The Church History Library (CHL) is a research center and archives building housing materials chronicling the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The library is owned by the Church and opened in 2009 in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.
A new archives building was originally planned in 1960, as an 11-story home for the offices and libraries of the Church Historian and Recorder and the Genealogical Society of Utah. The need for such large facilities diminished due to advances in modern document preservation, as well as with the 1963 completion of the Granite Mountain Records Vault, which had vast storage for genealogical materials. [1] Following the completion of the Church Office Building in 1972, the church's Historical Department resided in the four floors of the east wing. [2]
In April 2005, plans were announced to construct a new CHL, to be completed in late 2007. [3] The site was then a Temple Square parking lot, and was the same site as in the 1960 plan, northeast of the intersection of Main and North Temple. [1] The new facility houses the Church History Department (the modern name of the Church Historian's Office) and the church's historical archives. [2] The building was dedicated on June 20, 2009. The building opened to the public on June 22, 2009, with extended hours, improved technology, assistance staff, and additional educational and training programs. [4]
The CHL preserves materials related to the history of the Church, from the 1820s in upstate New York, [5] to the current day, with more than 16 million members[ citation needed ] around the world.
The historical materials of the Church contain rich information about both Mormon history and the development of the western United States. These collections include:
The new 230,000-square-foot (21,000 m2) building provides temperature, humidity, and air quality control for the church's historical collections. [6] Materials are stored in two types of archival storage rooms. The 10 main storage rooms are kept at 55 °F (13 °C) with 35 percent relative humidity. There are also two special rooms that will be kept at minus four degrees Fahrenheit for color motion picture films, photographs, and records of special significance.
The building has areas for conservation, collection development, and research. The church's conservation efforts involve 300 to 500 books and documents and 3,000 to 4,000 audiovisual recordings every year. Collections development staff acquire and catalog 500 to 700 new collections annually, including 6,000 publications. Other staff members housed in the new building will be responsible for publications, historic sites, and web content.
In 2005, the CHL applied to be certified through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, the national standard for the design, construction, and operation of environmentally friendly buildings. [7] In 2009, the CHL received LEED certification. [8] [9]
All research facilities opened to the public on June 22, 2009. Some resources are also available online, including the Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel database. [10] This database is the most complete listing of LDS pioneer emigrants and companies who traveled to Utah from 1847 through 1868.
In September 2010, the CHL began posting some of their digital collections online in partnership with the Internet Archive. Currently the library is working on getting many of their pre-1923 (Public domain) collections digitized and available to a worldwide audience on the Internet Archive and through Brigham Young University's digital collections. [11]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in the United States in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations and built temples worldwide. According to the church, it has over 17 million members and 62,544 full-time volunteer missionaries. Based on these numbers, the church is the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States as of 2012, and reported over 6.7 million US members as of 2021. It is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the early 19th-century period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening.
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several groups following different leaders; the majority followed Brigham Young, while smaller groups followed Joseph Smith III, Sidney Rigdon, and James Strang. Most of these smaller groups eventually merged into the Community of Christ, and the term Mormon typically refers to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as today, this branch is far larger than all the others combined. People who identify as Mormons may also be independently religious, secular, and non-practicing or belong to other denominations. Since 2018, the LDS Church has requested that its members be referred to as "members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," or more simply as "Latter-day Saints".
The Book of Commandments is the earliest published book to contain the revelations of Joseph Smith Jr. Text published in the Book of Commandments is now considered scripture by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as part of the larger Doctrine and Covenants.
The Latter Day Saint movement is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s.
Mormon fundamentalism is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century, particularly during the administrations of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and John Taylor, the first three presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormon fundamentalists seek to uphold tenets and practices no longer held by mainstream Mormons. The principle most often associated with Mormon fundamentalism is plural marriage, a form of polygyny first taught in the Latter Day Saint movement by the movement's founder, Smith. A second and closely associated principle is that of the United Order, a form of egalitarian communalism. Mormon fundamentalists believe that these and other principles were wrongly abandoned or changed by the LDS Church in its efforts to become reconciled with mainstream American society. Today, the LDS Church excommunicates any of its members who practice plural marriage or who otherwise closely associate themselves with Mormon fundamentalist practices.
Laie Hawaii Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located on the northeast shore of the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. The temple sits on a small hill, half a mile from the Pacific Ocean, in the town of Lāʻie, 35 miles (56 km) from Honolulu. Along with Brigham Young University–Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center, the Laie Hawaii Temple plays an important role in the town of Lā'ie, with the Visitors' Center attracting more than 100,000 people annually.
FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization and website offering genealogical records, education, and software. It is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is closely connected with the church's Family History Department. The Family History Department was originally established in 1894, as the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU); it is the largest genealogy organization in the world.
In the Latter Day Saint movement, a temple is a building dedicated to be a house of God and is reserved for special forms of worship. A temple differs from a church meetinghouse, which is used for weekly worship services. Temples have been a significant part of the Latter Day Saint movement since early in its inception. Today, temples are operated by several Latter Day Saint denominations. The most prolific builder of temples of the Latter Day Saint movement is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church has 315 temples in various phases, which includes 176 dedicated temples, 56 currently under construction, and 83 others announced. Several others within the movement have built, or attempted to build, temples. The Community of Christ operates two temples in the United States, which are open to the public and are used for worship services, performances, and religious education. Other denominations with temples are the Apostolic United Brethren, the Church of Christ, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the Righteous Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Joseph Smith Memorial Building, originally called the Hotel Utah, is a social center located on the corner of Main Street and South Temple in Salt Lake City. It is named in honor of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. It houses several restaurants and also functions as a venue for events. Several levels of the building also serve as administrative offices for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints departments such as FamilySearch. On January 3, 1978, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Hotel Utah.
Edward Stevenson was a prominent Latter-day Saint missionary of the 19th century. He also served as a general authority in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as one of the seven presidents of the Seventy.
Andrew Jenson, born Anders Jensen, was a Danish immigrant to the United States who acted as an Assistant Church Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for much of the early-20th century. Jenson also served the church as president of the Scandinavian Mission.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established in the Hawaiian Islands in 1850, 11 years after the Edict of Toleration was decreed by Kamehameha III, giving the underground Hawaii Catholic Church the right to worship, and at the same time allowing other faith traditions to begin establishing themselves.
The Church Administration Building (CAB) is an administrative office building in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States serving as the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States. Completed in 1917, the building is adjacent to Temple Square, between the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the Lion House, on South Temple Drive. It differs from the Church Office Building in that it is much smaller and furnishes offices for the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It also houses offices for other general authorities and their personal staff.
The Church History Department (CHD) manages the historical and publishing activities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This includes the Church History Museum, Church Historian’s Press, and various research and collection projects. LeGrand R. Curtis, Jr., an LDS Church general authority, has been the Church Historian and Recorder (CHR) since August 1, 2019.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Wales refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Wales.
Welfare Square is a complex in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to provide material assistance to poor and otherwise needy individuals and families. Welfare Square is part of the Church's Church Welfare System. It includes a 178-foot (54 m) grain silo, fruit orchards, a milk-processing plant, a cannery, a bakery, a Deseret Industries thrift store, a private employment office, and the LDS Church's largest Bishop's storehouse, as well as associated administrative offices.
Coordinates: 40°46′20″N111°53′25″W / 40.7721°N 111.8904°W
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