The Mormon History Association (MHA) is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the study and understanding of all aspects of Mormon history to promote understanding, scholarly research, and publication in the field. MHA was founded in December 1965 at the American Historical Association (AHA) meeting in San Francisco under the leadership of Latter-day Saint and historian Leonard J. Arrington. In 1972, MHA became an independent organization with its own annual conferences and publications. The Journal of Mormon History, the official biennial publication of the association, began publication in 1974. MHA also publishes the quarterly Mormon History Newsletter and is an affiliate of both AHA and the Western History Association.

MHA "welcome[s] all who are interested in the Mormon past, irrespective of religious affiliation, academic training, or world location." It is not formally affiliated with the LDS Church. Its members are composed of people both within and without the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the Community of Christ, including those who reject Mormonism.

Presidents MHA presidents are recognized contributors to the field of Mormon history and serve for one year.

Years Name Prominence at the time of service 1966–67 Leonard J. Arrington MHA co-founder; Utah State University historian; author of Great Basin Kingdom 1967–68 Eugene E. Campbell Brigham Young University (BYU) history professor 1968–69 T. Edgar Lyon Nauvoo Restoration 1969–70 S. George Ellsworth Utah State University history professor 1970–71 Richard D. Poll Western Illinois University vice-president; former BYU historian 1971–72 Davis Bitton MHA co-founder; University of Utah history professor 1972–73 James B. Allen MHA co-founder; BYU history professor 1973–74 Reed C. Durham Jr. Director of Institute of Religion at the University of Utah 1974–75 Thomas G. Alexander BYU history professor 1975–76 Charles S. Peterson University of Utah historian; former director of USHS 1976–77 Paul M. Edwards 1977–78 Douglas D. Alder USU history professor and director of honors program 1978–79 Milton V. Backman BYU Religious Education professor 1979–80 Jan Shipps Indiana University professor of history and religious studies 1980–81 Dean C. Jessee Joseph Smith researcher and archivist with the LDS Church. 1981–82 Melvin T. Smith 1982–83 William D. Russell Professor of history at Graceland University 1983–84 Kenneth W. Godfrey LDS Institute of Religion Director 1984–85 Maureen U. Beecher BYU English professor with the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute. 1985–86 Richard L. Bushman Columbia University historian; author of Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism 1986–87 Richard W. Sadler 1987–88 Valeen Tippetts Avery Northern Arizona University historian, Co-author of Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith 1988–89 Stanley B. Kimball SIU Edwardsville historian; biographer of Heber C. Kimball 1989–90 Carol Cornwall Madsen BYU historian with the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute. 1990–91 Richard P. Howard World Church Historian of the RLDS Church 1991–92 Ronald W. Walker BYU history professor 1992–93 Marvin S. Hill BYU historian; author of Quest for Refuge: The Mormon Flight from American Pluralism 1993–94 Roger D. Launius JWHA president; chief historian for NASA 1994–95 Mario De Pillis Professor of American Religious history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst 1995–96 David J. Whittaker Brigham Young University archivist 1996–97 Linda King Newell historian; author of Mormon Enigma; editor of Dialogue; JWHA president 1997–98 Armand L. Mauss WSU professor of sociology and religious studies 1998–99 Jill Mulvay Derr BYU historian; authored women's histories 1999–2000 Newell G. Bringhurst 2000–01 William G. Hartley Director of the Family History and Genealogy Research Center at BYU 2001–02 Dean L. May University of Utah historian specializing in social history of the American West 2002–03 Lawrence Foster Georgia Institute of Technology professor of history, technology, and society 2003–04 Martha Sonntag Bradley 2004–05 Donald Q. Cannon Brigham Young University professor 2005–06 Philip L. Barlow Professor of theology and American religious history at Hanover College 2006–07 Ronald K. Esplin Joseph Smith Papers Project director; BYU historian; Joseph Fielding Smith Institute director 2007–08 Paul L. Anderson BYU Museum of Art curator 2008–09 Kathryn M. Daynes BYU historian; author of More Wives Than One 2009–10 Ronald E. Romig Community of Christ archivist 2010–11 William P. MacKinnon Independent historian; author of At Sword's Point 2011–12 Richard L. Jensen Research historian with LDS Church History Department 2012–13 Glen M. Leonard Independent historian; author of Nauvoo 2013–14 Richard E. Bennett BYU professor of Church History and Doctrine 2014–15 Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Harvard University historian of early America and women; Pulitzer and Bancroft winner 2015–16 Laurie Maffly-Kipp Professor at Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, Washington University in St. Louis 2016–17 Brian Q. Cannon BYU historian and director of the Charles Redd Center 2017–18 Patrick Q. Mason Utah State University Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture, professor of history; former Howard W. Hunter Chair at Claremont University 2018–19 W. Paul Reeve University of Utah professor of history and the director of graduate studies in the history department 2019–20 Ignacio M. Garcia Lemuel H. Redd Jr. professor of Western American History at Brigham Young University 2020–21 Jenny Lund Director of the Historic Sites Division of the Church History Department 2021–22 Claudia Bushman Professor of American Studies emerita at Columbia University 2022–23 Matthew Bowman Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies, Claremont Graduate University 2023–24 David Howlett Mellon Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion at Smith College 2024–25 Andrea Radke-Moss Department of History and Political Science, at BYU-Idaho 2026– Benjamin Park Sam Houston State University

Journal of Mormon History

Since 1974, MHA has produced the Journal of Mormon History, an academic journal in the field of Mormon studies. From the founding of MHA until 1974, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought was a principal venue for articles on Mormon History written by MHA members.

A DVD archive of past issues of the journal is available at MHA's web site.

List of editors Name Position Term Richard Sadler Editor 1974–1981 Dean L. May Editor 1982–1985 Leonard J. Arrington Editor 1986–1987 Lowell M. Durham Jr. Editor 1988–1990 Lavina Fielding Anderson Editor 1991–2009 Martha P. Taysom Editor 2009–2016 Jessie L. Embry Editor 2016–2019 Christopher James BlytheJessie L. Embry Co-editors 2020–2022 Christopher Cannon JonesJessie L. Embry Co-editors 2023-2024 Christopher Cannon Jones Editor 2024-

Mormon History Association Awards Among the awards presented by the association are: the Leonard J. Arrington Award "for distinguished and meritorious service to Mormon history" – named for the MHA's founder, and father of New Mormon history; Best Book Award; Best First Book; Best Documentary or Bibliography; Best Biography; an award for an outstanding International Mormon history; an award for an outstanding history of a Mormon family (or grouping of families in one community).

References

External links Official website (new) DigitalCommons.USU.edu/MormonHistory Official website (old) Awards given by the MHA Digitized archive of the Journal of Mormon History