W. Paul Reeve - Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness

Religion of a Different Color

Religion of a Different Color

Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness

W. PAUL REEVE

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Reeve, W. Paul, author.

Religion of a different color : race and the Mormon struggle for whiteness / W. Paul Reeve.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 9780190226275 (ebook) 1. Race relationsReligious aspects Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints History. 2. WhitesRace identityUnited StatesHistory. 3. Race relationsReligious aspectsMormon ChurchHistory. 4. Indian MormonsHistory. 5. African American MormonsHistory. I. Title.

BX8611.R44 2015

305.6893dc23

2014027391

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

To Mom, Dad, and Roene

for teaching me to look on the heart

Contents

Scholarship on the Mormon past is flourishing, perhaps as never before, nourished by a vibrant community of scholars. I am the beneficiary of that communitys collective generosity and those fellow researchers who shared sources and insights with me. Their kindnesses greatly enriched the texture of this book and made it far better than it would have been had I fumbled along on my own. My colleagues also convinced me that I was indeed on to something, especially at the early stages of the project when some friends suggested there would not be enough sources available to sustain an entire book. A trickle soon turned into a flood, and I ended up gathering far more references than could be included here. I am grateful for friends and colleagues who shared sources, time, wisdom, and knowledge with me: including Sam Brown, Jared Tamez, Christopher Jones, Stan Thayne, Ben Park, Max Mueller, Melissa Coy, Russell Stevenson, Alan Morrell, Michael Van Wagenen, Andrea G. Radke-Moss, Nathan Oman, Ben Cater, Nathan Jones, Brent Rogers, Blair Hodges, Michael Paulos, Cassie Clark, Janiece Johnson, Ed Jeter, Tom Kimball, Stephen Fleming, Todd Compton, Connell ODonovan, Matthew Basso, Jon Moyer, Ed Blum, Darius Gray, J. B. Haws, Nadja Durbach, John Turner, and Arvella George. Ardis Parshall continues to be a generous scholar with a keen eye for detail: she shared so many of her obscure finds with me that the end product is richer for having her as a friend. Other people (Patrick Mason, Quincy Newell, Barbara Jones Brown, Michael Shamo, David Grua, Margaret Blair Young, Jonathan Stapley, Christopher Rich, Heather Stone, and Colleen McDannell) were generous enough to read chapters and offer feedback. I am grateful for the collective wisdom of the many scholars who contributed to this project. The oversights and misinterpretations that persist are mine.

Christopher Rich deserves special mention. Early in the project I submitted a request at the LDS Church History Library to see if there was a Pitman shorthand version of Brigham Youngs speech to the territorial legislature, either on 5 January or 5 February 1852. I wanted to clear up the ambiguity of the timeline of Youngs speeches to the legislature and get as close as possible to his original words, rather than rely on Wilford Woodruffs truncated summary. I also wanted to know if his most important speech was delivered on 5 February or 5 January. The only response I received from the Church History Library was that there was no shorthand version of a 5 January speech and no mention of 5 February. Not entirely satisfied, I decided to try again later. In the meantime, I thought I had solved the chronology problem of Youngs speeches, yet I still had lingering questions. I sent a version of to Christopher Rich to read. He believed that Youngs most fully enunciated rationale for a race-based priesthood denial was delivered on 5 February, not 5 January. His feedback prompted me to again inquire at the Church History Library, so this time I requested a shorthand version of a 5 February speech. This new request led not only to the discovery of shorthand for Youngs speech but also to speeches by Orson Pratt and Orson Spencer that had never been transcribed, as well as a vigorous debate over the Indian indenture bill. These discoveries led to a meeting and a new friendship with LaJean Purcell Caruth, the first person to transcribe some of these speeches since they were originally recorded by George D. Watt in 1852. Information from the speeches also led to new insights into the beginnings of the race-based priesthood ban in Mormonism that have never been considered before. LaJean and Christopher have since joined me in coediting and contextualizing the 1852 legislative bills, debates, and speeches for publication for the first time. The result of this editorial collaboration is slated to appear as a book of its own entitled Enough to cause the Angles in Heaven to Blush: Race, Servitude, and Priesthood at the 1852 Utah Legislature.

I also thank the Church History Library and the group of dedicated professionals who made my research there rewarding. Richard Turley, Bill Slaughter, Matthew Grow, Michael Landon, LaJean Purcell Carruth, Silvia Ghosh, Elder Marcus Nash, and Jed Woodworth were all generous with their time and resources. Robin Jensen was always helpful with quick answers to questions and insights into sources which saved me countless hours. I especially honor former LDS Church Historian Elder Marlin Jensen for creating an inviting atmosphere for scholarly inquiry and for his encouragement on this project.

My friends and colleagues at the J. Williard Marriott Library at the University of Utah were also helpful, especially Greg Thompson, Paul Mogren, Peter Kraus, Walter Jones, and Luise Poulton.

The Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah, under the leadership of Bob Goldberg, honored me with a Virgil C. Aldrich Research Fellowship at the early stages of this project and offered me a rewarding intellectual space in which I could test my ideas. My research was also supported by a Mayers Fellowship at the Huntington Library at San Marino, California, where I benefitted from the guidance of William Deverell and Peter Blodgett. The University of Utah History Department, under the leadership of Jim Lehning, and the College of Humanities under Robert Newman, supported a semester-long sabbatical leave, which, combined with a University Faculty Fellowship, provided the time to write the bulk of the manuscript.