Ep 97 - Claudia Bushman; Hidden Figures of Mormon History

Glass Box Podcast

May 11, 2022•2 hr 49 min

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Episode description

We examine the fascinating era of the 1970s feminist Mormon history studies. We focus on the central figure of Claudia Bushman and her push to build a non-existent world within Mormon studies. A group of east-coast women scholars began publishing controversial history in the form of Mormon Sisters and the resulting Exponent II quarterly journal. The official church historian, Leonard J. Arrington, encouraged and assisted where he could, but the General Authorities, especially Ezra Taft Benson, Mark E. Petersen, and Boyd K. Packer, couldn’t handle the prospect of women scholars publishing in academic journals about Mormon women’s issues. The retaliation, blacklisting, and PR fights quickly followed Claudia Bushman, Marueen Ursenbach Beecher, and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich as they worked to advance the burgeoning field. After that we review the movie/book Hidden Figures and discuss the new White House Press Secretary!

Links:

Interview w/Claudia Bushman

https://rsc.byu.edu/conversations-mormon-historians/claudia-l-bushman

Some Reflections on the New Mormon History by Bob Flanders

https://www.jstor.org/stable/45224462?seq=2

History of Exponent II by Carrel Hilton Sheldon

https://test.exponentii.org/1999/08/27/history-by-carrel-hilton-sheldon-arlington-massachusetts/

Where to get Mormon Sisters and Confessions of a Mormon Historian

https://www.benchmarkbooks.com/

MOGP:

Hidden Figures: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4846340/?ref_=tttr_tr_tt

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race, By Margot Lee Shetterly