So, so much. My very long comment got wiped before I could finish–I was trying to find an old 1800s newspaper account from the Library of Congress, so consider yourself lucky I’m relegated to a phone keyboard. I’m working on a book myself, so I’ve got huuuuuundreds of sources, but many of them are historic and hard to share conveniently. For a quick variety:
Fifteen Years Among the Mormons by Mary Ettie V. Smith (1860) is one of the most breathtaking page-turners I’ve ever read. Like many works that touch on history Mormons don’t like, they’ve been very successful at whitewashing this to a mere “unfair anti-Mormon polemic,” but…eh. Very complicated, but it really has the ring of truth to me compared to other similar sources. That’s the source of the screenshot re: SLC.
Exposé of Polygamy in Utah: A Lady’s Life among the Mormons by Fanny Stenhouse (1872) is a favorite. She had a sharp wit.
No Man Knows My History by Fawn Brodie (1945) was a nuclear bomb of a book.
In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (1997) goes into the MINIMUM 33 girls and women Smith “celestially wed,” including minors, mother-daughter pairs, etc…
For a much more accessible option, look up Mormon Stories on YouTube. The church recently sued them, so you know they’re good. And lest you sneeze at that, the Mormons successfully forced fucking WIKILEAKS to take down one of the church’s internal instruction manuals (it’s copyrighted material of the literal legal corporation that is the Mormon church). They’ve got crazy money, crazy connections. You’ve no idea.
Look up what was the first Sherlock Holmes book (Part 2) and ask yourself why captive Mormon women became such a theme then. In the UK!? Yup. And so much more.
Did you know that the Mormon church owns 2% of the landmass of Florida? Like right now?
I’m just trying to say: it’s a deeeeep fucking rabbit hole.
Their entire history is insanely, deeply fucked in ways most people don’t realize. Dating back to the very beginning.
Do you have any recommended reading?
So, so much. My very long comment got wiped before I could finish–I was trying to find an old 1800s newspaper account from the Library of Congress, so consider yourself lucky I’m relegated to a phone keyboard. I’m working on a book myself, so I’ve got huuuuuundreds of sources, but many of them are historic and hard to share conveniently. For a quick variety:
Fifteen Years Among the Mormons by Mary Ettie V. Smith (1860) is one of the most breathtaking page-turners I’ve ever read. Like many works that touch on history Mormons don’t like, they’ve been very successful at whitewashing this to a mere “unfair anti-Mormon polemic,” but…eh. Very complicated, but it really has the ring of truth to me compared to other similar sources. That’s the source of the screenshot re: SLC.
Exposé of Polygamy in Utah: A Lady’s Life among the Mormons by Fanny Stenhouse (1872) is a favorite. She had a sharp wit.
No Man Knows My History by Fawn Brodie (1945) was a nuclear bomb of a book.
In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (1997) goes into the MINIMUM 33 girls and women Smith “celestially wed,” including minors, mother-daughter pairs, etc…
For a much more accessible option, look up Mormon Stories on YouTube. The church recently sued them, so you know they’re good. And lest you sneeze at that, the Mormons successfully forced fucking WIKILEAKS to take down one of the church’s internal instruction manuals (it’s copyrighted material of the literal legal corporation that is the Mormon church). They’ve got crazy money, crazy connections. You’ve no idea.
Look up what was the first Sherlock Holmes book (Part 2) and ask yourself why captive Mormon women became such a theme then. In the UK!? Yup. And so much more.
Did you know that the Mormon church owns 2% of the landmass of Florida? Like right now?
I’m just trying to say: it’s a deeeeep fucking rabbit hole.
Extremely interesting, thank you for the recommendations!