=2009-10-26}} | Editor | 2009–2016 |
| Jessie L. Embry{{cite web | author=J. Stuart | title=New Editor of the Journal of Mormon History: Jessie Embry | date=October 21, 2015 | work=Juvenile Instructor | url=http://juvenileinstructor.org/18241-2/ | access-date=2015-11-05}} | Editor | 2016–2019 |
| Christopher James Blythe Jessie L. Embry | Co-editors | 2020–2022 |
| Christopher Cannon Jones Jessie L. Embry | Co-editors | 2023- |
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).{{citation |url= http://mormonhistoryassociation.org/awards |title= MHA Awards |work= MormonHistoryAssociation.org |publisher= Mormon History Association }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://mormonhistoryassociation.org Official website (new)]
- [http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory/vol40/iss4/ DigitalCommons.USU.edu/MormonHistory]
- [http://www.mhahome.org Official website (old)]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080612051305/http://www.mhahome.org/awards/index.php Awards given by the MHA]
- [http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory/ Digitized archive of the Journal of Mormon History]
{{Western U.S. historical societies}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mormon History Association}}
Category:1965 establishments in California
Category:Historical societies in Utah
Category:History organizations based in the United States
Category:Latter Day Saint organizations
Category:Organizations based in Utah