Skip to main content

Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History records

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: UA 1214

Scope and Contents

Contains correspondence, newspaper articles, reports, manuscripts, oral histories, and other material concerning the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History, mostly from 1940-2005. Collection includes administrative files, history of the Primary and Relief Society organizations within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, social services and women in the church. The records concerning the Primary and Relief Society organizations document the beginning of those organizations in the 1830s and 1880s, 1880-2005.

Dates

  • 1880-2005

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Restricted. Closed for 35 years from the date of creation of the records, and thereafter open to the public in accordance with the University Archives Policy.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History records must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.

Administrative History

The Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History was a department at Brigham Young University that researched, wrote, and published Latter-day Saint history.

The Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History was created in 1980, after it was decided that a university would provide a better setting for research and publication. Before then it was a Church Historian’s Office, reorganized into the Historical Department of the Church headed by Leonard Arrington. The primary responsibility of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History was to research, write and publish Latter-day Saint history from the perspective of faith and according to the highest scholarly standards. The Institute Faculty also taught courses in history, LDS Church history, and other disciplines related to their fields of expertise and advise students whose major papers, theses, and dissertations address Mormon history topics.

Extent

32 boxes (16 linear ft.)

4 cartons (4 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

Arranged into into four series: 1. Joseph Fielding Smith Institute administrative records, 1984-2005. 2. Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History records on the history of the Primary, 1880-1977. 3. Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History manuscripts on Latter-day Saint women, 1921-1984. 4. Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History manuscripts on Social Services, 1949-1984.

Other Finding Aids

File-level inventory available online. http://files.lib.byu.edu/ead/XML/UA1214.xml

Custodial History

Transferred from the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute in September 2005. Addendum transferred from Records Management in November 2010. Addendum trasnferred from Records Management in December 2010.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transferred; Joseph Fielding Smith Institute; September 2005.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Addendum transferred; Records Management; November 2010.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Addendum transferred; Records Management; December 2010.

Appraisal

Departmental records (University Archives collecting policy, July 2003).

Processing Information

Processed; Melanie Nef; October 2005.

Processing Information

Addendum processed; Elizabeth West; December 2010.

Processing Information

Addendum processed; Elizabeth West; April 2011.

Title
Register of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History records
Status
Completed
Author
Melanie Nef and Elizabeth West
Date
2005 October
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Revision Statements

  • 2010 December 15: Added 3 cartons, which included the addition of the fourth series.
  • 2011 April 7: Added 1 carton, the materials of which were added to the first series.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections. University Archives Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo UT 84602 US