Manuscript Histories and Reports

Manuscript histories were compiled at the Church Historian’s Office (the forerunner of the Church History Library) beginning in the early 1900s. They consist of chronologically arranged notes on the organizational history of local units. Many of the notes were gathered in person by assistant Church historian Andrew Jenson when he ventured from Salt Lake City to branches and wards in the Intermountain West and beyond.

During his numerous and extensive trips, Jenson met with unit leaders and asked members to obtain historical information. He also inventoried and labeled the units’ record books. Apparently, he did so to speed filing procedures when the books would someday be forwarded to the Church Historian’s Office for preservation.

When Jenson returned to Church headquarters, staff members transcribed many of his notes and inserted them into histories of the various units. Although the manuscript histories were never published in toto, Jenson’s editing marks are ubiquitous, showing that he had a hand in their production. Standardized quarterly reports and annual reports were subsequently added to Jenson’s compilations as well.

In 1941, Jenson published a one-volume work titled Encyclopedic History of the Church. It contained condensed summaries of the manuscript histories up through about 1930. The Encyclopedic History is an invaluable source, but to ensure accuracy, it’s best to double-check the published information against the manuscript histories, minutes of meetings, and other primary records.

The Encyclopedic History has been digitized and is available at Brigham Young University’s website, in the FamilySearch catalog, and on the Internet Archive. The units’ brief histories are arranged alphabetically.

Generally, information recorded in a unit’s earliest manuscript history focuses on changes in key leadership positions and details of significant events in the unit or community. Quarterly and annual reports added later include lists of many unit members’ callings and releases, not just key leaders’ information.

Manuscript histories or annual historical reports (series 2) begin at the date of the unit’s organization and continue through 1977. Series 3 begins in 1978 and continues to the present.

Prior to 1984, local units submitted historical reports directly to the Church Historian’s Office or the Historical Department. From 1984 through 1999, only stakes, districts, and missions were directed to submit historical reports. The amount of information about branches and wards for that period varies greatly.

Beginning in 2000, branches and wards were directed by Church headquarters to again compile individual annual histories. However, instead of sending the annual histories directly to the Church History Department, the local clerks were instructed to send the compilations to their respective stake and district clerks, who would gather them together, add the stake or district annual history, and then forward all the histories to the Church History Library.

To summarize, these are the changes in submission practice and organization relative to manuscript and annual histories:

• Manuscript histories (series 2—for example, LR 510 2) run from the organizational date of the unit up to 1977.
• Manuscript histories and annual historical reports after 1977 became series 3 (like LR 510 3).
• Starting in 2010, the Church History Department began a project to combine series 2 and 3 under series 2. This has not been completed. Researchers may find some units’ manuscript histories split, as indicated above, or combined.
• In 1984, wards were asked not to submit directly to the Church archives but rather to submit with their stake. Stake annual historical reports often include individual reports for each unit in the stake after 1984, in series 3.
• In 2000, wards and branches were asked once again to submit their annual historical reports directly. They are filed under series 3.

Finally, keep in mind that the records’ thoroughness depends on how diligent the local volunteer leaders were at compiling and submitting reports.