History Revisited

How the Joseph Smith Papers has provided a foundation for future Latter-day Saint scholarship

Editors, historians and scholars reflect on decades of painstaking research, writing, editing and publishing, at the Joseph Smith Papers Conference

By Trent Toone Sept 23, 2023 1 p.m. EDT

Brooke Jurges watches a handoff of “Documents, Vol. 15” of the Joseph Smith Papers during a Church History Department event.

History Revisited

How the Joseph Smith Papers has provided a foundation for future Latter-day Saint scholarship

Editors, historians and scholars reflect on decades of painstaking research, writing, editing and publishing, at the Joseph Smith Papers Conference

By Trent Toone Sept 23, 2023 1 p.m. EDT

Decades of painstaking research, writing, editing and publishing, culminating in the creation of the Joseph Smith Papers, was celebrated Sept. 15-16 by historians, scholars and others at the Joseph Smith Papers Conference in the Conference Center Theater of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The two-day event featured roundtable discussions, presentations, lectures and even the announcement of a new biography about Joseph Smith by President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the Church’s First Presidency.

First Presidency announces new biography, ‘Joseph the Prophet,’ at Joseph Smith Papers Conference

While more documents may be added to the JosephSmithPapers.org website in the future, the project was completed when the last of 27 volumes was released on June 27.

The theme of the conference was “What have we learned from the Joseph Smith Papers project?”

“The dream, more than 20 years later, has been realized. The Joseph Smith Papers are now accessible in one place,” said R. Eric Smith, a general editor who has been with the project since 2006. “I’m so excited to see what articles and books are going to be written in the years ahead.”

Smith referenced the words of Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles when he spoke at the June 27 news event featuring the publication of the final volume.

A roundtable discussion at the Joseph Smith Papers Conference.

“He said, ‘Could I suggest to you that the real value of the Joseph Smith Papers has not even been, even in the smallest measure, fully realized?’” Smith said. “As one of the many people who put my own blood, sweat and tears into the print volumes, I was so happy with the thought that we are only at the beginning of appreciating and learning from the content of the Joseph Smith papers.”

Here is a look at some of the highlights of the conference, as well as thoughts and insights from presenters who reflected on the project and looked forward to how the Joseph Smith Papers will bless the Church in the future.

The ‘hinge moment’ of the Joseph Smith Papers

One of the highlights of the conference came in the first session, a roundtable discussion where the following individuals reflected on the origin and early days of the Joseph Smith Papers: Ronald Barney, retired historian and archivist of the Church History Department; Ronald Esplin, general editor of the papers; Elder Marlin K. Jensen, an emeritus general authority and former Church historian and recorder; and Gail Miller, owner of the Larry H. Miller Co.

During the conference, many praised and paid tribute to the Larry H. and Gail Miller family for their substantial financial support to the papers project.

In January 2001, the Millers viewed historical documents at the Church History Department and were deeply moved by the experience. Larry Miller met with Barney and others to see how he might assist the work of Church history. The result of those discussions was the Millers’ agreement to fund the Joseph Smith Papers.

Gail Miller laughs as she shares a story as she participates in a roundtable panel discussion.

They started with a donation to BYU in the form of stock where the dividends could be used to fund the project, but the stock fell flat, Gail Miller said.

Another plan was arranged for what it cost each year. That worked until Larry died in 2009 and the company struggled during difficult economic times. She said it became necessary to make cuts in various areas of their business but they continued to fund the project.

Gail remembers receiving a visit from Elder Jensen “with a little bit of worry in his heart” about if the family would continue in its support. She assured him they would.

“I committed that we would, and thankfully, we have been able to continue and tie it up with a big red bow,” she said. “I know where my blessings come from, and I haven’t missed $1. We have been very grateful to be able to be involved and to support the project and do what Heavenly Father wanted us to do.”

The audience responded to Miller’s words with a heartfelt applause.

Looking at Miller, Elder Jensen recalled the 2009 visit and said, “Yes, we were anxious.”

“That period of time, call it a recession, a depression, whatever it was, was as serious for you as it was for the rest of the world,” he said. “If the papers help us know Joseph’s heart, that moment, I call it a hinge moment — maybe the hinge moment in the papers’ history — was when you decided to continue that commitment and kept it. It shows us what was in Larry’s heart and in your heart as well, and that applause, I think, is an indication of the great appreciation that is felt really Churchwide for you and your family. Thank you.”

Elder Marlin K. Jensen relates a story at the seventh Joseph Smith Papers Conference.

Working on the Joseph Smith Papers

Another roundtable discussion offered insights into how the Joseph Smith Papers were made and the different responsibilities of staff members, from editing and source checking to building the website and the accelerated process of producing two volumes a year.

Two things Sharon Nielsen learned while working with others to build the Joseph Smith Papers website: “Websites don’t just happen” and “don’t leave all the complicated things until the end.” There was a lot of troubleshooting, she said.

“That is a life lesson for us,” Nielsen said. “Plan ... but be flexible in your implementation.”

Part of Petra Javadi-Evans’ job with the papers was to check sources. Few projects will compare with the breadth and depth of the amount of sources used for the Joseph Smith Papers.

“What this project is about is we are going to be as transparent as possible and we are going to give you the sources that we are looking at so you don’t have to wonder where we got our information,” she said. “The interplay of those sources invites new questions, new thought processes and new discoveries. That is exciting.”

The final print volume of the Joseph Smith Papers is pictured at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 27, 2023.

“Being in the trenches,” spending hours and hours talking about annotating documents and developing research strategies is what Christian Heimburger will remember most about his time with the project, which provided opportunities for many historians to launch their careers.

“In a lot of ways, it was the place where we grew up as historians,” he said. “The project has nourished a whole generation of Latter-day Saint historians. It is really remarkable when I think about the number of us that have come through the project, have cut our teeth on difficult historical issues, and have become much better historians as a result. ... I would not have a career if it wasn’t for the Larry H. and Gail Miller family and the Joseph Smith Papers.”

‘Flagship’ of fact-based scholarship

Richard Bushman, a Joseph Smith biographer and Gouverneur Morris professor of history emeritus at Columbia University, said his copy of the Joseph Smith Papers “Histories, Vol. 1,” came off the shelf again and again as he worked on his latest book.

“Thanks to the papers, plus the online supplemental material, everything was at my fingertips — a small practicality it would seem, but of immense importance to a scholar at this work,” Bushman said. “I am glad that the Joseph Smith Papers are bound as sturdily as they are or the backs would certainly be broken by now.”

One of Bushman’s tasks as a papers’ advisory board reader was to go through each volume before it went to press. He made a point of looking for the “sore spots” of Latter-day Saint history. His aim was to spot places where editors became apologetic.

Richard Bushman, author, historian and scholar, speaks at an event in 2018. Bushman presented at the Joseph Smith Papers Conference on Sept. 16, 2023.

“I was immensely proud of the way our editors handled difficult questions,” Bushman said. “They stated the facts cleanly without embarrassment and with no effort to cover up or apologize. It was all right there, and to my way of thinking, more easily acceptable than if we had dodged the question.”

Bushman called the Joseph Smith Papers “the flagship” of Latter-day Saint fact-based scholarship, “a signal that transparency is Church policy” that will help win over the scholarly world.

“They see us as reasonable people whose judgment can be trusted and whose religious belief must be shown respect,” said the 92-year-old author and historian. “I am happy to have lived to see this day and congratulate all who have contributed to this great project.”

What this historian believes is the most ‘beautiful’ piece of art in Church history

Scholars on the Joseph Smith Papers

Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp, the Archer Alexander distinguished professor at Washington University in St. Louis, gave the keynote address at the conference. What she found most “illuminating” about the project was the relationship between the labors documented in its pages and the modern work involved in its publication.

“Together, they represent examples of a particular understanding of work and its relationship to individual spiritual growth, to collective welfare, and to a progressive vision of exaltation and deification,” she said. “Both efforts — the earlier one and the modern one — employed dozens, if not hundreds, of Church members. Both use some of the most innovative technologies of their day. And perhaps most importantly, both demonstrate the tangible connections of daily labor with the building of a sacred and enduring vision, one that stretches throughout the history of the church.”

Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp speaks at the seventh Joseph Smith Papers Conference at the Conference Center.

The papers show that when faced with dissension in the Church, Joseph Smith did not turn to violence, he “talked things out,” said Adam Jortner, the Goodwin-Philpott professor of religion in the Department of History at Auburn University.

“The question I would ask you with great humility going forward is will we be like the mobs in Missouri or will we be like Joseph Smith?” Jortner said. “We are fortunate to have the Joseph Smith Papers to help clarify the nature of Smith’s own approach to building a community of Saints and facing down the terror of mobs; to help us perhaps rethink what it is to be a Prophet, not how we imagined a Prophet would act but how a Prophet actually did act; that shouting and sloganeering is not the work of God, but that long, hard conversations are actually the work of God. It is a timely history, both for the faithful Latter-day Saints and I hope for all of us.”

Seth Perry, a Princeton University associate professor of religion in America, admitted to once citing a document in the papers — but from a different source. A reviewer of his article manuscript “sternly” pointed out that is something he should no longer do. Perry said he learned his lesson.

“I have used that same note as a reviewer on other manuscripts,” he said. “The hope has been that it will not be possible to not use the papers in the future, and I think that is already true.”

Perry has also found the Joseph Smith Papers website to be useful in teaching and education. It is easy to use a document as a slide in a presentation or send students there to do research on their own.

Crowd members listen and take notes at the seventh Joseph Smith Papers Conference in the Conference Center Theater.

Insights from the Joseph Smith Papers

Latter-day Saints who study Church history will recognize the name Sylvester Smith as a man who exhibited a rebellious and contentious spirit during the Zion’s Camp march from Ohio to Missouri. He threatened to kill Joseph Smith’s dog and was critical of the Prophet, among other things.

But is it fair to define Sylvester Smith’s entire 73-year life by how he behaved over the course of seven weeks?

“The depiction of Sylvester Smith in works of history as well as Church manuals and publications are almost overwhelmingly negative,” said Matthew C. Godfrey, a general editor of the papers. “The publication in the Joseph Smith Papers of meeting minutes and other documents surrounding Sylvester Smith’s life allows for a more nuanced examination of his conduct in the Church, on the expedition and thereafter.”

The Nauvoo Illinois Temple in sunset n Nauvoo, Illinois on Saturday, May 29, 2021.

Elizabeth Kuehn, a historian and documentary editor for 14 years with the papers, presented research from the papers about the Saints following the commandment to pay tithing, which provided the funds to build the Nauvoo Temple.

“If I have learned anything from studying Nauvoo tithing records, it is that no donation, no matter how small, was considered insignificant,” she said. “Truly the Saints proved that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.”

Brenden W. Rensink, an associate history professor at BYU, presented on what the Joseph Smith Papers reveal or do not reveal about Indigenous peoples during the early days of the Church.

“There is a real lack of Native voices or perspectives in the Joseph Smith papers. Now, is this unique to the Joseph Smith Papers? It is not. This is a very common trend throughout early American history and even more recent American history. The Native voices are sometimes hard to find,” Rensink said. “The Joseph Smith Papers has shed invaluable light on the Church’s past. But as we study and dig and research, we must continually zoom out and recognize how much more work we really have to do.”

Learn more about the Joseph Smith Papers at josephsmithpapers.org.

President Dallin H. Oaks speaks at the seventh Joseph Smith Papers Conference in the Conference Center Theater.