20th century (Mormonism)

This is a timeline of major events in Mormonism in the 20th century.

1900s

Willis C. Hawley (left) and Smoot in April 1929, shortly before the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act passed the House.

1900

• April 19 - Reed Smoot is ordained an apostle.

1901

• October 10: President Lorenzo Snow passes away, leaving Joseph F. Smith to lead the church.

1902

• material in the Doctrines and Covenants duplicated in the Pearl of great Price removed.

1903

• January - Reed Smoot, an apostle, is elected by the state legislature to the 58th congress as a U.S. Senator. Controversy over his election arises immediately.
• February - Despite allegations and controversy, Reed Smoot is allowed to be seated in the Senate.
• March - Reed Smoot takes the senatorial oath and formally becomes a member of the senate.
• Samoan edition of the Book of Mormon.

1904

• January - Reed Smoot submits carefully prepared rebuttals to allegations against him and his church.
• March - The Reed Smoot Hearings begin, evaluating whether Reed Smoot should be allowed to be a senator.
• April 6 - Joseph F. Smith issues the "Second Manifesto," which reinforces the 1890 Manifesto and prescribes excommunication for those who continued to practice plural marriage.

1905

• April - John W. Taylor resigns from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles due to disagreements with church policy regarding polygamy.
• October 28 - Matthias F. Cowley follows John W. Taylor and resigns from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles due to disagreements with church policy regarding polygamy.

1906

• Turkish edition of Book of Mormon; first in an Asian language.

1907

• February 20 - After more than two years of hearings, the Smoot Hearings are resolved by a vote. The republican majority overturns objections to his seating. Reed Smoot serves another 26 years.
• The church becomes debt-free.

1909

• The First Presidency issues an official statement regarding questions concerning the Creation of the earth and the theories of evolution and the origin of man.
• Japanese translation of Book of Mormon.

1910s

Seagull Monument, Salt Lake City Temple Square. Assembly Hall in background.

1911

• John W. Taylor is excommunicated for performing a plural marriage despite the Second Manifesto issued by President Joseph F. Smith. With this excommunication, the practice of new polygamous marriages is believed to be finally abolished. Polygamists who were married prior to 1905, continue to remain in good standing with the LDS church including, but not limited to, the President of the LDS church Joseph F. Smith
• Utah Hotel Company, predecessor of Temple Square Hospitality is founded.

1912

• Publication of Riders of the Purple Sage, by Zane Grey. It is his best known novel and played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre. However it contains unflattering portrayals and stereotyping of Mormon polygamists.

1913

• October 1 - President Joseph F. Smith dedicates the Seagull Monument in the Temple Square of Salt Lake City, Utah.

1915

• Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage published. It remains popular to this day.

1918

• October 4: President Joseph F. Smith receives D&C 138 by revelation, concerning the afterlife and the ministry of Jesus Christ in that world during his three days death.
• October 31: The Quorum of the Twelve and the patriarch of the church unanimously accept President Smith's revelation as official church canon.
• November 19: President Joseph F. Smith passes away, and Heber J. Grant leads the church.

1919

• November 27: Laie Hawaii Temple first outside continental United States.

1920s

Arizona Temple

1920

• John Williamson, Sr. died.

1921

• Lectures on Faith removed from Standard Works.

1922

• February 7: Zions Securities founded.
• May 6: KSL radio goes on air.

1923

• August 26: Cardston Alberta Temple, first outside United States, and first in another country.

1925

• The First Presidency issues another official statement regarding questions concerning the Creation of the earth and the theories of evolution and the origin of man.

1926

• Institute of Religion ("Institute") founded in Moscow, Idaho adjacent to the University of Idaho.

1927

• Arizona Temple was dedicated.
• Good Neighbor Policy adopted. The reforms were primarily intended to remove from church literature, sermons, and ceremonies any explicit or implicit suggestion that Latter-day Saints should seek vengeance on the citizens or government of the United States for past persecutions of the church and its members, and in particular for the assassinations of church founder Joseph Smith, Jr. and his brother Hyrum.

1929

• July 15 - Using a single microphone for the speaker, organ, and choir, Music and the Spoken Word performs its first radio broadcast. Richard L. Evans is the speaker.
• Young Woman's Journal ceases publication.

1930s

1930

• Juvenile Instructor replaced with The Instructor

1931

• LDS High School closed.

1935

• Hill Cumorah Pageant established.

1936

• Braille edition of Book of Mormon.

1939

• Portuguese translation of Book of Mormon.

1940s

1940

• September 27: Theatrical release of Brigham Young, a Hollywood biopic, featuring Dean Jagger as Brigham Young, and Vincent Price as Joseph Smith. Though the film is commercially unsuccessful, it brings Mormon history to a wider international audience.

1945

• April 12: Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs at funeral of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• May 14: President Heber J. Grant, the last LDS church president to have practiced polygamy, dies. George Albert Smith becomes the next president of the church.
• The publication of No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, by Fawn Brodie. Brodie's most notable Mormon critic, Brigham Young University professor Hugh Nibley, published a scathing 62-page pamphlet entitled No, Ma'am, That's Not History, asserting that Brodie had cited sources supportive only of her conclusions while conveniently ignoring others. Brodie considered Nibley's pamphlet to be "a well-written, clever piece of Mormon propaganda" but dismissed it as "a flippant and shallow piece." It becomes a best seller, and has not got out of print yet.

1946

• May: Fawn Brodie is excommunicated.
• May 22: Western Bad Bascomb released, about an outlaw who joins a Mormon wagon train.
• Tongan edition of Book of Mormon.

1947

• Indian Placement Program initiated.

1948

• President George Albert Smith is said to have petitioned the Lord to lift the ban on blacks receiving the priesthood. He claims he is denied. The ban was not lifted until 1978.

1950s

1950

• August 8: President George F. Richards, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, dies.
• October 5: Delbert L. Stapley is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

&Deseret Ranches established.

1951

• April 4: President George Albert Smith dies on his birthday. David O. McKay becomes president.
• October 11: Marion G. Romney is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• November 12: Paint Your Wagon by Lerner and Loewe becomes a hit on Broadway, but includes unflattering stereotypes of Mormon characters.

1952

• February 3: Elder Joseph F. Merrill dies.
• April 6: LeGrand Richards is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• November 20: Elder John A. Widtsoe dies.
• Construction of Church College of New Zealand began.

1953

• April 9: Adam S. Bennion is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• July 15: Elder Albert E. Bowen dies.
• October 8: Richard L. Evans is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• Independent Latter Day Saint congregations in Nigeria develop in response to ban on black priesthood.

1954

• Breakaway FLDS formed.

1955

• September 11: Bern Switzerland Temple opened. The first temple outside North America, and in Europe.
• September 26: Brigham Young University–Hawaii established.

1958

• February 11: Elder Adam S. Bennion dies after serving only five years.
• April 10: Hugh B. Brown is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• 20 April: Hamilton New Zealand Temple, opens the first in Oceania (excluding Hawaii)
• 26 April: Church College of New Zealand founded.
• Septemer: London England Temple, the first in UK opened.
• Mormon Doctrine by Bruce McConkie published.

1959

• BYU Studies magazine commences publication.

1960s

Entrance to The Polynesian Cultural Center.

1960

• Mormon Tabernacle Choir gains a Grammy for its recording of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

1961

• October 6: J. Reuben Clark dies.
• December 2: Gordon B. Hinckley is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

1962

• April 23: Elder George Q. Morris passes away.
• October 11: N. Eldon Tanner is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

1963

• September 18: Elder Henry D. Moyle dies.
• October 4: Thomas S. Monson is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• October: Elder N. Eldon Tanner, after having been an apostle for only one year, is called as second counselor to President David O. McKay in the First Presidency. He spends the rest of his life serving in the First Presidency.
• October 12: Polynesian Cultural Center founded.
• November 24: Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs at funeral of John F. Kennedy.

1964

• Joseph W. B. Johnson, in Ghana, claims he was told by Jesus to preach the Book of Mormon and the Joseph Smith story to the Ghanaians. Over time, he converts 1,000 people, all who cannot hold priesthood in the church until the revelation received in 1978.
• Centro Escolar Benemérito de las Américas established.
• Independent Latter Day Saint congregations in Ghana develop in response to ban on black priesthood.

1965

• Chinese language edition of Book of Mormon, retranslated 2007.

1966

• Establishment of Deseret Management Corporation
• Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought the oldest independent journal in Mormon Studies is established.

1968

• Brigham Young High School closes.

1969

• Upon hearing news of Johnson's work in Ghana and others in Africa, President David O. McKay petitions the Lord to lift the ban on blacks receiving the priesthood. He says that it is denied. It is not until 1978 that the ban is lifted.
• Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus established.

1970s

Millennial Star

1970

• January 18: President David O. McKay dies and Joseph Fielding Smith becomes president.
• April 9: Boyd K. Packer is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• Improvement Era, Millennial Star cease publication.

1971

• January: Ensign and New Era magazines are first published; the Relief Society Magazine is discontinued.
• February: One Bad Apple released by The Osmonds reaches #1 in Billboard's Hot 100 Chart and stayed there for five weeks; it also reached #6 on the R&B chart. The members of the Osmonds are devout LDS, and their religion was discussed in many popular
• June 8: The Genesis Group is formed. It becomes an official church auxiliary dedicated to serving the needs of black members, who cannot hold the priesthood at this time.
• November 1: Elder Richard L. Evans dies.
• December 2: Marvin J. Ashton is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• Church building provided in Jerusalem for large numbers of LDS tourists.

1972

• July 2: After serving for two years as president, Joseph Fielding Smith dies and Harold B. Lee becomes president.
• Bruce R. McConkie is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• Aaronic Priesthood MIA Young Women established.
• Afrikaans edition of Book of Mormon, first in an African language.

1973

• December 26: After serving for little more than a year as president, President Harold B. Lee passes on. Spencer W. Kimball becomes president.
• The Plan, a concept album by the Osmonds is released. Although it is not one of their more successful albums, it explicitly deals with the plan of salvation and Mormon theology.

1974

• April 11: L. Tom Perry is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• July: The Church implements a major reorganization, including standardized naming of missions and stakes.
• August: Love Me for a Reason by the Osmonds reaches #1 in the UK Singles Charts.
• November: Washington D.C. Temple opens, commanding a prominent position on the beltway.
• Aaronic Priesthood MIA Young Women disbanded.
• Sunstone an independent and controversial magazine is published.

1975

• November 11–November 12 - President Spencer W. Kimball rededicates the St. George Utah Temple after renovation.
• December 2: Elder Hugh B. Brown dies.

1976

• January 8: David B. Haight is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• January 23: First airing of Donny & Marie show on American TV.
• April 1: Western The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox released starring Goldie Hawn and George Segal. The storyline involves the main characters seek refuge from outlaws by joinin a wagon train of Mormons.
• July 4: Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs at the United States Bicentennial.

1977

• The Mormon sex in chains case becomes a major scandal in the UK, after a missionary is abducted in Surrey.

1978

• June 1: President Spencer W. Kimball receives confirmation and revelation after supplicating the Lord regarding blacks and the priesthood. Moved by the exceeding faith of the Genesis Group, and moved by the dedication and perseverance of the mulattos in Brazil in building the São Paulo temple, he takes the matter before the Lord, as many previous presidents of the church have done.
• June 9: President Spencer W. Kimball, after receiving the revelation, and discussing the matter with the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Quorum of the Seventy, announces that the ban on blacks receiving the priesthood has been lifted, and all males may receive the priesthood according to their worthiness, regardless of race. Despite previous understanding that blacks were not to receive the priesthood until the millennium, the members of the church receive the announcement with jubilation and it gains worldwide press attention.
• June 23: Joseph Freeman, Jr., 26, the first black man to gain the priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, went in the Salt Lake Temple with his wife and 5 sons for sacred ordinances. Thomas S. Monson, member of the church's Quorum of Twelve Apostles, conducted the marriage and sealing ordinances. This event shows that blacks not only are able to gain the priesthood, but are able to interracially marry in the temple with the church's blessing. (Salt Lake Tribune, June 24, 1978)
• August 19: Elder Delbert L. Stapley dies.
• September 30: President N. Eldon Tanner reads Official Declaration—2 to the General Conference, and it is unanimously adopted as the word and will of the Lord on the same day. This is the declaration released publicly earlier in 1978, allowing blacks to receive the priesthood.
• October 1: James E. Faust is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• October 30: São Paulo Brazil Temple opened, the first in South America, Latin America and in Brazil.
• Battlestar Galactica airs on American television. It is produced by church member Glen Larson, and he incorporated many themes from Mormon theology into the shows.
• Gospel Principles, an official church text released.

1979

• The leading apologetic organisation Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) is founded.
• Sunstone Symposium begins.
• New LDS edition of the Bible issued, with cross-references to other LDS scriptures.
• Spencer W. Kimball visits Jerusalem and dedicates Orson Hyde Park.

1980s

1980

• October: Tokyo Japan Temple opens, the first in Asia, and in Japan.

1981

• July 23: Elder Gordon B. Hinckley is called as third counselor in the First Presidency due to the physical weakness of Presidents Spencer W. Kimball, N. Eldon Tanner, and Marion G. Romney. Hinckley is referred to in the press as the "acting president of the church" because Kimball, Tanner, and Romney are largely out of the public eye.
• July 23: Neal A. Maxwell is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to fill the vacancy left by Hinckley's call to the First Presidency.
• New edition of Book of Mormon with cross-references to other LDS scriptures, footnotes and index; Russian & Polish editions published. Sections 137 & 138 added to the Doctrine and Covenants.

1982

• June 1: Ground was broken for construction of the Triad Center on June 1, 1982 by Essam Khashoggi, chairman of Triad America.
• November 27: President N. Eldon Tanner dies. Consequently, Marion G. Romney is named as First Counselor, and Gordon B. Hinckley is named as Second Counselor.
• The Godmakers, an anti-Mormon work by Ed Decker is published and filmed. However the work is so controversial that opponents of the church including Jerald and Sandra Tanner and Bob Passantino say that it grossly misrepresents Mormonism, and thereby dilute his message and offend Mormons without attracting them to evangelical Christianity. The Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith publicly presented their concerns of the film which they described as "Mormon bashing" and "invidious and defamatory". Rhonda M. Abrams, Regional Director stated the following.

I sincerely hope that people of all faiths will similarly repudiate The God Makers as defamatory and untrue, and recognize it for what it truly represents — a challenge to the religious liberty of all.

—Rhonda M. Abrams

1983

• January 11: Elder LeGrand Richards dies.
• México City México Temple opens, the first in Mexico, and central America.
• 5 August Apia Samoa Temple opens, the first in the smaller Pacific island groups.

1984

• January 11: Elder Mark E. Petersen dies.
• April 12: Russell M. Nelson is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• May 3: Dallin H. Oaks is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• July 12: Broadcast house of Triad Center opened.
• September: Sydney Australia Temple, the first in Australia; Manila Philippines Temple the first in the Philippines.
• Carol Lynn Pearson's estranged gay husband returned to live with her and their children after being diagnosed with AIDS in 1984, and she cared for him until his death. Her book Goodbye, I Love You is about their life together. It is considered a landmark in discussions about homosexuality and Mormonism, and Pearson remains an advocate of tolerance towards gay church members.

1985

• April 19: Elder Bruce R. McConkie dies.
• June 7: Groundbreaking for Triad 1 of the Triad Center. It is not finished, but it would have been the highest building in Utah.
• June 29: Freiberg Germany Temple opened in East Germany, the first and only temple behind the Iron Curtain, and the oldest in Germany.
• August: Johannesburg South Africa Temple, the first temple in Africa. The country is still under apartheid at this time creating controversy.
• October 10: M. Russell Ballard is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• November 5: President Spencer W. Kimball dies. Ezra Taft Benson becomes the 13th president of the church.
• The novel Ender's Game is published by Orson Scott Card, an active church member. The novel won the Nebula Award for best novel in 1985, and the Hugo Award for best novel in 1986, considered the two most prestigious awards in science fiction. Ender's Game was also nominated for a Locus Award in 1986.
• New hymnal released.

1986

• October 9: Joseph B. Wirthlin is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• Arabic edition of Book of Mormon.
• Protests against BYU president in Jerusalem by Jewish groups, shouting slogans such as "Conversion is Murder!" and "Mormons, stop your mission now".

1987

• Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs at the US Constitution's bicentennial celebration at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
• Seagull Book book founded.

1988

• May 20: President Marion G. Romney, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, dies.
• October 1: Richard G. Scott is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• Hebrew edition of Book of Mormon, later withdrawn.

1989

• May: Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center dedicated.

1990s

1990

• April: Wording of Endowment and temple ceremony altered, and wording changed to remove penalty oaths.

1993

• September: The September Six are excommunicated. They include the feminist Lavina Fielding Anderson, and historian D. Michael Quinn.

1994

• February 25: Elder Marvin J. Ashton dies.
• April 7: Robert D. Hales is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• May 30: President Ezra Taft Benson dies. Howard W. Hunter becomes president.
• June 23: Jeffrey R. Holland is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• Audio and internet versions of Book of Mormon launched.

1995

• March 3: President Howard W. Hunter dies after serving only nine months as president. Gordon B. Hinckley becomes his successor.
• March 12: President Gordon B. Hinckley is set apart as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• April 1: Henry B. Eyring is ordained and set apart in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• May: Liahona magazine begins.
• September 23: The Family: A Proclamation to the World published.

1996

• Indian Placement Program ends.
• Hong Kong China Temple opened, it is the first "high rise" temple due to land shortages.

1997

• June 1: The St. Louis, Missouri, Temple is dedicated and becomes the Church's 50th operating temple.
• October 23: Orgazmo, a film critical of Mormonism, gains theatrical release.
• November: Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research (FAIR) founded.
• Teachings of Presidents of the Church book series began.

1998

• Plans for Kyiv Ukraine Temple announced, the first in the former Soviet Union.

1999

• January 14: 24-year old De-Kieu Duy, entered the Triad Center's broadcast house and began shooting. There was a second shooting incident four months later.
• December: Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution sold.
• Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus disbanded.
• Orchestra at Temple Square created.

See also

• 19th century (Mormonism)
• 21st century (Mormonism)