Matt Harris

We bring acclaimed and emerging Latter-day Saint scholars, authors, poets and artists to audiences in the Upstate New York area.

LDS Studies Collective of Upstate New York

Dr. Matthew L. Harris is a specialist in US history with a particular focus in religion and the law, church and state, and civil rights.

473 Mendon Ionia Rd

Title:New Insights into the Life and Ministry of Mormon Apostle Hugh B. BrownAbstract:Hugh Brown is known in the church today as the “liberal apostle.” It was a title he proudly embraced. He often boasted that he was the only liberal Democrat in a church hierarchy dominated by conservative Republicans. And he frequently reminded people that he was a Canadian in a church hierarchy governed by men from the American West. Yet his outsider status proved to be an albatross that plagued him throughout his ministry. He saw the church so differently from his colleagues, and he wasn’t afraid to resist doctrines and policies that he thought lacked common sense or contradicted scripture. For example, during his tenure in the First Presidency, he pushed to end the church’s priesthood and temple ban, which barred Black men from the priesthood and Black families from the sacred rituals of Mormon temples. He lobbied for civil rights when church leaders preferred to remain silent. He championed the rights of immigrants and refugees when his colleagues ignored them. He read—and encouraged members to read—a liberal Mormon journal called Dialogue his colleagues deemed subversive. And he railed relentlessly against right-wing extremism, which had begun to permeate the church.This presentation will explore four pivotal episodes in President Brown's ministry that defined and shaped his life. The first is polygamy—how it governed his marriage to Zina Card Brown and how then-church president Heber J. Grant used Brown to fight it. The second is why Brown was called as an apostle so late in life (he was 78) when it was prophesied that he would become a member of the Quorum of the Twelve as a young man. The third is how his liberal activism defined his tenure in the First Presidency. And fourth, I will offer summary thoughts about why Hugh Brown matters today. How should Latter-day Saints view him? What lasting contribution did he make to the church?Biographical Info:Dr. Matthew L. Harris is a specialist in US history with a particular focus in religion and the law, church and state, civil rights, Legal history, Constitutional history, American Religions, and Mormon Studies. He received a BA and MA in history from Brigham Young University and an MPhil and PhD, also in history, from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including Second-Class Saints: Black Mormons and the Struggle for Racial Equality (Oxford University Press, 2024); Watchman on the Tower: Ezra Taft Benson and the Making of the Mormon Right (University of Utah Press, 2020); The LDS Gospel Topics Series: A Scholarly Engagement (Signature Books, 2020); Thunder from the Right: Ezra Taft Benson in Mormonism and Politics (University of Illinois Press, 2019); The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History (University of Illinois Press, 2015); Zebulon Pike, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West (University of Oklahoma Press, 2012); and (with Thomas S. Kidd) The Founding Fathers and the Debate over Religion in Revolutionary America (Oxford University Press, 2012).He is currently at work on two book-length manuscripts: J. Reuben Clark and the Making of Modern Mormonism (under contract; University of Illinois Press); and Hugh B. Brown: Mormonism’s Progressive Apostle. His article “Mormonism’s Problematic Racial Past and the Evolution of the Divine-Curse Doctrine,” published in The John Whitmer Historical Society Journal, won the Vera Jean and J. Talmage Jones Award from the Mormon History Association in 2014. His work has been featured on CSPAN, the Religious News Service, and dozens of social media outlets. In addition, he has been interviewed by Newsweek, Longreads, and several other national news outlets for his expertise on right-wing extremism.

Our {communityGuidelinesLink} describe the sort of content we prohibit on Eventbrite. If you suspect an event may be in violation, you can report it to us so we can investigate.

To report other categories of prohibited or illegal content, submit {link}

Matt Harris

More events from LDS Studies Collective of Upstate New York

Discover more events from LDS Studies Collective of Upstate New York, from Spirituality to other experiences you might love.

Matt Harris

More events from LDS Studies Collective of Upstate New York

Discover more events from LDS Studies Collective of Upstate New York, from Spirituality to other experiences you might love.

You might also like...

Browse more events with different dates, prices, and formats to find your next great experience.