![59th Annual Conference of the Mormon History Association [2024]](https://eventleafmedia.blob.core.windows.net/c33893/45020/18fd381b-4d41-4541-abdd-897405142872.jpg)
The 59th Annual Mormon History Association conference will take place on June 13-16th, 2024 in Kirtland, Ohio. The theme, "Conversions, Aversion, and Reversion: Mormon Identity from Ohio to Utah," invites scholars to think about the ways Restorationists constructed their identity in their interaction with people, ideas, time, and space. As the first headquarters of the Mormon tradition, Kirtland presents a unique opportunity to address the people who joined the movement, the early detractors, and those who found themselves on the margins of the emerging faith. In addition to historical methods, this year's theme is meant to be interdisciplinary and generate conversations across disciplinary boundaries to explore the Restoration in its formative years and beyond.
Between 1831 and 1838, Kirtland was home to a growing Latter-day Saint community. Prior to this, the area was the homeland of the Erie, Seneca, Mississauga, and other Indigenous peoples, and later designated as the Connecticut Western Reserve. At the height of religious revival, the region became known for the communitarianism of Shakers, Owenites, and the Harmony Society. Within Mormon history, the site is the center of the first major schism in the Latter-day Saint tradition and a major economic failure. It is representative of contemporary debates over the ownership of sacred sites, the region's religious identity, and the interaction between religion and economics.
In addition to the Western historical method, this year's conference is an opportunity to analyze ways of knowing and telling history, particularly the way decolonial methodologies challenge linear narratives. Indigenous methodologies center land, language, and sovereignty to think about the interactions between past, present, and future. We encourage scholars to think about paradigmatic shifts in Mormon history and Mormon Studies that welcome diverse perspectives and voices.
Kirtland is a sacred space and enables an exploration of Mormon lived religion, the way Mormonism is practiced in the everyday experience of life with an emphasis on ordinary members of the faith. In addition to the institutional expressions of the diverse Restoration religions in the area, we welcome paper topics that include vernacular religion, ritual, meaning-making, pilgrimage, and material culture.
David Howlett is a professor of religion in America at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. He is the author of Kirtland Temple: The Biography of a Shared Mormon Sacred Space.
Elder Kyle S. McKay was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on March 31, 2018.
Dr. Johnson has master's degrees in American Religious History and Theology and a PhD in American History, taught and researched at BYU-Idaho and BYU, and is now acquisitions director at Deseret Book.
Jana Riess is a senior columnist for Religion News Service and the author or co-author of many books, including The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church and the memoir Flunking Sainthood.
A Grace Craddock Nagle Chair of Catholic Studies at NU. His books include, The Madonna of 115th Street: Faith and Community in Italian Harlem; Thank You, Saint Jude: Women’s Devotion to the Patron Saint of Hopeless Causes; and Between Heaven and Earth.
University of South Dakota, Associate Professor in History and Native American Studies, Director of the Institute of American Indian Studies
Charlotte Hansen Terry is a Ph.D. candidate in U.S. History at the University of California, Davis.
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The Journal of Mormon History is an official publication of the Mormon History Association (MHA). Its purpose is to publish scholarly work covering the full scope of Mormon history, which represents domestic and international perspectives
LENAC is a nonprofit, grassroots organization that aims to support the local Cleveland Native American community through community activities and direct services.
The University of Illinois Press publishes 80 new books and 43 journal titles annually. We publish many books which examine religion broadly and Mormonism specifically from historical, sociological, anthropological, and cultural perspectives.
The Church History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, is the primary archive of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a state-of-the-art facility designed to collect and preserve materials about the Church, its history, and its members.
The Church Historian’s Press was announced in 2008 by the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The press publishes works of Latter-day Saint history that meet high standards of scholarship.
Signature Books was founded in 1981 to promote the study of Mormonism at its intersection with American history.
The BYU Religious Studies Center is your lifelong resource for gospel scholarship. Our mission is to encourage, sponsor, and publish serious, faithful, gospel-related materials. Access our free gospel study resources at rsc.byu.edu.
John Whitmer Historical Association
John Whitmer Historical Association (JWHA is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the study of Latter Day Saint history.
A nonprofit agency of the University of Utah, the Press publishes scholarly works of significance to Utah, the region, and the world. 2024 will be our 75th year!
For over two decades, Greg Kofford Books has been a leading publisher in Mormon Studies with award-winning books focusing on Mormon history, theology, scripture, and culture.
Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought
Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought is an independent quarterly edited by Latter-day Saints who wish to bring their faith into dialogue with the larger stream of world religious thought
Digital Legend Press & Publishing is a regional LDS publisher based in Cottonwood Heights Utah.
We are a community of people around the world interested in the academic study of Mormonism(s).
The Richard W. Couper Press publishes works about communal studies, with a special emphasis on the Shakers.
The B. H. Roberts Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit foundation that supports education and research related to the culture, doctrine, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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“Power of Place: Reflections on the Continuing Story of the Kirtland Temple”
MHA’s 59th Annual Sunday Devotional
June 16th
8:30am
[Hymn Prelude–string quartet. We can invite people to sing if you think people will want to.]Becky Roesler, Kristine Haglund—violin
9:00am
James Rhodes—viola
David Rhodes—cello
Sarah Jackson, Nathan Cordner—French horn
Opening Song: Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah
Opening Prayer: TBD
Opening Remarks: Andrea Radke-Moss
Speaker: Barbara Walden, Community of Christ Historic Sites Foundation Executive Director
Special Musical #: “O Lord, How Can it Be?” Tune and Lyrics by Charles Fry, arranged by Michael Rollins; Elizabeth Mawlam, soprano; Keith Norman, baritone; Becky Roesler, violin; Janice Bunker, piano
Closing Song: Spirit of God
Closing Prayer: TBD
