The Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation recently announced that they are holding a conference this fall to celebrate the completion of the project: “The Wilford Woodruff Papers: A Rich & Holy Legacy,” on Friday, November 13, 2026, in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, Salt Lake City, Utah. New insights and inspiration from Wilford Woodruff’s life and records will be presented through art, music, and theater, and through presentations by leading scholars from around the country. Attendance is free, though registration options do include paid meals.

An official description of the event is provided below:

Co-sponsored by the Church History Department and the Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation, this Conference will celebrate the life, records, and enduring influence of Wilford Woodruff, as well as commemorate the gifting of the Wilford Woodruff Papers to the Church History Department, ensuring the Papers long-term preservation and global accessibility.

The Conference will feature:

* An opening session with Church Historian Elder Kyle S. McKay and former Church Historian LeGrand R. Curtis Jr.
* A keynote address by historian Karin Wulf, Brown University
* An original theatrical production and short film highlighting President Woodruff’s legacy
* A juried arts competition and exhibition centered on the theme “A Rich & Holy Legacy”

The arts competition invites high school students, undergraduates, graduate students, and emerging professionals to submit original works in visual art, digital media, performance, and literary composition. Selected works will be exhibited during the conference, with a $1,000 grand prize awarded in each category.

It’s an exciting time. The Wilford Woodruff Papers project has been a huge effort and monumentally important in what it offers. Wilford Woodruff was one of the most important documenters, historians, and ecclesiastical leaders in the Church during the 1800s, so access to his documents offers similar benefits to the ones we gain from the Joseph Smith Papers Project, but expands the timeframe nearly to the end of the century. As a scholar researching nineteenth-century Mormonism, I have come to rely heavily on the WWP for sources and information. (In fact, alongside Kristy Taylor Wheelwright’s fantastic book Prepare Me for Thy Use: Lessons from Wilford Woodruff’s Mission Years, I would guess that my Zerah Pulsipher biography is one of the earliest books to really showcase the impact of the Wilford Woodruff Papers project). The last conference they held was fantastic, and I’m looking forward to this one as well, for both the art and the scholarship.