With a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio in Salt Lake City this month, L. Tom Perry Special Collections is celebrating with our colleagues at the Salt Lake City Public Library by creating a small exhibit on the history of Shakespeare performance in 19th century Utah. “For So Work the Honey Bees”: Shakespeare in Territorial Utah …
The Latter-day Saints who joined the LDS Church in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales occasionally included budding poets and lyricists in their numbers. Like many Christian denominations of the 19th century, the Latter-day Saints enjoyed singing and hymns. New hymns and Mormon-themed poems began to emerge immediately after the first conversions and baptisms, though the …
Practically all women in Utah following the establishment of a Mormon settlement near Salt Lake would have worked extremely hard to support their families through basic agriculture, such as farming and ranching. Yet the circumstances of Mormon women were often unique. While a non-Mormon woman in the 19th Century might need to support herself and …
A new exhibit on the history of the Doctrine and Covenants is on display now in L. Tom Perry Special Collections. The title is “Compiling the Doctrine and Covenants, 1830-1921,” and this exhibit takes the viewer through the history of the Doctrine and Covenants, from handwritten manuscripts to broadsides, to being published in book form …
On March 3rd, I gave a presentation at the Church History Symposium entitled “‘Her knowledge of business, and practical experience therein’: 19th Century Advertising by Mormon Women.” The presentation discussed examples of advertisements posted by women in Mormon newspapers, and also highlighted the other activities pursued by women. Starting today, and continuing until I run out …
(Note: The following was written by Cami Spackman, a student employee. I edited the document, but she provided the content and idea for the post.) The Beginning of the End for the Donner-Reed Party During the great migration of Americans to the western shores of California and Oregon in the mid-19th century, there were many …
With the prevalence today of Spanish-speaking members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many are surprised to hear that the Church did not have a large presence in Latin America or among Spanish speakers until the late 19th century. Among foreign language editions of the Book of Mormon, Spanish (1886) ranks …
On this date in 1911, James E. Talmage was called as an Apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in this capacity until his death on July 27, 1933, at the age of 70. Elder Talmage has become renowned among members of the LDS Church and beyond for his detailed …
Did you know 168 years ago this week members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were involved in a civil war in Illinois, 15 years prior to the Civil War that engulfed the United States? It is a frequently forgotten event in church history known as the Battle of Nauvoo, and it …
The United States Progressive Era is a fascinating time to study, especially for those interested in American women’s history. This period, which spanned from about 1890 to 1920, was an important time of change for the United States. Under Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson, the country went through a lot of …