“The Centennial History of the Genealogical Society of Utah: Who, When, Why, and How”
James B Allen & Jessie Embry
10/8/22
Categories: LDS, RT
Talk Abstract:
Work on this volume, Hearts Turned to the Fathers, began in the 1970s after the Genealogical Department requested that the Historical Department of the Church prepare a history of their department to be used as a reference work. Jim Allen was given the task and was able to obtain the help of Jessie Embry. Together they did research in the documents and conducted many. interviews. Later, after it was decided to make this a centennial history of the Genealogical Society of Utah (i.e., the Genealogical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), Jim and Jessie asked Kahlile Mehr to join them because of his first-hand knowledge of the latest developments. The discussion today will deal with some of their research experiences, including interesting interviews, selected highlights from the book, and a note on how it finally got published. Jessie Embry will be online with Jim to add her comments, as well. Since this book, Hearts Turnded to the Fathers, was published as issue 34:2 of BYUI Studies Quarterly, it can be read online or downloaded as a pdf for free from PDF https://byustudies.byu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/BYUSQ_34-2.pdf . It is nearly 400 pages long, so it may take some time to download.
Speaker Bio:
James B. Allen received his PhD degree from the University of Southern California in 1963.He taught at Brigham Young University from 1963 to1992. He was also Assistant Church Historian, 1972-79, chair of the BYU History Department, 1981 to 1987, Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, 1984, and Lemuel Hardison Redd, Jr. Professor of Western American History, 1987-1992. He has authored, co-authored, or co-edited fourteen books or monographs and around 90 articles. His books include The Story of the Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1976; 2nd ed. updated and revised, 1992), with Glen M. Leonard, and Trials of Discipleship: The Story of William Clayton, A Mormon (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987), winner of the David Woolley Evans and Beatrice Cannon Evans Biography Award, 1986, revised and republished under the title No Toil Nor Labor Fear: The Story of William Clayton (Provo, UT: BYU Press, 2002). He and his wife Renée are the parents of five children, grandparents of 19, and great-grandparents of 25.
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NOTICE:
This presentation is part of a set of over 400 presentations on genealogy and family history produced by "UVTAGG: The Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group".
For full details and to join, see the website https://uvtagg.org.