"We seldom get into trouble when we speak softly. It is only when we raise our voices that the sparks fly and tiny molehills become great mountains of contention."
We are about to enjoy another General Conference weekend, in which we will sustain the
General Authorities and other general officers of the Church, and receive inspired instruction
from them. In addition, millions of Latter-day Saints all over the world will watch or listen to
conference on television, radio, or over the internet. And in the coming months we will read and
often re-read the conference talks.
Conference is a very special time for Latter-day Saints, though over the years its nature
has changed somewhat. (1) In nineteenth-century Utah, for example, conference was not only a time
for preaching but also a time for conducting all kinds of business related to building the Kingdom
in the West. Economic needs and activities were frequently discussed, and missionaries were
called (often without prior notice) during conference meetings. Leonard J. Arrington observed
that the conferences of that day were "the cement that held together the Mormon
Commonwealth." He explained that:
It was through the instrumentality of the conference that church leaders were able
to effect the central planning and direction of the manifold temporal and spiritual interests
of their followers. It was in the conference that Latter-day Saints experienced most keenly
the sense of belonging to a whole-- a worshiping, building, expanding Kingdom. Other
pioneering groups in the West studied the Bible, prayed, formed local institutions to solve
their many problems, such as churches, schools, and associations, and developed many
collective instrumentalities and enterprises, but for the lack of an institution resembling
the general conference, few that were scattered over such a wide territory achieved the
militant strength and social cohesion of the Mormons" (2)
Our modern conferences are much different in some ways than those of earlier years but,
not unlike earlier conferences, they are still, at least in part, the cement that holds the modern
Church together. Believing, as they do, that Church leaders are inspired in what they have to say,
Saints around the world not only watch, listen to, and read their messages but also discuss them
frequently and, hopefully, act on them. What follows is a brief overview of some aspects of the
history of General Conference.
First, let me suggest that at least one event in the Book of Mormon might be thought of as
an early conference that in some ways followed patterns we see today. (See Mosiah 2-5.) The
date was about 124 B.C. and the leader of the people (and of the Church, if we want to compare
with today) was King Benjamin. He called together all the people of his land. They came by the
thousands to hear him, just as throngs gather to Salt Lake City or around radios and televisions
and computers today. They were prepared to stay overnight and pitched their tents with the
openings facing the temple (which might be compared to the Conference Center today). But the
throng was so huge that not all could see or hear the king, so he had a tower built to facilitate
wider communication. (Could we not think of our television towers and communication satellites
as something analogous?) But many still could not hear so Benjamin had his words recorded and
circulated among the people. (Is this not what we do as we publish the conference proceedings in
the Ensign and other church publications?) And after Benjamin finished his great speech the
people were spiritually renewed, much like our experiences after conference meetings today.
Well, while the analogy may not be perfect it seems to me that this great gathering, and its
purpose and results, was not unlike our conferences today.
In our time, the practice of holding conferences was introduced the day the Church was
organized, April 6, 1830. It was included in a revelation then known as the "Articles and
Covenants of the Church," and now in the Doctrine and Covenants as Section 20. It says, in part:
61 The several elders composing this church of Christ are to meet in conference once in
three months, or from time to time as said conferences shall direct or appoint;
62 And said conferences are to do whatever church business is necessary to be done at
the time.
Note a few interesting things about this revelation and some things that followed:
1. Conferences were to be held every three months, OR "from time to time."
2. There was no distinction made between general conferences and local or regional
conferences. The very earliest conferences seemed local, or regional, in nature, though
there was no real distinction between "local" and "general."
3. In this revelation, and for nearly the first 100 years of Church history, the word
"conference" had a dual meaning. It referred to important local, regional, or general
meetings, but it also had a geographical meaning. From the beginning the various
geographical regions were called "conferences" (a term consistent with the organizational
patterns of other contemporary churches), and that lasted until 1927. Beginning in the
Nauvoo period the Church also used the terms "ward" and "stake," but in the mission
fields the term "conference" was applied. In June of 1927 the Improvement Era published the
following note: "It has been ordered by the First Presidency that divisions of missions
heretofore called conferences, shall hereafter be known as districts; and that the word
conference shall apply to the general meetings or gatherings of the people in the districts
or missions."
4. Throughout most of Church history, STAKE conferences were held every three
months. This was consistent with the 1830 Articles and Covenants implications about
regional conferences. In 1979, however, the frequency was reduced to twice a year (still
consistent with "or from time to time" in the revelation).
5. After the Church moved to Utah, GENERAL conferences were held twice a year, on a
schedule like we have now, except that throughout most of the 20th century they were
held for three days. One of those days had to be April 6, the anniversary of the founding
of the Church, and another had to be October 6. Beginning in April 1977 the conference
was reduced to two days, Saturday and Sunday, and the 6th of April and October were no
longer required dates.
6. As stated in the "Articles and Covenants," one of the things that should happen in
conferences is the "business of the Church." In the nineteenth century conferences took
care of all kinds of business, including accepting of new members, announcement of
excommunications, the calling of missionaries (often without prior notification), and
promoting various economic activities. Now the "business" is limited to sustaining the
officers of the Church and receiving a brief auditor's report.
The meeting that is generally considered the first General Conference of the Church was
held on June 9, 1830 (just over 2 months after the Church was organized) in Fayette, New York.
It was an inspiring meeting, though quite different from the conferences we experience today.
There are different accounts of how many people attended that important meeting but it
appears that there about thirty members along with several people who wanted to be baptized or
were interested. Joseph Smith, then only age 24, opened the meeting by reading the fourteenth
chapter of Ezekiel and then offering a prayer. A song was then sung and the Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper was administered. Joseph then read the "Articles and Covenants," which were
unanimously accepted by those present. After that Oliver Cowdery ordained Samuel Smith an
elder and Joseph Smith's father as well as his brother Hyrum were ordained priests. Several
people who had been baptized were confirmed, and others were ordained to various offices in the
Priesthood. In addition, as Joseph Smith described it in his published history:
Much exhortation and instruction was given, and the Holy Ghost was poured out upon us
in a miraculous manner--many of our number prophesied, whilst others had the heavens
opened to their view, and were so overcome that we had to lay them on beds or other
convenient places; among the rest was Brother Newel Knight, who had to be placed on a
bed, being unable to help himself. By his own account of the transaction, he could not
understand why we should lay him on the bed, as he felt no sense of weakness. He felt his
heart filled with love, with glory, and pleasure unspeakable, and could discern all that was
going on in the room; when all of a sudden a vision of the future burst upon him. He saw
there represented the great work which through my instrumentality was yet to be
accomplished. He saw heaven opened, and beheld the Lord Jesus Christ, seated at the
right hand of the majesty on high, and had it made plain to his understanding that the time
would come when he would be admitted into His presence to enjoy His society for ever
and ever. When their bodily strength was restored to these brethren, they shouted
hosannas to God and the Lamb, and rehearsed the glorious things which they had seen
and felt, whilst they were yet in the spirit.
The effect of all this, according to Joseph, was:
to inspire our hearts with joy unspeakable, and fill us with awe and reverence for that
Almighty Being, by whose grace we had been called to be instrumental in bringing about,
for the children of men, the enjoyment of such glorious blessings as were now at this time
poured out upon us. To find ourselves engaged in the very same order of things as
observed by the holy Apostles of old; to realize the importance and solemnity of such
proceedings; and to witness and feel with our own natural senses, the like glorious
manifestations of the powers of the Priesthood, the gifts and blessings of the Holy Ghost,
and the goodness and condescension of a merciful God unto such as obey the everlasting
Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, combined to create within us sensations of rapturous
gratitude, and inspire us with fresh zeal and energy in the cause of truth. (3)
This first conference was essentially a business meeting, even though there was some
preaching and some miraculous spiritual manifestations. We would love to know what was said
in the "exhortation and instruction" but, unfortunately, no record was kept.
Other early conferences were also more like church business meetings, with men
sustained in the priesthood, and members of the Church making suggestions and presenting
resolutions from the floor. In addition, at these conference Church members were tried,
disfellowshipped, excommunicated, chastised, praised, and reinstated.
Clearly, the nature of conference has changed from time to time--something to be
expected in our ever-growing, and hence ever-changing, church.
One difference is the fact that early conferences were not held at regular times and places
but, rather were convened at the request of the First Presidency at different times of the year and
in different places. Holding conference each April and October was not set as a firm pattern until
Church headquarters were moved to Illinois, though some conferences were held during those
months. (See below for a listing of where conferences were held.)
In the early years conferences did not have the great social implications that later
developed, but as the schedule became firmly established on a semiannual basis in the 1850s and
beyond conference also developed into a time of reunion and socializing. It became one of the
great symbols of Mormon unity as well as a cohesive force in building a sense of community
among the Saints. In 1858 one eastern correspondent good-naturedly observed that conference
was "the post-office, newspaper, legislature, Bible, almanac, temporal, spiritual, and social
director of the people." (4) This was especially true so long as the Church population was centered
mainly in Utah and the West, but even with the current worldwide nature of the Church
conference time takes on a special and profound social and spiritual aura.
Another difference is the fact during most of our recent history only General Authorities
or other general officers of the Church have addressed conferences. In the past speakers also
included stake presidents, returning mission presidents and missionaries, representatives of the
president of the United States and the Boy Scouts of America, and even the chief of staff of the
United States Army.
One development that some people have been especially interested in is the pattern of
women speaking in General Conference. A kind of cultural myth suggests that this is something
relatively new, but in reality its is not as new as some people think.
The first woman to speak in a General Conference was Lucy Mack Smith, mother of the
Prophet. On October 6-8, 1845, a General Conference was held in the unfinished Nauvoo
Temple. On the morning of October 8 Lucy and Brigham Young were the only speakers. It was a
powerful meeting in which Lucy expressed her support for what Brigham and the apostles were
doing. She was feeble and sometimes her voice was so inaudible that the reporters could not
make out what she said, but Brigham repeated it for them.
In October 1878, Zina D. H. Young spoke in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on the second day
of General Conference. She was probably the first woman to speak in the tabernacle during such
a meeting.
So far as I know, the next time a woman spoke in conference was in April 1908. Since the
Tabernacle and Assembly Hall could not accommodate everyone who wanted to attend, overflow
meetings were held outdoors. At one of them two recently returned lady missionaries, Sister
Rachel Leatham and Sister M. M. Langenbucher, spoke. Their talks were printed in the official
Conference Report. The following April Sister Lilian Jones, recently returned from the Southern
States Mission, spoke to a similar, though larger, group of 2500. Her talk, too, was printed in the
Conference Report.
On the second day of the October 1929 conference President Heber J. Grant suddenly said
"We have listened to a great many testimonies from our brethren during this conference. We
should now call on some of our sisters." Then, with no prior warning, he called on Relief Society
President Louise Robison, Young Women President Ruth May Fox, and Primary President May
Anderson to speak. The same three women also spoke during the next two conferences, though
this time they had more warning.
The next woman to speak in conference was new Relief Society General President Belle
Spafford, who spoke in the priesthood session of General Conference in 1946. From 1976 to
October 1979 and again in 1981 her successor, Barbara Smith, spoke in the Welfare Sessions of
General Conference. A few other women spoke at some of the same sessions. In April 1984 four
women spoke in General Conference: Barbara Winder (the new Relief Society General
President) and Ardeth G. Kapp (the new Young Women's General President), and their
predecessors, Barbara Smith and Elaine Cannon.
Toward the end of the 1980s it became more common to see women speaking in General
Conference. Dwan J. Young spoke in the April 1988 conference, shortly after her release as
Primary General President. Her successor, Michaelene P. Grassli, spoke the following October,
as did Ardeth G. Kapp, Young Women's General President. How strange that one website,
apparently operated by ex-Latter-day Saints, reports that Sister Grassli was the first woman to
speak in general conference in 133 years! Such is the mis-direction created by myth makers.
The pattern continued so that in the 1990s women were speaking in General Conference
more regularly and by the early twenty-first century it was common for at least two women to
speak in every conference.
What was not yet happening was women giving prayers in conference, but that, too, soon
changed. At the first session of the April 2013 General Conference Jean A. Stevens, first
counselor in the Primary General Presidency, gave the closing prayer. When President Dieter F.
Uchtdorf announced that she would pray he did it with no fanfare, but within minutes after that
announcement the social media went wild and newspapers and television stations around the
country quickly picked up the story. Many women around the Church wept for, to them, it was a
revolutionary development for which they had long been praying.
An important addition to what I like to call the culture of General Conference came in
1994 when the Church began to hold annual Young Women's meetings on the Saturday before
April General Conference and annual Relief Society Meetings on the Saturday before October
General Conference. The messages there, delivered mostly by women, were as vital as the
messages of General Conference itself. Then, in November 2013, the First Presidency announced
that these annual meetings would be replaced by a semiannual General Women's Meeting to be
held on the Saturday before each General Conference. All women, young women, and girls age
eight years old and older would be invited to attend. Like General Conference, the proceedings of
these meetings would be translated into 55 languages and would reach millions of people around
the world through radio, television and the internet. Women worldwide were delighted. When the
first Women's General Meeting was held on March 29, 2014, those who attended, watched, or
listened were thrilled not only with the historic importance of the meeting but also with the
powerful and important messages they received.
As indicated above, General Conferences were held in various places prior to the location
of the Church in Salt Lake City and, in a few instances, even afterwards. Here is a brief overview
of those places.
Before the move to Utah conferences were held in Fayette, New York; Kirtland, Ohio;
Hiram, Ohio, Amherst, Ohio; Independence, Missouri; at the ferry of the Big Blue River,
Missouri (April 6, 1833); at a spot near Quincy, Illinois; Nauvoo, Illinois. The last conference to
be held in Nauvoo was in October 1845.
1847, April 6: Winter Quarters Nebraska
1847 December 25-27: Council Bluffs, Iowa
1848 Apr 6-8: Council Bluffs, Iowa
1848 Oct 6-8: Salt Lake City, Utah; also at Mosquito Creek, Pottawattamii Lands (Iowa)
1849 Apr 6-8 to October1876: Salt Lake City
1877 Apr 6-8: St. George, Utah
1885 Apr 4-6: Logan, Utah. At this point conferences were affected by the harassment of
government officials seeking to arrest Church leaders because of plural marriage. Some leaders
were thus forced into hiding "on the underground" and this and the next several General
Conferences were held outside Salt Lake City until October 1887.
1885 Oct 6-8: Logan, Utah
1886 Apr 4-7: Provo, Utah
1886 Oct 6-8: Coalville, Utah
1887 Apr 6-8: Provo, Utah
October 1887 to the present: All General Conferences were held in Salt Lake City.
While all General Conferences have been important and uplifting to the members of the
Church, a few stand out, or of special spiritual and historical significance, at least to me. Here are
some of them.
*June 9, 1830: The first Church conference (maybe not a "real" General Conference, but
still considered in most listings as the first one.)
*April 26, 1832: Joseph Smith sustained as president of the high priesthood and,
therefore, as President of the Church.
*May 3, 1834: The name of the Church was changed from the Church of Christ to the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
*February 14, 1835: Members of the first Quorum of the Twelve were selected and
ordained.
*August 17, 1835: The Doctrine and Covenants, with 102 sections, was approved by a
General Conference. (An earlier edition had been approved by a conference of elders in Hiram,
Ohio.)
*April 1844: According to Kenneth Godfrey, this conference was distinctive for three
reasons: Joseph Smith was nominated as a candidate for the U.S. Presidency; it was the last
conference over which he presided; and it was here that conferences became more a time of
instruction rather than business. In that connection, the conference was especially notable
because of Joseph Smith's famous King Follet discourse in which he expounded on numerous
doctrinal subjects, including the character of God and the origin and destiny of man.
*December 27, 1847, at Council Bluffs Iowa: Brigham Young sustained as President of
the Church.
*October 1867: The first conference to be held in the new Salt Lake Tabernacle.
(Previous conferences were held first in boweries and then in the old tabernacle.)
*April 6, 1890: President Wilford Woodruff's Manifesto, officially ending plural
marriage, accepted in General Conference.
*April 1893: One session of General Conference was held in the Salt Lake Temple so that
President Woodruff could dedicate this magnificent sacred building.
*June 1919: General Conference was postponed from April 1919 because of the influenza
epidemic that swept most of the western world. But that conference, in solemn assembly,
sustained Heber J. Grant as President of the Church.
*October 1924: The first General Conference to be broadcast by radio. Said President
Heber J. Grant on that occasion: "The exercises of today and throughout the conference are to be
broadcasted; and it is estimated that in the neighborhood of a million people will be able to hear
all that is said, provided they are listening in during the conference sessions. The radio is one of
the most marvelous inventions man knows anything about. To have the voice carried for
thousands of miles seems almost beyond comprehension."
*October 4, 1946: President George Albert Smith told of talking by short-wave radio to
LDS servicemen in Japan, then made the following prediction: "I thought that was a beautiful
experience.... I have traveled more than a million miles in the world to divide [sic] the gospel of
Jesus Christ with my fellowmen, but that was the first time I ever delivered a religious address to
a congregation seven thousand miles away. Short-wave broadcasting will continue to improve,
and it will not be long until, from this pulpit and other places that will be provided, the servants
of the Lord will be able to deliver messages to isolated groups who are so far away they cannot
be reached. In that way and other ways, the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord, the only power of
God unto salvation in preparation for the celestial kingdom, will be heard in all parts of the
world, and many of you who are here will live to see that day."
*October 1948; The first general broadcast of conference by television. (The Church
began limited television broadcasting in April 1948, when the sessions of general conference
were carried from the Tabernacle to other buildings on Temple Square by closed-circuit.)
*October 1957: The only General Conference in the twentieth century to be canceled
completely. This was because of the Asian flu epidemic that was sweeping the country.
*April 1975: The first satellite transmission of conference.
*October 1975: The reconstitution of the First Quorum of the Seventy, returning the
organization of the Church closer to that established by Joseph Smith.
*April 1976: Two revelations were canonized--Sections 137 and 138. They were included
in a new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants in 1981.
*October 1976: All of the Assistants to the Quorum of the Twelve became members of
the First Quorum of the Seventy.
*April 1977: The first two-day General Conference, replacing the former three-day
General Conference. After this the 6th of April and 6th of October were no longer required dates.
*September 30, 1978: President Spencer W. Kimball's revelation on priesthood was
accepted by unanimous vote in General Conference.
*April 1980: Thirteen stake centers in the United States received satellite transmission of
conference on their own receivers rather than picking it up through commercial channels that
carried satellite broadcasting. This limited project was so successful that it was used again in the
October 1980 conference and has since expanded widely.
*April 2000: First conference meeting in the new Conference Center in Salt Lake City.
*October 2012: President Thomas S. Monson announced dropping the age for young men
to go on missions from 19 to 18 and for young women from 21 to 19.
*April 2013: First General Conference at which a woman offered a prayer.
As a sidelight, there are a few curious problems of identification. The forthcoming
conference is identified as the 184th annual General Conference of the Church and the October
conference will be called the 184th semi-annual conference. This wording suggests that the first
annual and semi-annual conferences were held in 1830 and that these conferences have been held
on the current schedule since the beginning of the Church. In a sense this is true, for conferences
were begun the year the Church was organized and have been held ever since. But it is also a bit
misleading for conferences were held somewhat irregularly in the very earliest years of the
Church. Nevertheless, during the Nauvoo period and after the settlement in Utah they were held
regularly, with minor exceptions, in April and October.
Another little question concerns what was really the first General Conference of the
Church. The author of a Ph.D. dissertation on the history of General Conferences holds that the
conference held before 1838 were really regional, not general, conferences, and that the first "real
annual general conference to be held on the birthdate of the Church should probably be
designated as the one held in Far West, Missouri, April 6, 1838." (5) At this conference, he said,
plans for the future seemed to make a more clear distinction between local and general
conferences, though as yet that distinction was not formalized.
However, still another conference vies for "first place." The Nauvoo Times and Seasons
for November 1, 1945 (Vol. VI, No. 16) published the minutes of what it says was "the first
General Conference, which was ever held by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in
the House of the Lord in the City of Joseph, commencing on Monday October 6th 1845, ten
o'clock forenoon." Did this mean first General Conference, or first General Conference to be held
in the Nauvoo Temple?
Finally, there is another picky little question. If we think of the June 9, 1830 conference
as the first annual general conference, should we not think of the forthcoming one as the 185th
annual instead of the 184th? I don't know when this number started to be used, or who started it,
but do the math. If 1830 was the first, then 1831 was the second, but that was just one year after
the Church was organized. So, by this reasoning, one year after 1830 would be called the 2nd, two
years later would be called the 3rd, etc., and 184 years later (2014) would be called the 185th.
However, since there was no General Conference in 1846, maybe that accounts for whatever is
going on. But I leave it to wiser heads than I to figure all this out. For myself, the numbering
hardly matters and I am content with whatever the Church officially says.
But such picky concerns are profoundly unimportant compared with the real significance
of General Conference. Actually, I believe that one cannot study or appreciate the history of the
Church itself without become familiar with what was said and done in its conferences. As one
scholar has observed, through studying conferences we gain important insight into such things as
the early trials of the Church, what Church leaders taught, judicial and disciplinary actions in the
early Church, various important practices, revelations, doctrinal development, organizational
development, internal conflicts, the use of mass media, financial activities, political concerns,
humanitarian efforts, and many other factors. "I believe," he concluded, "that the student of
Mormonism lacking familiarity with general conference history and the addresses themselves
cannot expect to be seen as a credible reporter of things Mormon no matter which facet of
Mormonism he or she chooses to examine." (6)
Much more could be said about the history of General Conferences, but there is
something vastly more important than anything I have said so far: the spirt of conference itself
and what each of us takes to and takes away from it. I am sure that those who will speak this
weekend have been praying long and hard about what they should say. I am also sure that each of
us will find something of genuine personal value in what we hear from them. That, after all, is
the major purpose of conference. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland says on the Church's website: "If
we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your
circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you."
NOTES
1. This material is generally based on the following sources: Jay R. Lowe, "A Study of the
General Conferences of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1901" (Ph.D.
dissertation, BYU, 1972); M. Dalllas Burnett, "General Conference," Encyclopedia of
Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992),
1: 307-308; Joseph Walker, "General Conference Through the Years is Different But the Same,"
Deseret News. April 1 2013; Kenneth Godfrey, "150 Years of General Conference," Ensign
(February 1981), 66-70; Richard Armstrong, "Researching Mormonism: General Conference as
Artifactual Gold Mine," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 30 (Fall 1997), 151-66; J.
Johnson, " 'We shall now call on some of our sisters': LDS Women and General Conference
Participation," found online at
http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/we-shall-now-call-on-some-of-our-sisters-lds-women-and-general-conference-participation; Peggy Fletcher Stack, "First prayer by Woman Offered at Mormon
Conference," Salt Lake Tribune, April 12, 2013.
2. Leonard J. Arrington, Great Basin Kingdom (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1958), 32-33.
3. Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 6
vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1946), 1:84-86.
4. Harper's 2 (December 4, 1858): 781, as quoted in James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard, The
Story of the Latter-day Saints, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992), 286.
5. Lowe, "A Study of the General Conferences of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
1830-1901," 128.
JAMES B. ALLEN, Professor of History, Emeritus, Brigham Young University
James B. Allen was born June 14, 1927, in Ogden, Utah. He married Renée Jones, April 16,
1953. They have five children, twenty-one grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren . He
received his bachelor's degree in history form Utah State University in 1954, a master's degree
from Brigham Young University in 1956, and the Ph.D. from the University of Southern
California in 1963.
Active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints all his life, he has served in numerous
positions, including bishop of two BYU wards and a member of 5 different BYU high councils.
In 1999-2000 he and Renée served as missionaries at the Boston Institute of Religion.
He has also been active in the Republican party and twice served as a delegate to the state
convention.
In his professional career, he taught in the LDS Seminary and Institute program from 1954-63,
after which he was a member of the faculty at Brigham Young University until his retirement in
1992. From 1972 to 1979 he also served as Assistant Church Historian (splitting his time
between BYU and the Church Historical Department). He was chair of the History Department
from 1981-1987 then, during his last five years at BYU, he was honored to hold the Lemuel
Hardison Redd, Jr. Chair in Western American History. After his retirement he became
associated with the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History at BYU, where
for several years he held an appointment as a Senior Research Fellow.
He has also been active in various professional organizations, including the Western History
Association (served on various committees, and as chair of a program committee) and the
Mormon History Association (president, 1971-73). He has been on various boards of editors and
advisory committees and presented numerous papers at the meetings of various historical
associations.
As a researcher and writer he is the author, co-author, or co-editor of fourteen books or
monographs and around 90 articles relating to Western American history and Mormon history,
as well as numerous book reviews in professional journals. Some of his books include the
following:
The Company Town in the American West (University of Oklahoma Press, 1966)
The Story of the Latter-day Saints (with Glen M. Leonard; Deseret Book Company, 1976;
2nd edition 1992)
Trials of Discipleship: The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon (University of Illinois
Press, 1987). Revised and republished in 2002 by BYU Press under the title No
Toil Nor Labor Fear: The Story of William Clayton. In 1986, while still in press,
this book won the prestigious David Woolley Evans and Beatrice Cannon Evans
Biography Award.
Men With a Mission: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles, 1837-1841
(with Ronald K. Esplin and David J. Whittaker, Deseret Book Company, 1992)
Studies in Mormon History 1830-1997: An Indexed Bibliography (with Ronald W.
Walker and David J. Whittaker; University of Illinois Press, 2000). Allen was the
lead investigator for this important work. It lists, and provides an index to, all the
significant books, articles, doctoral dissertations and master's theses on Mormon
history produced between 1830 and 1997. It has been widely hailed as one of the
most important aids to finding LDS history ever published. In 2001 the Mormon
History Association awarded the authors a special citation for the publication of
this book. After that, working with J. Michael Hunter, Allen continued to update
the bibliography database. Hunter has now taken over the updating, and the
database is online at mormonhistory.byu.edu.
Mormon History (with Ronald W. Walker and David J. Whittaker, University of Illinois
Press, 2001). This book is a history of the writing of Mormon history, from the
days of Joseph Smith until the present time.
Over the years he has received various awards, honors, and recognitions, besides those indicated
above. Among them were several "best article" awards; the Karl G. Maeser Research and
Creative Arts Award, Brigham Young University, 1980; named Distinguished Faculty Lecturer,
Brigham Young University, 1984; named a Fellow of the Utah State Historical Society, July 15,
1988; the Leonard J. Arrington Award for a Distinctive Contribution to the cause of Mormon
History, awarded by the Mormon History Asociation, 2008.
James and Renée have enjoyed living in Orem, Utah since 1963.
He currently serves as Sunday School President in his ward, and he and Renée have been officiators
in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple since 2004.
