Stanley J. Thayne and Dr. Cynthia Hallen, English Language and Linguistics
During the nineteenth century the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then known primarily as the Mormon Church, was a subject of great controversy in American periodical literature. Major magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly, Scribner’s, Harper’s, The North American Review, and The Century published articles about the Mormon people. While working as a research assistant for Dr. Cynthia Hallen, documenting literary influences on Emily Dickinson, I came across several of these articles and wondered how the Mormon Church would have been portrayed to readers such as Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the rest of the nineteenth-century American reading public.
I expected to find scathing libel in most articles, and though I did find it, I also found several articles that were quite fair and reasonable in their assessment of the Mormon people. I particularly focused on the writings of Helen Hunt Jackson, who was a personal friend of Emily Dickinson and who was a woman of renown among the American literati. Her initial impression of Salt Lake City reveals much of the prejudice common in the American public’s view of the Mormon people, and the evolution of her attitude during her interaction among the Mormons reveals inaccuracies in the public view. Her interviews of Mormon women offer a unique and candid view into the peculiar lifestyle and attitudes of early Mormons, particularly dealing with the issue of plural marriage.
Much of the source material needed for my research was available through online databases and in the Special Collections archive at BYU. To find further documents I traveled to the New York Public Library, and to libraries at Cornell, University of Massachusetts, and Amherst College. Between libraries I also spent time at the Susquehanna County Historical Society in Pennsylvania, which has since become a publishing venue, and with Afton, New York, town historian, Charles Decker. Through these sources I have collected several nineteenth-century documents regarding folklore about Joseph Smith in the area. I also spent time interviewing locals to document the oral Mormon folklore that has perpetuated over the years in New York and Pennsylvania—the cradle of Mormonism. The subject of early Mormon folklore has become a new research focus that has grown out of my research for my ORCA project.
My goal for the project was to present a paper at a symposium and to have an article published. Between these two areas of research I have presented papers, each different but related to the project, at two symposia (BYU Student Religion Symposium and the Association for Mormon Letters Annual Conference) and I am presenting at the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association Annual Conference in October. I have two articles being published (in the AML 2005 conference proceedings and in the Susquehanna County Historical Society Journal) and I have one under review by New England Quarterly. I have been very blessed in achieving and exceeding my goal, but my research will not stop here. I am returning to Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, this summer to do further research into the history of the LDS Church in the county. These two areas of research have opened up a lifelong pursuit.
The ORCA scholarship I received has definitely been one of the most influential factors in the development of my academic career. It has allowed me access to documents in special collection archives at major university libraries. It has helped me to establish a working relationship with several other professional and independent historians and with historical societies. It has given me greater direction in my academic career path. It has already provided opportunities to present and publish my work and promises to continue to do so. All of these factors should help me to get into a good graduate program and to someday obtain a professorship in a discipline that includes Mormon studies.
My mentor throughout this project, Cynthia Hallen, has been a tremendous asset in providing direction and counsel. It was while working as a research assistant for her—creating an Emily Dickinson lexicon—that I got the idea for the research project. She suggested an ORCA and helped me throughout the application process. She has provided valuable advice about submitting to conferences and journals. She has been an inspiration and continues to be as she offers encouragement and academic counsel.
Finally, I would like to thank those whose financial contributions fund the ORCA scholarship program. Your generosity has been a great blessing to my life and has greatly contributed to the development of my academic career. I hope that my work has proved your donations to be a worthwhile investment. Thank you.