DNA Mormon

DNA Mormon: Perspectives on the Legacy of Historian D. Michael Quinn

edited by Benjamin E. Park

Few individuals influenced the New Mormon History and a generation of young intellectuals as D. Michael Quinn. In this new collection of essays, scholars explore Quinn’s influence, his groundbreaking work, and his legacy. He earned a PhD from Yale and embarked on a promising career teaching at Brigham Young University. But clashes with top LDS leadership over his scholarship and sexual orientation led to his resignation from BYU, his eventual excommunication from the faith, and even his alienation from the academic community. Only years later was he allowed to once again research at the LDS Church History Library. Today he is finally recognized, even by the church that cut him off, for his foundational historical work.

Essays in this volume mine the depths of Quinn’s fractured life, from his complicated relationship with his father and his Chicano heritage to his conflicted existence as a closeted gay man desperately striving to live as a faithful Latter-day Saint husband and father. Other essays examine Quinn’s contentious work on the LDS hierarchy, post-Manifesto polygamy, magic and treasure-seeking in early Mormonism, and same-sex attraction among nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints. Finally, younger scholars honor Quinn’s legacy with articles on plural marriage, LGBTQ+ issues at BYU, and conflicts between faith and intellect.

Renowned scholar Benjamin E. Park brings together and introduces essays by: Neil J. Young, Gary James Bergera, Sara M. Patterson, Sujey Vega, Maxine Hanks, Patrick Q. Mason, Hovan Lawton, Ian Barber, Cristina Rosetti, K. Mohrman, Millie Tullis, Calvin Burke, Brianna Bratsman, and Martha Bradley-Evans.

paperback: $18.95 | ebook: $9.99

Buy from an independent bookseller
Buy on Amazon