John Sillito, Author at Dialogue Journal

The Hinckley Institution | Robert H. Hinckley and JoAnn Jacobsen Wells, “I’d Rather Be Born Lucky Than Rich”: The Autobiography of Robert H. Hinckley

Robert Hinckley is clearly one of Utah’s most distinguished sons. In a career spanning over a half century, both in Utah and on the national level, he has worn a number of different hats—politician, government…

The Klan in Utah | Larry R. Gerlach, Blazing Crosses in Zion: The Ku Klux Klan in Utah

Articles/Essays – Volume 17, No. 1

For most of us, mention of the Ku Klux Klan conjures up visions of the Deep South—night riders in white robes, burning crosses, and, as the lyrics of “Strange Fruit,” Billie Holiday’s jazz classic, state,…

Socialist Saints: Mormons and the Socialist Party in Utah, 1900-20

Articles/Essays – Volume 18, No. 1

In the early years of this century,” observed David A. Shannon, “the Socialist Party of America was a young and virile organization that could not escape notice. Far stronger than any contemporary party on the left,…

The World of Evangelism | Carol Flake, Redemptorama: Culture, Politics, and the New Evangelicalism

Articles/Essays – Volume 19, No. 4

As Carol Flake observes, 1976 seemed to be “the year of the evangelical” as the media focused its attention on Jimmy Carter, a born-again Christian who taught Sun day School in his small Georgia hometown…

Life in Zion after Conversion: Hazed or Hailed?: A Mormon Out of Misunderstanding

Articles/Essays – Volume 22, No. 2

More than twenty years ago I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I can’t speak for the Church, but I suspect it is safe to say that neither…

Utah’s Original “Mr. Republican” | Milton R. Merrill, Reed Smoot: Apostle in Politics

Articles/Essays – Volume 24, No. 3

I first encountered Reed Smoot more than two decades ago while researching the life and political career of Parley P. Christensen, a Utah political maverick who became the Farmer-Labor party nominee for president in 1920.…

Wayward Saints: The Conflict of Opposing Visions | Ronald W. Walker, Wayward Saints: The Godbeites and Brigham Young

Articles/Essays – Volume 32, No. 4

Roanld W. Walker’s study Wayward Saints: The Godbeites and Brigham Young is a valuable contribution to recent Mormon scholarship. Among other things, the book illuminates important questions and concerns of both past and present. Walker…

Navigating the Difficult Terrain of the Mormon Experience | James B. Allen, Ronald W. Walker, and David J. Whittaker, Studies in Mormon History, 1830-1897, and Ronald W. Walker, David J. Whittaker, and James B. Allen, Mormon History

Articles/Essays – Volume 36, No. 3

For the last several years I have had the opportunity to serve on the Mormon History Association’s book awards committee. That assignment— in addition to my day job as Curator of Special Collections at Weber…

Opening the Fiery Portals: World War II and the Saints | Donald Q. Cannon and Brent L. Top, eds., Regional Studies in Latter-day Saints Church History, Vol. 4: Europe

Articles/Essays – Volume 37, No. 2

Not long after learning of the cancer that would ultimately take his life, my father faced a difficult course of experimental radiation and chemotherapy. As I drove him to the hospital to take his first…

Possibilities, Problems and Pitfalls | Newell G. Bringhurst and Lavina Fielding Anderson, eds., Excavating Mormon Pasts: The New Historiography of the Last Half Century

Articles/Essays – Volume 39, No. 1

More than thirty years ago, I made a decision that seemed simple enough at the time but that would have a far-reaching impact on my professional career. I became an archivist at the LDS Church…