FAITHFUL HISTORIES
Queering the LDS Archive
K. Mohrman
Behold, there shall be a record kept among you.
— Doctrine and Covenants, 21:1. See figure 2.
He shall continue in writing and making a history of all the important things
which he shall observe and know concerning my church.
— Doctrine and Covenants, 69:3
It is the duty of the Lord’s clerk, whom he has appointed, to keep a history, and
a general church record of all things that transpire in Zion.
— Doctrine and Covenants, 85:1
E ntering the heavily surveilled, but immaculately kept, Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints (LDS) Church History Library is, to say the least, an intimidating
experience. The library may look to an outsider like simply another run-of-the-mill
office building, but on closer inspection this structure is anything but ordinary. Or,
perhaps, it is too ordinary. In many ways the library is the embodiment of the reli
gion itself, with its spotless facade and pristine interior as simply the physical mani
festations of LDS belief and practice .1 Situated cornerwise from Temple Square,
the actual and figurative center of the religion as well as the historic and geographic
center of Salt Lake City, the library’s placement symbolizes a long legacy of Mor-
monism in American culture, a legacy in which the church and its members have
Radical History Review
Issue 122 (May 2015) doi 10.1215/01636545-2849585
© 2015 by MARHO: The Radical Historians’ Organization, Inc.
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