Church History Library Blog Series
The Church History Library’s blog, The Historical Record, occasionally publishes series of posts on a common topic. To help you browse and enjoy these series more conveniently, we’ve grouped related posts below.
Recent Blog Posts
Newly Accessible Collections, April 2024
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Church History Department Research Grants
The Church History Department is accepting grant applications to fund on-site research in the Church History Library. Learn how to apply here.
Newly Accessible Collections, March 2024
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Significant Artifacts from Early Church History on Display
Many sacred treasures from Nauvoo and Kirtland are now on display at the Church History Museum. Learn more about these historic artifacts and plan a visit to see them in person.
Edward Martin, Handcart Company Captain Turned Prominent Photographer
The captain of the ill-fated Martin handcart company was also a prominent Salt Lake photographer.
Newly Accessible Collections, February 2024
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Newly Accessible Collections, January 2024
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
See All Blog Posts
Miniseries: Preached vs. Published
Preached vs. Published: Shorthand Record Discrepancies (Part 1 of 3)
In this, the first of a three-part miniseries, Church History Library historian LaJean Carruth introduces her research into the shorthand transcriptions behind the Journal of Discourses—and her surprising findings.
Preached vs. Published: Shorthand Record Discrepancies (Part 2 of 3)
In her previous post, Church History Department historian LaJean Carruth introduced us to her project: reviewing the original shorthand notes that became the Journal of Discourses. Here, in the second post of a three-part miniseries, she shares examples of how the sermons of Brigham Young and other early Church leaders changed between their delivery, transcription, and eventual publication.
Preached vs. Published: Shorthand Record Discrepancies (Part 3 of 3)
In her previous post, Church History Department historian LaJean Carruth highlighted significant grammatical changes that shorthand transcriptionists made to sermons published in the Journal of Discourses. Here, in the last post of a three-part miniseries, she shares examples of other changes which dramatically altered the sermons.
Finding My Family in Church History
Finding My Family in Church History—Family Treasures in the Church History Library
Learn what Emily Stanford Schultz discovered about her grandfather’s talents in this post in the Finding Your Family in Church History series.
Finding My Family in Church History—Something from Margaret
In this post, the first in a new series, Church History Library intern Sarah Cordon describes how she found information about her ancestors in library collections.
Recently Digitized Materials
Newly Accessible Collections, April 2024
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Newly Accessible Collections, March 2024
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Newly Accessible Collections, February 2024
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Newly Accessible Collections, January 2024
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Newly Accessible Collections, December 2023
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Newly Accessible Collections, September 2023
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Newly Accessible Collections, August 2023
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Newly Accessible Collections, July 2023
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Newly Accessible Collections, June 2023
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Newly Accessible Collections, May 2023
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Newly Accessible Collections, April 2023
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Newly Accessible Collections, March 2023
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Newly Accessible Collections, February 2023
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to aid your research wherever you are in the world.
Newly Accessible Collections, January 2023
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized and Opened Collections, November 2022
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized and Opened Collections, October 2022
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, September 2022
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, August 2022
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, July 2022
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, June 2022
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, May 2022
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, April 2022
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, March 2022
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, February 2022
Explore dozens of recently digitized Church History Library collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, January 2022
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, December 2021
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, November 2021
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, October 2021
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, September 2021
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, August 2021
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, July 2021
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, June 2021
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, May 2021
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, April 2021
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, March 2021
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, February 2021
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, January 2021
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, December 2020
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, November 2020
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, October 2020
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, September 2020
Discover recently digitized collections at the Church History Library.
Recently Digitized Collections, August 2020
Explore dozens of recently digitized collections to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, December 2018
Explore dozens of collections recently digitized to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, November 2018
Explore dozens of collections recently digitized to enable your research wherever you are in the world.
Recently Digitized Collections, October 2018
The library digitizes thousands of images each month for use by worldwide visitors to our online catalog. In this article, you’ll find October’s list of recently digitized materials to explore.
Ask Us Top Five
Ask Us: Top Reference Questions about Book of Mormon Artifacts
Our Ask Us online service receives numerous questions about artifacts related to the Book of Mormon. Learn more about how we answer these questions here.
Ask Us: Top Reference Questions about the Word of Wisdom
The Church History Library receives many questions about the Word of Wisdom through its Ask Us online service. See answers to popular questions here.
Ask Us: Top Five Reference Questions about Funerals and Burials
The Church History Library receives many questions about Church funerals and burial practices, as well as questions about researching death records. Find answers to the top five most frequently asked questions here.
Ask Us: Top Five Reference Questions about Orrin Porter Rockwell
We receive many questions about Orrin Porter Rockwell, an early Church member with a colorful history. Learn the answers to the most frequently asked questions here.
Ask Us: Top Five Reference Questions about Intellectual Property
Discover answers to some of the most common questions about copyrights and intellectual property that come to the Consultation Services team.
Ask Us: Top Five Reference Questions about Doctrine and Covenants Publishing
Members of the Consultation Services team answer the top five frequently asked questions they receive about the publication history of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Ask Us: Top Five Reference Questions about Christmas
Emily Marie Crumpton, a member of the library’s Consultation Services team, answers several of the most frequently asked questions about Latter-day Saints’ past Christmas celebrations, events, and traditions.
Ask Us: Top Five Reference Questions about the Mormon Battalion
Join Franco Arellano as he discusses the Mormon Battalion, its influence on the history of the United States, and some events it participated in that you may not have heard about before.
Ask Us: Top Five Reference Questions about Book of Mormon Publishing
In this post, discover the answers to some of the most common questions sent to the Consultation Services team about the publishing history of the Book of Mormon.
Ask Us: Top Five Reference Questions about Missionaries
In this post, discover the answers to some of the most common questions about proselytizing missionaries that come to the Consultation Services team.
Ask Us: Top Five Reference Questions about Primary
In this post, discover the answers to some of the most common questions about the Primary organization that come to the Consultation Services team.
Ask Us: Top Five Reference Questions about Pioneer Day
In this post, discover the answers to some of the most common questions about Pioneer Day that come to the Consultation Services team.
Ask Us: Top Five Reference Questions about the Angel Moroni Statue
In this post, the third in a new series, discover the answers to some of the most common questions that come to our Consultation Services team through Ask Us.
Woman’s Exponent blog series
Woman’s Exponent—I Would Learn the Healer’s Art: Medicine and Remedies
In this second post in a series highlighting the Woman’s Exponent magazine, Jen Barkdull uses quotes to feature women’s attitudes toward medicine and home health care.
Woman’s Exponent—Daughters of Zion: Female Biographical Narratives
In the fourth installment of the Woman’s Exponent series, Anne Berryhill highlights the personal stories women shared through biographies, tributes, and reminiscences.
Woman’s Exponent—Cooperatives: Learning, Thinking, and Working Together
In the sixth installment of our series highlighting the Woman’s Exponent, Anne Berryhill discusses how women worked together to cultivate themselves spiritually, intellectually, and financially through their industry.
Woman’s Exponent—Acting with Authority
In the eighth post of the Woman’s Exponent series, Anne Berryhill explores how women shared their connection to the priesthood within the pages of the paper.
Woman’s Exponent—“The Back Bone of the Kingdom of God”
In this tenth installment in the Woman’s Exponent series, Faye Fischer looks at how the newspaper communicated ideas of religious doctrine, philosophical thought, and personal testimony.
Woman’s Exponent—Reflections
In the final post of the Woman’s Exponent series, the authors reflect on their research experience and the historical and personal value of the newspaper.
Woman’s Exponent—Poetry Proponent
This third installment of the Woman’s Exponent series explores the significance and the beauty of the poetry published in the magazine.
Woman’s Exponent—Pioneer Day!
In the fifth post of the Woman’s Exponent series, Emily Crumpton describes how women used the magazine to honor the pioneers and to report on Pioneer Day celebrations near and far.
Woman’s Exponent—The Great Debate: Editorials and Opposing Views
In the seventh post in the Woman’s Exponent series, Jen Barkdull explores the way women used the editorial feature of the newspaper to communicate, share their faith and feelings, and even disagree from time to time.
Woman’s Exponent—More Than a Domestic Drudge: Women and Education
In this ninth installment of our Woman’s Exponent series, Michelle Sayers highlights the importance women placed on education, both for themselves and for their children.
Woman’s Exponent—Resolutions
In this penultimate post in the Woman’s Exponent series, Faye Fischer explores the resolutions and inspirational messages written in January issues through the years.
Researching CHL Collections
Three Types of Records You’ll Find at the Church History Library
In a follow-up article, Keith Erekson discusses important categories of records at the Church History Library and how they can be accessed and donated.
Interpreting Church History Call Numbers
Learn about library call numbers and what they can tell you about the items in the Church History Library Collection in this post by Tyson Thorpe.
Local and Corporate Records of the Church
The Church History Library receives and stores thousands of local records from Church units and entities around the world. Archivist Jeff Anderson discusses their value and lists some important examples in this post.
Mission Histories and Historical Reports
This post by Steven Hepworth teaches how to explore the stats and stories you can find in mission records, including the newly digitized Southern States Mission history.
Ask Us
In this post, James MacDonald guides you through the library’s reference and consultation services and explains how it could help with your research.
Understanding Dates in Bibliographic Records
In this post by archivist Michelle Sayers, learn how to read and interpret the dates in bibliographic records to improve your research experience at the Church History Library.
More on Local Records
Reference librarian Tyson Thorpe breaks down the categories of local records series and explains how to decipher their call numbers and access them through the Church History Catalog.
Where Are the Records?
In this post, Elise Reynolds describes some of the reasons why the Church History Library might not have the records you are looking for.
Brigham Young Office Files series
Did Your Ancestors or Relatives Write to Brigham Young?
The Brigham Young Office Files are a key digital collection at the library and comprises thousands of pages of incoming and outgoing correspondence. Discover what it offers in the first of a three-post series.
Searching the Brigham Young Office Files Collection
In the second of three posts about the massive Brigham Young Office Files collection, Jay Burrup shares useful suggestions for exploring its fascinating contents through the Church History Catalog.
Gems from the Brigham Young Office Files
Jay Burrup’s three-part series on the Brigham Young Office Files collection concludes with several examples of the interesting and inspiring letters awaiting discovery. Our reference staff is ready to help with your research.