The Mormon History Association (MHA) is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to the study and understanding of all aspects of Mormon history. We welcome all who are interested in the Mormon past, irrespective of religious affiliation, academic training, or world location. We promote our goals through scholarly research, conferences, awards, and publications. MHA was founded in December 1965 at the American Historical Association (AHA) meeting in San Francisco under the leadership of noted historian Leonard J. Arrington. MHA was organized to promote understanding, scholarly research, and publication in the field of Mormon history. For the first seven years, until 1972, it operated as an affiliate of the AHA. In 1972 it became an independent organization with its own annual conferences and publications. The Journal of Mormon History, the official publication of the association, began publication in 1974. The Mormon History Association is an affiliate member of the American Historical Association and a member of the Western History Association.

Register for the 59th Annual Mormon History Association Conference
Register for the 59th Annual Mormon History Association Conference

The 59th Annual Mormon History Association conference will take place on June 13-16, 2024 in Kirtland, Ohio. The theme, “Conversions, Aversion, and Reversion: Mormon Identity from Ohio to Utah,” invites scholars to think about the ways Restorationists constructed their identity in their interaction with people, ideas, time, and space. As the first headquarters of the Mormon tradition, Kirtland presents a unique opportunity to address the people who joined the movement, the early detractors, and those who found themselves on the margins of the emerging faith. In addition to historical methods, this year’s theme is meant to be interdisciplinary and generate conversations across disciplinary boundaries to explore the Restoration in its formative years and beyond.

Between 1831 and 1838, Kirtland was home to a growing Latter-day Saint community. Prior to this, the area was the homeland of the Erie, Seneca, Mississauga, and other Indigenous peoples, and later designated as the Connecticut Western Reserve. At the height of religious revival, the region became known for the communitarianism of Shakers, Owenites, and the Harmony Society. Within Mormon history, the site is the center of the first major schism in the Latter-day Saint tradition and a major economic failure. It is representative of contemporary debates over the ownership of sacred sites, the region’s religious identity, and the interaction between religion and economics.