James B. Allen

James Brown Allen (June 14, 1927 – September 2, 2024) was an American historian of Mormonism and was an Assistant Church Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1972 to 1979. While working as Assistant Church Historian, he co-authored The Story of the Latter-day Saints with Glen Leonard. After Ezra Taft Benson dismissed the book as secular new history, other events led to the dissolution of the LDS Church History department in 1982. Allen resigned as Assistant Church Historian in 1979, returning to work at Brigham Young University (BYU) full-time.

He received a bachelor's degree in history from Utah State University (USU), a master's degree from BYU, and a PhD at the University of Southern California (USC). After working as both a seminary teacher and coordinator, he joined BYU's history department in 1964, where he was department chair from 1981 to 1987. After his retirement in 1992, he was a senior research fellow at the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History.

Early life and education Allen was born on June 14, 1927, in Ogden, Utah. During his childhood, his family lived in Coalville, Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, Fairview, Wyoming, and Afton, Wyoming. His family moved to Logan, Utah when he was ten, to give him and his siblings the opportunity to go to college. After graduating from high school in 1945, he joined the U.S. Navy and became a Navy photographer in Washington, D.C. A member of the LDS Church, he served as a missionary in the California Mission under Oscar W. McConkie from 1948 to 1950, "without purse or scrip," depending on the generosity of others for his room and board.

As an undergraduate student, Allen attended USU in Logan, receiving a B.A. in history in 1954. George Ellsworth and Eugene Campbell were two of his most influential teachers. which drew from his earlier published article, was completed. He taught at LDS Church Institutes of Religion for nine years, and was director of the institutes in Long Beach and San Bernardino, California He was chair of the history department from 1981 to 1987, and afterward held the Lemuel Hardison Redd Jr. Chair in Western American History, until his 1992 retirement. From 1992 to 2005, he was a senior research fellow with BYU's Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History and served on its executive committee for a time.

Mormon History Association In 1965, Allen was one of the founders of the Mormon History Association (MHA), along with Leonard J. Arrington. He served as its vice-president in 1970 and president in 1972. Representing the MHA, Allen wrote and edited the "Historian's Corner," a semi-annual column in the quarterly BYU Studies from 1970 to 1982, when he was succeeded by Ronald W. Walker. The Mormon History Association selected Allen to discuss the impact of the Hoffman forgeries, describing Allen as "a senior historian whose work has commanded respect among [his] colleagues."

Assistant Church Historian In 1972, Allen was called to be an Assistant Church Historian for the LDS Church, at the request of Leonard J. Arrington. He served half-time in that capacity, continuing his BYU professorship at the same time. Ezra Taft Benson denounced the book as new history that was "underplaying revelation" Later, some university trustees had reservations about Allen's 1981 appointment as chair of the history department. However, he retained leadership roles at BYU until his 1992 retirement, when he rejoined the staff and programs from the old History Division, at BYU's Joseph Fielding Smith Institute. Orson Scott Card cites his admiration for Allen as having "the kind of skepticism [...] that is a servant to orthodox faith."

Awards 1968 Best Bibliography Award from the Mormon History Association 1980 Morris Rosenblatt award for best popular interest article in Utah Historical Quarterly 1984 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer at Brigham Young University 2007 Leonard J. Arrington Award for meritorious service to Mormon history from the Mormon History Association

Published works Allen has published over ninety articles, and fourteen books and monographs.

Books

(Republished in 2002 as No Toil nor Labor Fear: The Story of William Clayton)

Selected articles