John Whitmer Historical Association - 2010 Annual Meeting Program

This year is the 150th anniversary of the meeting in Amboy, Illinois, where Joseph Smith III and his mother Emma affiliated with the "new organization" of Midwestern Latter Day Saints that ultimately became the Community of Christ. To mark the occasion, JWHA is going to Amboy and nearby Rockford, Illinois, where our theme will be "Emma, Her Sons, Their Church, and the Latter Day Saints."

Thursday, September 23

Conference Registration, 4:30–7:00 PM

Registration and Thursday’s events will take place at the Cliffbreakers Riverside Resort located at 700 W. Riverside Blvd., in Rockford, Illinois. Make your reservations today by calling 815.282.3033 and asking for the JWHA room rate of $74.99.

JWHA Business Meeting, 7:00–7:45 PM

(1) Sterling M. McMurrin Lecture (Plenary), 8:00–9:15 PM

"Emma’s Legacy: Life after Joseph"

Presenter: Linda King Newell

(2) Welcoming Reception, 9:30–10:45 PM

Friday, September 24

Registration and Friday’s events will take place at the Cliffbreakers Riverside Resort located at 700 W. Riverside Blvd., in Rockford, Illinois.

Conference Registration, 7:30 AM–5:00 PM

Book Vendors, 7:30 AM–5:00 PM

(3A) RLDS History 101 (Concurrent), 8:00–9:30 AM

"Community of Christ History for Beginners: What You May Have Missed in the Past 150 Years"

Presenter: John C. Hamer

(3B) The Birth of the Reorganization (Concurrent), 8:00–9:30 AM

"The History of Zarahemla (Blanchardville): Church Headquarters, 1852-60"

Presenter: Daniel M. Kelty

"The Other Briggs: Edmund C. Briggs and the Defining of the Early Reorganization"

Presenter: Clare D. Vlahos

(3C) The Temple Lot and Elijah Message Tradition Churches (Concurrent), 8:00–9:30 AM

"The Temple Lot: A Contest for Sacred Space"

Presenter: R. Jean Addams

"The Elijah Message Tradition and the Return of John the Baptist"

Presenter: Paul D. Savage

(4A) Danites (Concurrent), 10:00–10:45 AM

"The Big Fan: Joseph Smith and the Danites in Missouri"

Presenter: Todd Compton

(4B) The Early RLDS/LDS Divide (Concurrent), 10:00–10:45 AM

"How Brigham Young Failed to Reunite ‘Joseph’s Church’ with ‘Emma’s Church.’"

Presenter: George D. Smith

(4C) New Insights on D&C 76 (Concurrent), 10:00–10:45 AM

"Correcting a Traditional Interpretation of D&C 76:7 Based on New Data from the Joseph Smith Papers Project"

Presenter: Blair B. Bryant

(5A) The Lost 116 Pages (Concurrent), 11:15 AM–noon

"The Lost Book of Lehi: Reconstructing the Contents of the 116 Pages"

Presenter: Don Bradley

(5B) A Lamoni Author (Concurrent), 11:15 AM–noon

"The Writings of Maria Braby: Frontier Poetry and Prose from the Early Days in Lamoni"

Presenter: Richard Braby

(5C) The Aurora, Illinois, LDS Branch (Concurrent), 11:15 AM–noon

"An LDS Outpost in the Mission Field: The Old Aurora Branch, 1932-65"

Presenter: Ginger Hamer

(6) Panel Discussion (Plenary Lunch), 12:15–1:45 PM

"Differing Perspectives on Joseph Smith and Plural Marriage"

Chair: Newell G. Bringhurst

Panelists: Linda King Newell, Todd Compton, Brian C. Hales, Craig L. Foster

(7A) Panel Discussion (Concurrent), 2:00–3:30 PM

"Women’s Roles, Identities, and Experiences in the Community of Christ and Utah Mormonism"

Panelists: Mary Ellen Robertson and others TBA

(7B) The RLDS Church Confronts the New Mormon History (Concurrent), 2:00–3:30 PM

"Preliminary Thoughts on Putting the History of JWHA into Context"

Presenter: Biloine Whiting Young

"From Davis to Edwards to Howard to Scherer: Official History in the Reorganization"

Presenter: William D. Russell

(7C) William Smith’s Church Organizations (Concurrent), 2:00–3:30 PM

"The Latter Day Saint Churches of William Smith, 1845-1860"

Presenter: Connell O’Donovan

"William Smith’s Organization at Palestine Grove, Illinois: Laying the Foundations for the Reorganized Church"

Presenter: Kyle R. Walker

(8A) Adam-God and Polygamy (Concurrent), 3:45–4:30 PM

"The Adam-God Doctrine and Persistence of Polygamy"

Presenter: Robert D. Anderson

(8B) Rigdonites (Concurrent), 3:45–4:30 PM

"Sidney Rigdon as Prophet, Seer, and Revelator: An Introduction to the Revelation Books of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion"

Presenter: Jay Alan Burton

(9A) Panel Discussion (Concurrent), 4:45–6:15 PM

"The Missouri Mormon Experience"

Chair: Thomas Spencer

Panelists: Alexander L. Baugh, others TBA

(9B) Angels and Apparitions in the Early Restoration (Concurrent) , 4:45–6:15 PM

"Joseph Smith’s Angelic Visitations and Descriptive Rhetoric"

Presenter: Christine Elyse Blythe

"‘Joseph [Smith] Being Dead Yet Speaketh’: Apparitions of the Prophet-Martyr"

Presenter: Christopher James Blythe

(9C) An RLDS Generational Family Saga (Concurrent), 4:45–6:15 PM

"Our Story of Faith and Life: A Family Saga of Many Generations in the Church"

Presenters: Richard Lancaster and James E. Lancaster Jr.

(10) Awards Banquet (Plenary), 6:30–8:30 PM

2010 Annual JWHA Awards

Presenters: Bill Shepard and Barbara B. Walden

"Beyond Nauvoo: Discovering the Reorganized Church Story Again for the First Time"

Presenter: Mark A. Scherer

Saturday, September 25

Registration and Saturday’s events will take place at the Cliffbreakers Riverside Resort located at 700 W. Riverside Blvd., in Rockford, Illinois. The tour buses will meet us outside Cliffbreakers to take us to Amboy and back.

Conference Registration, 7:30 AM–12:30 PM

Book Vendors, 7:30 AM–12:30 PM

(11A) Author Meets Critics Panel (Concurrent), 8:00–9:30 AM

"Know Your Religions: A Comparative Look at Mormonism and the Community of Christ, by Richard G. Moore"

Chair: William D. Russell

Panelists: Steven L. Shields and others TBA

Response: Richard G. Moore

(11B) William Smith’s Polygamy (Concurrent), 8:00–9:30 AM

"The Wives of William Smith"

Presenters: Erin B. Jennings and Connell O’Donovan

(11C) RLDS Leaders at the Turn of the 20^th Century (Concurrent), 8:00–9:30 AM

"Thomas Jefferson Sheppard (1856–1933), RLDS Seventy Missionary to Native Americans, Texans and Settlers in the Midwest and New Mexico"

Presenter: Carol Freeman Braby

"The Journals of James Kelley: The Tragic Story of a Twentieth-Century Apostle Following in His Father’s Footsteps"

Presenter: Barbara B. Walden

(12A) The Restoration and the Cross (Concurrent), 10:00–10:45 AM

"Mormon Attitudes toward the Cross—A Brighamite, Josephite, & Strangite Comparison"

Presenter: Michael G. Reed

(12B) Red Brick Store (Concurrent), 10:00–10:45 AM

"Joseph Smith’s Red Brick Store: Fragile Power on the Upper Mississippi River"

Presenter: Jill Brim

(12C) The Illinois & Michigan Canal (Concurrent), 10:00–10:45 AM

"Mormons and the I&M Canal: A Visual History"

Presenter: Vickie Cleverly Speek

(13A) The Sons of the Martyred Prophet and the Utah Mormons (Concurrent), 11:00 AM–12:30 PM

"The 1869 Clash over Polygamy between RLDS Missionaries Alexander and David Hyrum Smith and their Cousin, Utah Apostle Joseph F. Smith"

Presenter: Brian C. Hales

"Another Prophet in Utah: Joseph Smith III’s 1876 Visit to Salt Lake City"

Presenter: Alexander L. Baugh

(13B) Church History Sites in the Late 20^th Century (Concurrent), 11:00 AM–12:30 PM

"Staging the Temple: RLDS and LDS Dramas at Kirtland, Ohio, 1977-2008"

Presenter: David Howlett

"The History of the ReLaDaSa Tour business through the 1940s-1990s"

Presenter: Kevin W. Bryant

(13C) Psychiatric Studies of Joseph Smith (Concurrent), 11:00 AM–12:30 PM

Presenters: William D. Morain and Robert D. Anderson

(14) Amboy Area Bus Tour (includes box lunch), 12:30–5:30 PM

(15) Presidential Banquet (Plenary), 7:00–8:45 PM

"From Emma to the First Presidency: Women in Community of Christ History"

Presenter: Jeanne Murphey

Sunday, September 26

All Sunday events will take place at the Rockford Community of Christ Congregation located at 6103 Forest Hills Road in Rockford.

(16) "Hymns of the Reorganization: A Celebration of 150 Years of Song" (Plenary), 9:30–10:30 AM

Organizer: Richard Clothier