Primary sources

FAIR Answers—back to home page

V

Articles about Latter-day Saint history

Overview	Latter-day Saint history Approaching history Responding to criticisms about Church history Primary source documents of early Church history
Accuracy of Church History	Alleged whitewashing of Church history Alleged whitewashing of polygamy in Church history Alleged hiding of facts in Church history History scholars and Church discipline Accuracy of Church art History of the Church (6-volume history) Lucy Mack Smith's biography of Joseph Smith Histories written by scholars
Forgeries and folklore	Mark Hofmann Kinderhook Plates The Sealed Book of Mormon by Mauricio Berger The Mentinah Papers The Ang Aklatan The Bat Creek Stone The Burrows Cave artifacts Mormon urban legends or folklore

Primary sources

These are texts of relevance to Church history and apologetics. They are not all "endorsed" by FAIR; they can sometimes be important for understanding where an issue or discussion has come from, however.

Conference Reports

• Conference Reports

Newspapers and Journals

• Improvement Era index: Published from 1897 to 1970, the Improvement Era was the Church's primary magazine and was the precursor to the Ensign and Liahona magazines.

• The Evening and the Morning Star (1832–1834): This newspaper was the Church's first newspaper and was published in Missouri and then in Kirtland.

• Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate (1834–1837): This newspaper was published in Kirtland, Ohio between October 1834 and September 1837. It was the successor to The Evening and the Morning Star and the predecessor to the Elders' Journal.

• Elders' Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints (1837–1838): This newspaper was published in Kirtland, Ohio, and then Far West, Missouri. It was the successor to the Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate and was eventually replaced by the Times and Seasons.

• Times and Seasons (1839–1846): This newspaper was published in Nauvoo, Illinois between November 1839 and February 1846. It was the successor to the Elders' Journal.

• Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star: This newspaper was the Church's primary newspaper in Great Britain.

Journal of Discourses

Summary: The Journal of Discourses consists of 26 volumes of discourses, lessons, and essays largely from early leaders of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.