1811 research outputs found
Sort by
A “Prophet to Your Father”: Martin Harris and the Printing of the Book of Mormon
No full textMartin Harris (1783–1875), a substantial farmer of Palmyra, New York, was the financial backer of the Book of Mormon. He was also one of “Three Witnesses” who in 1829 claimed to have seen not only the golden plates or tablets from which the book was “translated,” but also “an Angel of God” who “came down from heaven, and … brought and laid [the plates] before our eyes” in conjunction with a divine attestation of the project itself, heard in the voice of God.
As one may imagine, Harris was a complex figure whom historians have both beatified and maligned. But how did Harris see himself? And how did he view his role in expediting the publication of the Book of Mormon? Whether as freewheeling enthusiast or indecisive benefactor, this was a man whom (Latter-day) Saints needed, but had to manage.
In this paper, I will explore how Harris managed certain matters himself rather more than may previously have been supposed. Using a number of little-known or seldom-pondered remnants and scenes from Harris’s life, I will suggest a man of proactive will to accelerate the printing and dissemination of the first Mormon book as strategically as possible, in consideration of his perceived interests and available time
A Sexual Utopia: Three Words that do not Describe College
No full textThis study is a portrait of the sex lives of women at a small, liberal arts college campus in upstate New York. My data focuses on how patriarchal cultural norms dictate sexual interactions, and why that is harmful for students. I am primarily concerned with how mostly women- and two non-binary students- experience agency in their sexual encounters
Rabbit Heads, Indian Maidens, and a Can of Peas: Entertainments with the Canterbury Shakers
No full textBetween 1883 and 1935, the Canterbury Shakers planned and performed more than 120 “Entertainments,” including skits, tableaus, plays, cantatas, concerts, and parades. Influenced by the popularity of amateur theater in the United States, the Shakers copied poems from newspapers, bought volumes of plays, and took over an entire room on the third floor of their 1793 Dwelling House to store their costumes, props, and other Entertainment paraphernalia. Entertainments were clearly not a brief aberration in the community’s long history, but rather a cherished and beloved institution that endured for more than half a century
The Rise of Anti-Masonry in Western New York and Its Connection to the Rise of Mormonism
No full textThe beginnings of anti-Masonry and Mormonism coincide both in time and geography—the 1820s and western New York. Both had enthusiastic “burned over district” underpinnings. Both attracted devoted but also frequently eccentric followers. Both were enflamed in controversy. As time went on, both anti-Masonry and Mormonism became deeply involved in partisan journalistic battles and political tensions
“There’s no combination, so firm as freemason”: William Wines Phelps — New York Journalist, Mason, and Anti-Mason
No full textWilliam Wines Phelps (1792-1872) was a prominent associate of Mormon founder Joseph Smith in Missouri, Ohio, and Illinois. He published the first Mormon newspaper and was Smith’s ghostwriter for some of his most important communications. In this paper I will focus on Phelps’s early years in western New York where he lived for almost forty years, edited three newspapers, became a Freemason, renounced that institution, and became a prominent participant in the anti-Masonic movement. I will then suggest how Phelps’s experiences in New York influenced his conversion and early career in Mormonism
The Grand Survivor: The Harvard Shakers’ New Office of 1839–40
No full textOn Shaker Road in Harvard’s Shaker Village stands a three-and-a-half story wood-framed building that once held a central place in the life of the Harvard Shaker Church Family. From 1840 until 1918, the building the Harvard Shakers called the New Office hosted the various business interests of the Harvard Church Family. It served as a dwelling for the Shaker trustees and office sisters, an inn for visitors, a retail store, and a gathering place where the Harvard Shakers could meet with their guests and with one another in a social setting
“Where Does the Distinction Lie?” The Impact of Public and Private High School Resourcing on Students’ Transition to an Elite College
No full textMy study identifies the impact of high school resourcing on students\u27 experience in navigating life on an elite college campus. In order to do this, a series of 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 4 students enrolled at Hamilton college who graduated from three distinct types of high schools: elite private schools, well resourced public schools and less resourced public schools. According to my findings, the defining factor in determining the effectiveness of a high school education in preparing students for elite higher education is not the source of funding for these institutions (whether it be public or private), but the amount of resourcing available in the institution. Across Well Resourced Schools, students have access to rigorous academics, extracurriculars and college counseling opportunities, thus preparing them to navigate college life. On the other hand, students from Less Resourced Schools lack these opportunities. This finding demonstrates the reproduction of inequality in terms of who has the cultural capital necessary to access and succeed in elite postsecondary education
Front Matter
No full textInformation relating to the publisher, publication frequency, editorial staff, purchase options, submission requirements, and contact information for the American Communal Societies Quarterly
To “Fall on the rock”: Excavating a Shaker Spiritual Motif
No full textThe phrase “fall on the rock” reverberates through Shaker song and discourse, exemplified by an 1840s gift song long attributed to New Lebanon that begins, “Fall on the rock and be ye broken.” The phrase appears to simply echo Jesus when he speaks in a parable of the “cornerstone” upon which a person might fall and be broken into pieces. But evidence from a range of sources suggests other layers of meaning that this phrase held for the Shakers, resonating with pivotal events that occurred early in Shaker history. Moreover, evidence also points to an earlier western origin of “Fall on the rock and be ye broken,” a song that remains popular among the contemporary Shakers. Further excavation reveals the many interesting ways that rock and stone have been employed in Shaker spiritual metaphor
