Please note: the agenda presented here is a draft and subject to change.
Click on the session numbers for abstract and bio.
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Central Time |
Session |
Presenter(s) |
Location |
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Friday, September 19, 2025 |
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7:30 – 9:15 a.m. |
Light breakfast – included in registration fee |
Atrium | ||
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8:30 a.m. |
“Historians and Their Books: The Latest Scholarship on Joseph Smith” |
Steven C. Harper |
Auditorium | |
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Exploring Faith, Identity, and Human Rights in Restoration Communities |
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8:30 a.m. |
“God, Water, and Guns: A Study of Human Rights in the LeBaron Colony and Surrounding Communities” |
Heather Harper Yates |
Whistlestop Room |
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“The 1891 Debate at East Jordan: A Struggle for Latter Day Saint Prophetic Authority” |
Kyle Beshears |
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Politics, Faith, and Personal Sacrifice: Exploring Law, Marriage, and Leadership in 19th Century America |
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8:30 a.m. |
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“Missouri Governor Daniel Dunklin’s Statesmanship Opens Joseph Smith’s Redemption Eye” |
Glen Larson |
WHDC Press Room |
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“Living Outside the Law: My Seven Foremothers Who Lived Celestial Marriage” |
Marian Peck Rees |
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Legacy of Faith and Community in the Restoration Movement |
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8:30 a.m. |
“Legacy of Community from the Prophet Joseph Smith: Making the Other a Brother” |
Deanna Warden |
Independence Room |
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“C. Eugene Austin: A Child of Zion” |
David Wilson |
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“Sibling Song in Cultural Cross Currents: Movements toward assimilation and distinction in recent CoC/LDS hymnody” |
Rebecca Roesler |
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9:45 a.m. |
Break |
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Faith, Politics, and Exile: Mary Fielding Smith and Hannah Louisa Leavitt Terry |
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10:15 a.m. |
“Mary Fielding Smith and the Politics of Religion in Missouri, 1838” |
Robyn Shahan Spears |
Whistlestop Room |
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“‘Like Hagar, Sent Away’: The life of Hannah Louisa Leavitt Terry, Pioneering Exiled Polygamist, Agent and Faithful” |
Maclane E. Heward |
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10:15 a.m. |
“Zion at a Crossroads: The Supreme Directional Control Controversies of the 1920s and Their Lasting Impact” |
Ken R. Mulliken |
Auditorium | |
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Religious Authority and Memory: Analyzing Joseph Smith Jr.’s Prosecutions and the First Vision through the Self-Memory System |
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10:15 a.m. |
“Reconstructing Revelation: A Cognitive Approach to Joseph Smith’s First Vision” |
Taylor Kerby |
WHDC Press Room |
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“Joseph Smith Jr. and 19th Century Prosecutions of Cunning Folk” |
Nicholas S. Literski |
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Uncovering Hidden Histories: Legal Triumphs and Forgotten Mormons in 19th Century America |
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10:15 a.m. |
“Zion in the Hills: The Story of the Wightites in Gillespie County, Texas—The Tale of a Wandering Frontier Latter-day Saint Sect” |
Katherine Peake |
Independence Room |
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“Guilty Until Proven Innocent: James J. Strang’s 1851 Court Trial” |
Vickie Cleverley Speek |
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11:30 a.m. |
Break |
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Exploring Perspectives on War and Peace: Insights from Activism and Religious Doctrine in the 1960s |
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12:00 p.m. |
“The Other Side of the Cornfield: Greg Walden’s Role in Anti-War Activism on the Graceland Campus in the Late 1960s”
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Barbara B. Walden |
Whistlestop Room |
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Prairie Saints and Mountain Saints in Politics and War: Interdenominational Encounters in Early-20th-century America |
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12:00 p.m. |
“WWI Chaplain Herbert Maw and the 89th Infantry Division” |
Kenneth L. Alford |
Auditorium | |
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“‘These Mormons Fight Polygamy’: Utah Politicians’ Plural Marriage Scandals and How the Reorganized Church Acquired National Attention, 1899–1907” |
Makoto Hunter (Scholarship Recipient) |
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Expanding Borders: Transformations in Geography, Politics, and Race Among Latter-day Saints |
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12:00 p.m. |
“Saints in Canada, Mexico, and the Early Internationalization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” |
Harrison Endicott (Scholarship Recipient) |
WHDC Press Room |
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“Joseph Smith and Mitt Romney: Shifting Political Tides and American Latter-day Saints” |
Phoebe E. Turvaville (Scholarship Recipient) |
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“Adam S. Bennion and the Priesthood and Temple Policy” |
Casey Paul Griffiths |
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Sacred Spaces and State Power: Latter-day Saint Experience in Far West and Post-Soviet Russia |
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12:00 p.m. |
“LDS Missionary Work in the Shadow of Russian Governance” |
Grace Guentzel (Scholarship Recipient) |
Independence Room |
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“Joseph and Emma Smith’s Homes in Far West, Missouri” |
Alex Baugh |
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1:15 p.m. |
Break |
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1:30 p.m. |
Awards Ceremony – included in registration fee |
Eric Paul Rogers |
Auditorium |
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2:30 p.m. |
Break |
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3:00 p.m. |
“Pregnant Possibilities: Sexuality in Joseph Smith’s Nauvoo” |
Mark Tensmeyer |
Auditorium | |
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Connecting Histories and Divergent Journeys: Insights into Local Links and Broader Movements in American Religious History |
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3:00 p.m. |
“James A. Garfield and the Booth Family of Hiram, Ohio: Examining Their Intersections and Peripheral Ties to Mormonism” |
Kyle R. Walker |
WHDC Press Room |
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“Divergent Paths of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement” |
Mike LeCheminant |
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Critics of Mormonism’s Flight from Polygamy |
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3:00 p.m. |
“Heber J. Grant versus Heber Bennion: Relative(s) Conflict over Post Manifesto Polygamy” |
Newell G. Bringhurst |
Whistlestop Room |
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“Second Echelon Latter-day Saints and the Early Fundamentalists” |
Craig L. Foster |
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Faith, Economy, and Innovation: Exploring Joseph Smith’s Role in the United Order and the Spiritual Architecture of Mormonism |
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3:00 p.m. |
“The United Order and the Political Economy of Joseph Smith: An Economic Analysis” |
Mark Skousen |
Independence Room |
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“Joseph Smith: The Architect of Mormonism–Documenting the Development of the Founding Prophet” |
Ganesh Cherian |
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4:15 p.m. |
Scavenger Hunt |
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4:15 p.m. |
Library & Museum Guided Tour – advance registration required | Start in Grandview Hall near Truman Statue | ||
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6:00 p.m. |
Reception – included in registration fee Family Search – Family Tree Meet & Greet |
Atrium | ||
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6:30 p.m. |
“Prophetic People Deciding Together” |
Stassi D. Cramm |
Auditorium | |