This year JWHA is proud to offer a variety of tours, all focused on celebrating our history. Whether you take a coach, a wagon, or a class, we hope you’ll have a fun experience learning together. Tour spots are rapidly filling up.

Collage of historical images

 

Early Independence Historical Sites (including the Temple Lot area) and Current Locations of Various Expressions of the Restoration – $55 per person (lunch included)
R. Jean Addams & Steven L. Shields
Experience an authentic chuck wagon barbecue, followed by a mule-drawn wagon tour of early Independence historic sites including the Temple Lot area with guides R. Jean Addams, author of Upon the Temple Lot: The Church of Christ’s Quest to Build the House of the Lord and Steven L. Shields, author of Divergent Paths of the Restoration. Wagon tour and meal provided by Pioneer Trails Adventures.

 

Collage of tour sites

 

Early Mormon Sites on Missouri’s Western Borders – $45 per person (box lunch $10)
Alex Baugh
The tour will include: Shawnee Methodist Mission, Delaware Indian Village, Grinter House (Grinter Ferry), Joshua Lewis Home, Troost Park Historical Marker, Whitmer Settlement, Old Westport, Blue River Settlement.

Alex Baugh is a professor and chair of the Department of History and Doctrine at BYU, as well as an author, co-author, or editor of ten books including 3 volumes of the Joseph Smith Papers Documents.

 

Collage of historical images

 

Jackson/Caldwell Counties, 19th Century Material Culture, and Far West Historical Sites – $45 per person (box lunch $10)
Jill Brim

Bingham Waggoner Estate, a 19th century gem, features a mansion and carriage house with 90% original furnishings. Thousands moving forward on the Santa Fe trail would have passed by this property. Far West, former Caldwell County seat, was a significant Restoration settlement. The Temple Site cornerstones still remain. We will visit the Caldwell County Historical Society with examples of 19th century material culture, as well.

The Missouri Star Quilting Company in Hamilton, Missouri, along with 11 additional quilt shops, has rejuvenated this charming, small town. Quilters come from global destinations to find quilting supplies!

Jill Brim is on the faculty of Dixie State University teaching U. S. History and Humanities. She sits on the JWHA Board of Directors, as well as the BYU College of Humanities Leadership Council.

 

Collage of historical images

 

Historian 101 Workshop and Midwest Genealogical Center Tour – $55 per person (lunch included)
John Hamer
What does it take to be a successful historian? How do you identify a topic? Where does a historian begin? This workshop will serve as an introduction for those seeking to learn and disseminate historical knowledge to a broader audience. This session will highlight the intricacies of historical research with special focus on the use of valid sources, proper provenance, reading and writing from an objective viewpoint. Care will be given to showcase many sources, both online and offline that provide local records, as well as the best way to share this information so others may learn from and build upon their research. This will be an interactive session allowing participants to guide the session with questions that are most relevant to their needs.

The workshop includes a tour of the Midwest Genealogical Center.

John Hamer is the Historian for the Canada East Mission Center, as well as the author of Northeast of Eden: Atlas of Mormon Settlement in Caldwell County, Missouri, 1834-39 and Community of Christ: An Illustrated History.