LibGuides: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Advanced Research

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Literature Review

Use these resources to discover what has been done on your topic.

Studies in Mormon History
This database includes citations to articles, books, theses, and Ph.D. dissertations dealing with the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, written from the time of its inception in 1830 to the present.
Church Periodicals Index This searches articles from dozens of LDS Church periodicals from 1830 to the present.

Academic Journals

This is a short list of some prominent, peer-reivewed journals currently publishing in LDS or have a large number of LDS-related articles. These are available in print or online through the GTU library- try searching in Summon.

Journal of Mormon History
Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought
International Journal of Mormon Studies
Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture
Journal of the Book of Mormon & restoration scripture
Sunstone

Newspapers, Magazines, and Other Published Sources

Use these resources to discover new research and information from current and contemporary newspapers, as well as magazines.

LDS Church Magazines Archive
19th and early 20th century Church periodicals archive through Archive.org. Includes The Improvement Era, The Millennial Star, The Juvenile Instructor (and Instructor), and The Contributor.
Mormon Texts Project
A list of 19th and early 20th century texts written by LDS members and general authorities.
Relief Society Magazine Digital Archives
The Relief Society Magazine was one of the premiere LDS periodicals of the 20th century. Issues from 1914-1970 are digitized.
Utah Digital Newspapers A growing digital collection of early Utah newspapers browsed by title or searched by keywords, article titles, weddings, deaths, and births.
Chronicling America: Digitized Newspapers (Utah)
Contains 40 newspapers from 19th and early 20th century Utah; access provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
19th Century Mormon Article Newspaper Index
This database is a bibliography of newspaper articles in the HBLL Special Collections which deal in some way with the Mormons between 1831–1900. It indexes 5800 articles.

Diaries and Letters

Resources for Mormon life-writing.

Mormon Journals, Diaries, Biographies Online Journals and documents of some early Mormons. Compiled by Dr. Milton V. Backman, Jr., In Cooperation with Keith W. Perkins, Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, with various additions by the Book of Abraham Project Group.
Overland Trails
Trails of Hope: Overland Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869 showcases original pioneer writings.
Journal of Heber C. Kimball
Journal of Heber C. Kimball, an elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Giving an account of his mission to Great Britain , and the commencement of the work of the Lord in that land.
Mormon Missionary Diaries
Missionary diaries from the 1830s to the 1960s located in BYU’s L. Tom Perry Special Collections made available online.
Church History Library Materials: Mormon Diaries A list of books and manuscripts at the LDS Church History Library with diaries of Mormons. Enter in a keyword search in the advanced search box along with "journals" to find diaries by an individual or from a particular geographic location.
Church History Library Materials: Mormon Correspondence A list of books and manuscripts at the LDS Church History Library with the correspondence of Mormons. Enter in a keyword search in the advanced search box along with "correspondence" to find letters by an individual or from a particular geographic location.

Photographs

Locate photographs on your topic.

George Edward Anderson Photograph Collection
This BYU collection contains almost 13,000 images taken ca. 1878-1928, which includes studio and environmental portraits, mostly of Utah residents; Utah railroad and mining history (including the 1900 Scofield mine disaster); and LDS Church historic sites
C. R. Savage Photograph Collection
Over 1,000 images from one of the foremost 19th century landscape photographers of the western United States. The BYU collection includes portraits, many of prominent Mormon leaders; views of Utah and the west; mining operations; and some Native Americans
Utah State Historical Society Image Collections These collections contain a large variety of photographs from the Utah State Historical Society, including the Salt Lake City Engineers, Schools in the Salt Lake Valley, 2002 Olympic Legacy, and the Philo T. Farnsworth Television Tubes Collections.
Religious Education Archive Image Collection
The Religious Education Archive contains approximately 3,000 images pertaining to the doctrines and history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
BYU Religious Education Photo Gallery
View, search, and plot images from Religious Education's regional studies.
Library of Congress: Prints & Photographs Online Contains thousands of digitized images related to the United States culture and history. Contains over 600 historical images of Mormons or about Mormonism.
Church History Library Materials: Mormon Photographs A list of photograph manuscript collections at the LDS Church History Library. Enter in a keyword search in the advanced search box along with "photographs" to find images.

Church Resources

Use these resources to find materials published by the Church or held in its archives.

Church History Library Archives This searches the LDS Church History Library archival collections of diaries, correspondence, photographs, and other personal papers.
Joseph Smith Papers Online In combination with the print volumes, here is where all documents written by or about Joseph Smith during his lifetime are being published. Also provides information on Smith's contemporaries and events in LDS Church history.
Selected Collections from the Archives of the Church DOWNLOADABLE. Volume One DVDs contain many pages of manuscripts from the Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, scanned in full color at high resolution. Volume Two contains the Journal History of the Church (1930-1923) and its index (1830-1972).
Journal History of the Church
The Journal History of the Church is a daily history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1830 to 2008. It was taken mostly from newspapers but also from minutes and diary entries, and, as a result, it contains valuable historical and biographical information. This is the landing page for the all of the histories including indexes. The first link, Journal History will take you to an online finding aid. Vol. 1830-1923 have been digitized.
Early Mormon Missionaries: Missions
A list of LDS church missions from 1830-1930. Includes some bibliographic citations and information on missionaries who served in the mission.