At the 2026 John Whitmer Historical Association Annual Conference at Council Bluffs, Iowa, members gathered for the Awards Presentation, an occasion to recognize outstanding scholarship in Restoration Studies.
The awards committee was made up of Julianne Briscoe, David Wilson, Bryce Blankenagel, and Brooke LeFevre. The book awards committee comprised of Makoto Hunter, John Dinger, Dima Hurlbut, and Mel Johnson. We would like to thank our incredible sponsors who made these recognitions possible: the Smith-Pettit Foundation; Greg and Cynthia Kofford; Katherine Pollock; and Stephanie and Eric Rogers. Thank you!
Pollock Best Historical Article
The Pollock Best Historical Article award is given to Nancy Ross and David J. Howlett for their article “‘You Might Change Your Mind!’: Ritual, Authority and Responses to Women’s Ordination in the 1980s RLDS Church” published in The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal.
The commendation, presented by Julianne Briscoe, reads as follows:
It’s a pleasure to present this year’s Pollock Best Historical Article Award to Nancy Ross and David Howlett for their outstanding article, “‘You Might Change Your Mind!’: Ritual, Authority, and Responses to Women’s Ordination in the 1980s RLDS Church.”
The article takes a look at the historical moment of the 1984 revelation on women’s ordination in the RLDS Church.
Rather than focusing solely on the administrative decisions of church leadership, the article shifts our focus to ordinary members and illustrates how they navigated the transition to the ordination of women in the church. They demonstrate that hearts and minds were changed not merely by administrative decree, but through the power of community, shared worship, and continued ritual practice. The result is a nuanced and deeply human account of how people wrestle with change within a faith tradition.
On behalf of JWHA, congratulations to Nancy Ross and David Howlett. Thank you for this thoughtful contribution to Restoration history and for helping us better understand both our past and the people who lived through it. We are delighted to recognize your article with this year’s Best Historical Article Award.
Kofford Best Historical Article
The Kofford Best Historical Article award is given to Thomas W Murphy for his article “White is an Ite: The Book of Mormon’s Misappropriation of the Iroquois Great Law of Peace” published in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought.
The commendation, presented by David Wilson, reads as follows:
It is a pleasure to announce the winner of the Kofford Best Historical Article Award, Thomas Murphy for his article, “White is an Ite: The Book of Mormon’s Misappropriation of the Iroquois Great Law of Peace.”
Murphy examines 4 Nephi 1:10, 17 which speaks of the people becoming “fair and delightsome people…. [N]either were there Lamanites nor any manner of items.” In his excellent article, Murphy, looks at how the idea of “fair and delightsome,” creates its own ite. He looks at the damage done to people of color who are judged as lesser due to the color of their skin. Murphy takes a step back in time to the mid-20th century and looks at programs by Mormon politicians that attempted to turn American Indians white.
Murphy also looks at the backlash from indigenous leaders who suggest that Joseph Smith misappropriated an oral version of the Iroquois Great Law of Peace. He takes these claims seriously and investigates circumstantial evidence as to where Joseph Smith may have encountered these native stories. Murphy identifies several Haudenosaunee individuals who had the opportunity to share these stories with Smith. None of the versions of Haudenosaunee stories have the Peacemaker as a white man.
Murphy concludes that the Christian Utopia of no “ites” except for whites is a “classic example of settler colonial illusion.” The committee was pleased with the new insight this article contained.
Alma Blair Best Biography
The Alma Blair Best Biography award is given to John Turner for his book Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet published by Yale University Press.
The commendation, written by John Dinger, reads as follows:
For its scholarly depth, its narrative power, and its ability to illuminate one of the most consequential and controversial figures in American religious history, the Alma Blair Best Biography Award goes to John G. Turner for Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet.
Few figures in history have proven as difficult to capture in a single biography as Joseph Smith. He is viewed as a prophet, a religious innovator, a political actor, a visionary, and by some a fraud. He founded a movement that would become a global religion, yet his life was marked by extraordinary contradictions: idealism and authoritarianism, community and conflict. For nearly two centuries, historians and biographers have struggled with how to make sense of a man who has been alternately venerated, condemned, defended, and dismissed.
John G. Turner’s Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet meets that challenge with exceptional scholarship and narrative skill. Drawing on the documentary record now available to historians, Turner offers a Joseph Smith who is neither a caricature nor a simple hero, but a remarkably complicated human being whose ideas, ambitions, personality, and religious convictions changed the course of American religious history. Turner’s achievement is not simply to tell Smith’s story again, but to make that story newly intelligible, to show why Joseph Smith could inspire such devotion while simultaneously generating such profound opposition. The result is a biography that is deeply researched, remarkably readable, and attentive to the complexities that make its subject so historically important.
Smith-Pettit Best Book
The Smith-Pettit Best Book goes to Elise Boxer for her Mormon Settler Colonialism: Inventing the Lamanites published by University of Oklahoma Press.
The commendation, written by Melvin Johnsin, reads as follows:
The John Whitmer Historical Association is honored to recognize Elise Boxer with the Smith-Pettit Best Book Award for Mormon Settler Colonialism: Inventing the Lamanite.
In this groundbreaking, deeply important work, Boxer weaves together Indigenous studies, history, and sacred materials to examine how the concept of the “Lamanite” has shaped relationships between the Latter Day Saint and broader Restoration movements and Indigenous peoples. Using solid research and bold analysis, she demonstrates how religious narratives influenced cultural identity, historical remembrance, and the lived experiences of Native communities across generations.
Spanning from the nineteenth century to the present, this book confronts complex questions about race, identity, belonging, dispossession, and assimilation. Boxer examines with intellectual rigor, moral seriousness, and firm commitment to historical insight. By centering Indigenous voices and perspectives, Boxer evaluates the edges of Mormon studies, encouraging scholars and readers alike to reconsider older, familiar narratives in interesting new ways.
Mormon Settler Colonialism: Inventing the Lamanite is an original and important contribution to the study of American western religion, history, and Indigenous experience. For its originality, intellectual excellence, and enduring impact, the John Whitmer Historical Association proudly presents the Smith-Pettit Best Book Award to Elise Boxer.
2025 saw many wonderful books and articles. Congratulations to all the winners. Restoration and Latter Day Saint Studies is rich with such outstanding contributions!
