Acknowledgments
The idea for this project came in 1968 when I was reading Bernard Bailyn’s The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. While reading of the importance of the pamphlets of the Revolution, it occurred to me that no one had seriously looked at the rather extensive outpouring of early Mormon pamphlets and tracts in an effort to relate them to the early history of the Church. Living in Southern California at the time, I was aware of the rich collection of Mormon material at the Henry E. Huntington Library, so I immediately began to read and research their holdings. My work has continued since 1968, although I had no idea how large and complex such a project would be when I started. In many ways, this dissertation is a preliminary and interim report.
The majority of my research has been conducted in four libraries. To the directors and staff of each I would like to extend my thanks. The most important archival repository is the Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. At no time was I refused access to any manuscript, published or unpublished, needed for this study. Their pamphlet collection was especially essential for this study. I am especially grateful to the staff of the Archives Search Room: James L. Kimball Jr., Gladys Noyes, and Linda Haslam.
This study began in the Henry E. Huntington Library, [vi] San Marino, California. Especially helpful to me in the early stages were Mary Fry and Janet Hawkins.
Chad Flake and his staff of the Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, have also been very helpful during the past five years. Especially valuable was the permission Chad Flake gave me in 1973 to have access to his then unpublished “Mormon Bibliography.” I thank him for this great courtesy which enabled me to speed up my work by several years. Chuck Hammacker, now of Princeton University Library, originally called Chad Flake’s work to my attention as well as provided a warm friendship during the summer of 1973 when I was working in the Historical Department of the Church.
The two weeks I spent in 1979 in the Library of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Independence, Missouri, were made more valuable by the cheerful assistance of Madelon Brunson and Patricia Roberts.
I also wish to thank the staffs of the Salt Lake Public Library and of the Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah for their assistance.
Several research grants made this project possible. I am grateful to Leonard J. Arrington and the Mormon History Trust Fund for providing three, ten-week, Summer Research Fellowships in 1973, 1974, and 1975 for work in the Archives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition, I was the recipient of a research grant in 1979 from the Department of Church History, Brigham Young University, which allowed for travel and [vii] research in Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. I am especially grateful to Larry Porter for helping me secure this grant.
Additional monies were provided by a 1978 Joint Summer Research Assistantship and a Graduate Internship through the Department of History, Brigham Young University and also through a 1980 ASBYU Student Grant. For all of this financial aid I am very grateful.
As with any research project, but especially with one this size, numerous individuals have made contributions. I have tried to recognize my specific debts at the appropriate places in the text, but several individuals must be thanked here.
Leonard J. Arrington has been a consistent and constant supporter of my work, as well as a fine example of what it means to be a Mormon scholar. I thank him for his encouragement, support and counsel at various stages of this project. James B. Allen, who has served as the chairman for my doctoral work, has patiently read several drafts and has managed to make this work tighter and more coherent than it otherwise would have been. I appreciate his friendship and openness throughout the time this work was in process. Thanks also to the other members of the reading committee: Eugene E. Campbell, Marvin S. Hill, and D. Michael Quinn.
Because of friendships, personal and professional, that stretch over a decade, special thanks are due to the members of the Historical Department of the Church, now of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History, Brigham Young University. They have always been willing to share their work, ideas, and friendship. They include: Dean Jessee, Richard Jensen, Ronald Walker, Ronald [viii] Esplin, William Hartley, and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher. Davis Bitton, Glen Leonard, and Ronald Watt have also shared friendship as well as essays and documents in their possession with me.
Thanks also to George T. Boyd, a friend and colleague of many years who has been a source of good conversation and wisdom throughout the years this project has been underway.
I must acknowledge the friendship and assistance of Peter Crawley, of the Department of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, whose knowledge of Mormon Pamphlets is unmatched in Mormon studies. He has been willing to share and discuss his own findings with me over the years, and for this I am also grateful. We all await his own lengthy study of the early Mormon press.
Finally, there are my more personal, family debts. My parents, Douglas and Althea Whittaker have supported and encouraged my studies for as long as I can remember. I thank them for this encouragement, as well as for the more obvious parental duties and obligations. My wife, Linda, has endured more than her share of burdens relating to my graduate work. In addition to typing several drafts of this study, she has patiently endured all the frustrations associated with a project like this one. She has been a constant friend and companion for which I am eternally grateful. I thank her for this, as well as our four children, Julie Ann, Jennifer, Kristen, and Stephen, who also sacrificed more than they should have for this project. [ix]
