Episode 7: The Bad Girls of Early Mormonism

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:00)
This little affair, you will observe, kicked up a considerable breeze, and Thomas B. Marsh then declared that he would sustain the character of his wife even if he had to go to hell for it.
The then president of the Twelve Apostles, the man who should have been the first to do justice and cause reparation to be made for wrong, committed by any member of his family, took that position, and what next? He went before a magistrate and swore that the Mormons were hostile toward the state of Missouri. That affidavit brought from the government of Missouri an exterminating order, which drove some 15,000 saints from their homes and habitations, and some thousands perished through suffering and exposure, consequent on this state of affairs. George A. Smith, 1856

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:58)
Hi, this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:00)
And this is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:01)
Bringing you the story of Mormonism from the shadow of the Everlasting Hills, straight out of Zion. This isn't your grandpa's Mormon history.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:28)
This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:33)
Gird your loins, lock your hearts, and pay your tithing, because we're bringing you the story of Mormonism in all its paradisiacal glory.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:41)
It's the Sunstone History Podcast.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:04)
Excuse me. Um, pardon me. I just need to get my soapbox arranged here.
It's time for a good old-fashioned rant, and trust me, it's justified like it always is. Here we go. Telling the history of women can be hard. In the early days of Mormonism, it becomes even more difficult. We know this. Not many women are keeping journals, minutes don't mention them very often, and the official history of Mormonism, they might as well not exist for the most part.
Nevertheless, we will persist here. The stories of women are vital. Just because it is difficult, we will not give up and move on. Women were integral to the development of early Mormonism, both as ardent believers and sometimes because they saw things a little differently. Remember that this was a time of upheaval in many ways. With that in mind, listen to what historian Martha Sonntag Bradley had to say, quote, revival theology is like Mormonism held a sort of magical power. They provided the means with which to deal with some of the changes in their lives at the same time, that it claimed to restore a sacred ancient order, end quote.
As is the case with women generally, we often tend to pedestalize them. Women are the loyal ones, the ones that stand by their man. Tell me why not? Couldn't be wrong, right?

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:20)
Thank you.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:33)
Even good Mormon historians get caught in this trap. In fact, I want to write a Sunstone paper that's basically titled, Stand By Your Man, romanticizing the challenges of being in relationship with Joseph Smith.
I mean, Bryan and I were talking about this, and this is pretty common trope.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:52)
Even good historians sometimes can fall in this trap. And so it's tough because we have these outside societal narratives that creep in. And even when we're doing history sometimes, I think without even thinking about it, we fall into this pedestalization trap. And so we lose our focus and we lose our goal of speaking of 3D full-blooded people.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:18)
I think because women are so absent in the history, one of the ways that historians have tried to bring them to light was by talking about them in relationship to their men, right? But this is so Mormon and we still do this. Women have power in accordance to their husbands or to the men in their lives. And it's a huge thing. I'm not making this up. Mormon feminism has been talking about this forever. But we look this up and lots of people talk about early Mormon women this way. Oh, they were so stalwart and true. And as if there was this inherent judgment that that was good. I mean, consider this quote.
Joseph Smith had bad luck with many of his male acolytes. One after another exhibited jealousy, disloyalty, weakness and ambition. But Smith's women were true. He asked much of them and they delivered.
See, there it is again. Women's values are how true and loyal they are to their men or to the institution. Women wouldn't dissent, would they? Women wouldn't be like normal people who sometimes want to disagree, or have flaws, or are fully dimensional characters. That's not the women of early Mormonism, right?
Actually, let's talk about some of them.