Talk:Lester E. Bush Jr.

Notability of Lester E. Bush and "Mormonism's Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview

User:Utopes commented that the references I've provided are "not enough to demonstrate notability." He correctly states that "The first two references are primary sources," but is incorrect when he says that "the second two are passing mentions."

I believe by "second two references" he means (1) the "Juvenile Instructor" piece by G., David and Stephen J. Fleming, and (2) the article by Edward L. Kimball about the "revelation" received by his father, Spencer W. Kimball. It's fair to say that Kimball's article is a "passing mention," but the "Juvenile Instructor" piece is entirely about Lester Bush and his paper on Mormonism's Negro Doctrine. Indeed, the title of "Juvenile Instructor" piece consists of the word "Revisited," followed by the title of Bush's 1973 paper. The fact that they revisited Bush's work 37 years later indicates the importance they accord it, as does the substance of what they say about his work. If you're wondering about the bona fides of the authors of the "Juvenile Instructor" piece, here's the biography of Stephen J. Fleming, a scholar and author in religious studies at Brigham Young University: https://rsc.byu.edu/author/fleming-stephen-j

If you do a Google search for "Lester E. Bush" and "Negro doctrine," you will find numerous citations of his work and numerous attestations of its importance. I added another paragraph to the Wikipedia entry. The paragraph quotes Leonard J. Arrington (who served as official historian of the Mormon church for 15 years and is considered the "dean of Mormon history," describes OD2 as the "most exciting single event of the years I was church historian." And I quote a paper describing Bush's research as the "single most important article on the history of the priesthood ban."

I don't think it would improve the article to pile up additional references attesting to the importance of Bush's work, but here are a few more for your consideration:

The Deseret News (the largest Mormon-affiliated newspaper in Utah) published this piece in which Bush is shown autographing his "landmark 1973 history" after giving the keynote address at a conference on "Black, White and Mormon." https://www.deseret.com/2015/10/9/20574015/positive-developments-for-lds-blacks-weighed-against-troubled-history-by-lester-bush-at-mcmurrin-lec

Here's a program from a recent conference of the Mormon History Association which includes a panel session titled, "A Tribute to Lester Bush on the 50th Anniversary of the Article that Changed the Church." https://mormonhistoryassociation.org/files/MHA-2023-Program.pdf

Newell G. Bringhurst, a prominent Mormon historian, says that Bush's work on the Negro doctrine was "the classic—the first real legitimately scholarly examination of the issue, the path-breaking article that we all, those of us that came after him, owe him a lot for: myself, Armand Mauss, and all those who came after me." https://gospeltangents.com/2018/02/how-lester-bush-debunked-missouri-thesis/

Gregory Prince, another Mormon historian, says that Bush's article "played a pivotal role in the process by which Spencer W. Kimball ultimately received the revelation that one of his predecessors, David O. McKay, had sought, without success, for many years. Only last year we learned from a grandson that President Kimball had underlined and annotated virtually the entire article in his own copy of Dialogue." https://bycommonconsent.com/2010/06/08/the-long-awaited-day/

You'll note that Wikipedia already has entries about Newell Bringhurst, Gregory Prince and Armand Mauss (who co-authored a book with Lester Bush about Mormon scholarship on race). In a Salt Lake Tribune article in which "LDS scholars mourn" the recent death of Armand Mauss, another history professor says, "Along with Lester Bush and Newell Bringhurst, Armand Mauss is one of the pioneers in Mormon racial history." https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/08/04/lds-scholars-mourn-death/

If the work of Armand Mauss and Newell Bringhurst makes them noteworthy enough to merit a Wikipedia entry, so does the work of Lester Bush.

If you think some of these references should be added to the article, let me know.

--Sheldon Rampton (talk) 08:31, 9 September 2023 (UTC)