Explore the many events hosted by JWHA through the years.

Annual Conferences

2023 Restoration Tales from Texas Dust, Fredericksburg, Texas, September 21-24

2022 JWHA’s 50th Anniversary: a Legacy of Restoration History, Independence, Missouri, September 15 – 18

View 2022 Photos Here

2021 Restoration Outpost: Ragged Edge or Oasis? Virtual Conference, October 22-23, 2021

2020 Postponed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, St. George, Utah

2019 Back to the Burned-Over District 200 Years Later, 1819-2019: Impact of the Second Great Awakening on the Restoration MovementsFairport, New York, September 26-29

2018 Our Stories Fashion Order Out of Chaos, Blue Springs, Missouri, September 20-23

2017 Restoration Diaspora: All Roads Lead from Nauvoo, Nauvoo, Illinois, September 21-24
View 2017 Photos

2016 Ye Should Go to the Ohio and from Thence among All Nations, Kirtland, Ohio, September 22-25
View 2016 Photos

2015 Putting Unity into Community: 150 Years of Discovery, Independence, Missouri, September 24-27

2014 Sacred Places and Zionic Communities: The Ideas and Realities of the Restoration, Lamoni, Iowa, September 25-28

2013 Sojourn in Iowa, Council Bluffs, Iowa, September 26-29
View 2013 Photos

2012 The Redemption of Zion, Independence, Missouri, September 20-23

2011 Nauvoo “e unum pluribus” (one of one, many), Nauvoo, Illinois – September 22-25
View 2011 Photos

2010 Emma, Her Sons, Their Church, & the Latter Day Saints, Amboy & Rockford, Illinois – September 23-26

2009 Race, Gender, Ethnicity and the Restoration, Independence, Missouri, September 24-27

2008 1844-1859 A Time of Transition, Old Voree (Burlington), Wisconsin, September 25-28

2007 Communal Experiments Among Latter Day Saints & Other American Groups, Kirtland, Ohio, September 27-30

2006 Scattering of the Saints: The Diverse Expressions of the Restoration, Independence, Missouri, September 28-October 1

2005 Joseph Smith And His Complex Legacy,  Springfield, Illinois, September 29-October 2

2004 Places of Decision: The Spatial & Metaphorical Geography of the Restoration, Omaha/Council Bluffs, September 23-26

2003 Annual Meeting, Excelsior Springs, Missouri, September 25-28

2002 Annual Meeting, Nauvoo, Illinois, September 26-29

2001 Annual Meeting, O’Fallon, Missouri, September 28-30

2000 Annual Meeting, Independence, Missouri – September 22-24

1999 Annual Meeting, Excelsior Springs, Missouri, September 24-26

1998 Annual Meeting, Lamoni, Iowa, September 25-27

1997 Annual Meeting, Kirtland, Ohio, September 26-28

1996 Annual Meeting, Independence, Missouri, September 27-29

1995 Annual Meeting, Combined Conference, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, June 20-25 (held jointly with MHA and Canadian Mormon Studies Association)

1994 Annual Meeting, Nauvoo, Illinois, September 23-25

1993 Annual Meeting, Independence, Missouri – September 24-26

1992 Annual Meeting, Shenandoah, Iowa, September 25-27

1991 Annual Meeting, Plano, Illinois – September 27-29

1990 Annual Meeting, Independence, Missouri, September 28-30

1989 Annual Meeting, Lamoni, Iowa, September 22-24

1988 Annual Meeting, Nauvoo, Illinois, September 23-25

1987 Annual Meeting, Independence, Missouri, October 2-4

1986 Annual Meeting, Kirtland, Ohio, September 26-28

1985 Annual Meeting, Lamoni, Iowa, September 27-29

1984 Annual Meeting, Des Moines, Iowa, September 28-30

1983 Annual Meeting, Independence, Missouri, September 23-25

1982 Annual Meeting, St. Louis, Missouri, September 24-26

1981 Annual Meeting, Independence, Missouri, September 25-27

1980 Annual Meeting, Council Bluffs, Iowa, September 26-28
View 1980 Photos

1979 Annual Meeting, Independence, Missouri, September 28-30
View 1979 Photos

1978 Annual Meeting, Plano, Illinois
View 1978 Photos

1977 Annual Meeting, Parkville, Missouri, September 23-25
View 1977 Photos

1976 Annual Meeting, Lamoni, Iowa, September 24-26

1975 Third Annual Meeting, Independence, Missouri, September 26 – 28

1974 Second Annual Meeting, Lamoni, Iowa, September 27-29

1973 The First JWHA Conference, Nauvoo, Illinois – September 28 -29


Spring Event Featuring the Wallace B. Smith Lecture

The John Whitmer Historical Association (JWHA) has traditionally held a Spring Event in Independence, Missouri, timed to correspond with the opening of Community of Christ’s triennial World Conferences.  This tradition was expanded in 2008, as the association began hosting an annual Spring Restoration Studies Symposium, co-sponsored by the Sunstone Education Foundation as Sunstone Midwest.  To inaugurate the symposium, Wallace B. Smith, Community of Christ’s Emeritus Prophet and President was invited to give the keynote address, which was thereafter named in his honor.  While the annual symposia series ended in 2011, the association has continued to sponsor Wallace B. Smith Lectures at Spring events that correspond to the traditional World Conference schedule. 

2008: Wallace B. Smith, “Experiences in Growing a Faith: Reflections on a Twenty-year Journey, 1976–1996”

2009: Stephen M. Veazey, “Stepping into the River of Revelation in the Restoration Tradition”

2010: Don Compier, “Who Is a Christian? The Perspective of Ecumenical Christianity”

2011: Gail Mengel, “A Woman’s Place: Coming of Age”

2013: Douglas A. Foster, “Community of Christ and Churches of Christ: Extraordinary Distinctions, Extraordinary Parallels”
View 2013 Banquet Photos

2016: Timothy Miller, “The Communitarian World of the Nineteenth-Century Latter Day Saints”

2019: Alma Blair, “The Unique Place of JWHA in Restoration History”

2023: John Hamer, “The Past, Present, and Future of the Prophetic Monarchy in the Latter Day Saint Tradition”


Restoration Studies Symposium

2014 Of One Heart and Mind: Common Consent in the Restoration Traditions, Independence, Missouri, January 31-February 2

2011 Restoration Studies Symposium, Independence, Missouri, April 15-16

2010 Restoration Studies Symposium, Independence, Missouri, April 8-9

2009 Restoration Studies Symposium, Independence, Missouri, April 17-18

2008 Restoration Studies Symposium, Independence, Missouri, April 11-12