{"id":18834,"date":"2012-02-23T08:00:40","date_gmt":"2012-02-23T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=18834"},"modified":"2012-02-22T22:13:31","modified_gmt":"2012-02-23T03:13:31","slug":"apostle-biographies-or-holes-in-our-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2012\/02\/apostle-biographies-or-holes-in-our-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Apostle Biographies or “Holes in our History?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Often I find that I am annoyed with the focus of much of Mormon History studies today. The articles and books published seem to mostly cover the Joseph Smith and Brigham Young eras, along with a bit of the later Utah period, up to the turn of the century. At least, that is my perception.<\/p>\n

My perception also sees an emphasis on LDS leaders and on the events at or near LDS Church headquarters (wherever that is in each period of time). Events in Utah are a frequent subject, but those in the mission field not so much. There are also potential problems along gender and racial lines.<\/p>\n

What could be called bias in the popularity of historical events, people and periods is nothing new. The War of 1812 and Mexican War get short shrift in comparison with the Civil War and the American Revolution. History of women and of minorities also are somewhat problematic. The history of some countries is better researched than that of others\u2014often simply for economic reasons; like everyone, historians write what will keep them employed and (when publishing books) what their publishers think will sell.<\/p>\n

Of course, calling the results of these things “bias” may not quite be accurate in all cases; believe it or not some events are simply more important than others and some individuals have a greater impact on history than others. What appears as bias may then simply reflect the biases of human societies in the past.<\/p>\n

With all this in mind, I looked at book-length biographies written about the nearly 100 members of the Quorum of the Twelve (Neil L. Anderson was the 97th added to the quorum), expecting to have my perception of a focus on early Mormon history confirmed. But I’m not quite sure that this data supports my contention. In fact, the biographies written cover the 97 men who have been named to the Quorum of the Twelve fairly evenly, as far as I can tell:<\/p>\n

Biographies of LDS Apostles<\/strong><\/p>\n

[May not include all biographies. Only includes book-length (over 63 pages) biographies published as books. Includes only apostles who were added to the LDS Quorum of the Twelve.]<\/small><\/p>\n

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  1. Thomas B. Marsh<\/a>\n