Richard E. Turley Jr.

Richard E. Turley Jr.
Born	(1956-02-18) February 18, 1956 Fort Worth, Texas
Nationality	American
Education	B. A. English Juris Doctor
Alma mater	Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School
Occupation	Assistant Church Historian
Years active	20
Employer	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Known for	Writings on LDS history LDS Church historical program
Spouse	Shirley Swensen Turley
Children	6
Parent	Richard E. Turley Sr.
Relatives	Theodore Turley

Richard Eyring "Rick" Turley Jr. (born February 18, 1956) is an American historian and genealogist, and an Assistant Church Historian of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). On April 26, 2016, the church announced that he would succeed Michael Otterson as the managing director of the church's Public Affairs Department, effective September 1, 2016.

Biography

Turley was born in Fort Worth, Texas, to Richard and Betty Jean Nickle Turley. His father, a nuclear engineer, scientist and professor, would later become a mission president and general authority of the LDS Church.

Turley attended high school in Salt Lake City, Utah, when he met Shirley Swensen. They would later marry in the Salt Lake Temple and have six children. Turley aspired to be a lawyer, by his father's urging, and an Institute of Religion teacher, by his deep personal interest in LDS Church history. From 1975 to 1977, Turley served as an LDS missionary to the Japan Tokyo Mission.

After returning from Japan, Turley studied at Brigham Young University (BYU) as a Spencer W. Kimball Scholar, receiving a B. A. in English in 1982. Then, at BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School, he was editor of the law review and elected to the Order of the Coif. Upon graduation in April 1985, Turley received the Hugh B. Brown Barrister's Award for top classroom performance.

Church employment

After passing the Utah State Bar examination, Turley practiced law briefly before being hired by the LDS Church in January 1986. He was appointed Assistant Managing Director of the Historical Department, to replace the retiring Earl Olson.

At this time, the department was already heavily involved in the investigation of Mark Hofmann, the historical documents forger who attempted to hide his fraud by murder during the previous October. Turley's legal training helped the department which had examined and acquired several Hoffman forgeries (though some argued it was to hide their controversy).

Watching the case unfold in the press and in books, Turley felt misconceptions lingered from the media frenzy. To tell the story from the perspectives of the murder victims and the LDS Church (which Turley believed had been misrepresented) he published Victims: The LDS Church and the Mark Hofmann Case in 1992 through the University of Illinois Press. Though he wrote the book without church direction, his trusted position granted him church leaders' support and access to interviews, diaries, journals, memoranda, and other records.

Expanded role

Turley was appointed Managing Director of the Historical Department in 1989, and in 1996 he also became Managing Director of the Family History Department. In 2000, the two departments merged into the Family and Church History Department, over which Turley remained as Managing Director.

In these roles, Turley oversaw the Church Archives, the Church History Library, and the Museum of Church History and Art, the Family History Library, the FamilySearch Center, the Granite Mountain Records Vault, and over 4,000 branch family history centers. These comprise one of the largest collections of Mormon history, western history, and genealogy in the world. As a person of authority in LDS history and past defender of the church in the Hofmann controversy, Turley later became one of three official LDS Church respondents to a popular 2003 book critical of Mormonism, Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer.

Digital projects

In the department, Turley managed several notable electronic projects. FamilySearch, a massive genealogical database website, was launched in 1999. Other records were also released on CD-ROM, including the Freedman’s Bank (of African-American records), the Mormon Immigration Index, European Vital Records Indexes, and 1880s censuses, including the 1881 British Census, which won the Besterman/McColvin Award from the Library Association of Great Britain. For these efforts, and restoring several LDS historic sites, Turley received the Historic Preservation Medal from the Daughters of the American Revolution in 2004.

In 2002, BYU Press published Selected Collections From the Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which Turley edited. On 74 DVDs, this released numerous important and rare early documents of the church, which some scholars and historians called "the most important event in modern Mormon publishing," and "an achievement of such significance that no praise, no matter how effusive, seems sufficiently laudatory."

Assistant Church Historian

More changes came to the department after Marlin K. Jensen became Church Historian in 2005. The department again staffed professional researchers, the Joseph Smith Papers Project sharply expanded, and a new Church History Library was announced.

On March 12, 2008, the Family and Church History Department announced it was becoming two departments again: the Family History Department and the Church History Department. In addition, Turley became the Assistant Church Historian, an ecclesiastical position that was unfilled for over 25 years. Steven L. Olsen, the department's Associate Managing Director, took Turley's old position of Managing Director.

For his contributions to public history while overseeing the church's archives, records, museums, and historic sites, Turley was awarded the 2013 Herbert Feis Award from the American Historical Association.

Organizations

Turley has been involved with several genealogical and historical organizations.

• Historic Sites Committee (LDS Church)
• President of the Genealogical Society of Utah (2000–2008),
• The Joseph Smith Papers editorial board
• Executive Committee of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History
• General editor of The Journals of George Q. Cannon series
• President of the Salt Lake City Chapter of the Sons of Utah Pioneers (1990)
• Vice President of the Small Museum Administrators Committee, American Association of Museums
• Utah State Historical Records Advisory Board, National Historical Publications and Records Commission
• Copyright Task Force, Society of American Archivists
• Moderator for The Worlds of Joseph Smith conference in 2005

Historical philosophy

In 1992, Turley commented on how Mormon history can affect the faith of LDS Church members:

Some people may wish to base their faith on historical evidence. While historical information can be useful, interesting and can provide insights to individuals, I don't think that it's the sure foundation of faith. The sure foundation of faith is spiritual and not physical. ... [T]he more an individual learns about the history of the Church, the greater that individual's understanding will be of the overall picture. Thus, every piece of evidence will be viewed against the total picture. Otherwise, people who do not have much knowledge of Church history may find themselves being tossed to and fro by tidbits from the past.

Publications

Books

• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (1992). Victims: The LDS Church and the Mark Hofmann Case. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-01885-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• ——; Littke, Lael (2003). Stories from the Life of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book. ISBN 1-57008-915-9. {{cite book}}: |author1= has numeric name (help)
• Walker, Ronald W.; Turley, Richard E., Jr.; Leonard, Glen M. (2008). Massacre at Mountain Meadows. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-516034-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link).
• Turley, Richard E., Jr.; Slaughter, William W. (2011). How We Got the Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book. ISBN 9781609080624.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• ——; —— (2012). How We Got the Doctrine and Covenants. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book. ISBN 9781609071509. {{cite book}}: |author1= has numeric name (help)

Edited volumes

• Cannon, George Q. (1999). Cannon, Adrian W.; Turley, Richard E., Jr.; Landon, Michael (eds.). The Journals of George Q. Cannon: To California in '49. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book. ISBN 1-57345-465-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
• Turley, Richard E. Jr.; Walker, Ronald W., eds. (2009). Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris Collections. Documents in Latter-day Saint History. Provo and Salt Lake City: Brigham Young University Press and University of Utah Press. ISBN 978-0-8425-2723-1..
• ——; Harper, Steven C., eds. (2010). Preserving the History of the Latter-day Saints. Church History Symposium. Provo and Salt Lake City, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University and Deseret Book. ISBN 978-0-8425-2777-4. {{cite book}}: |editor1= has numeric name (help).
• Smith, Joseph, Jr. (2011). Lorimer, Riley M.; Turley, Richard E. Jr.; Jensen, Robin Scott (eds.). Published Revelations. The Joseph Smith Papers: Revelations and Translations. Vol. 2. Salt Lake City, Utah: Church Historian's Press. ISBN 9781606419427.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link).
• Turley, Richard E. Jr.; Chapman, Brittany A., eds. (2011). Women of Faith in the Latter Days, Volume One: 1775-1820. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book. ISBN 9781609089863.
• ——; ——, eds. (2012). Women of Faith in the Latter Days, Volume Two: 1821-1845. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book. ISBN 9781609071738. {{cite book}}: |editor1= has numeric name (help)
• ——; ——, eds. (2014). Women of Faith in the Latter Days, Volume Three: 1846-1870. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book. ISBN 9781609075880. {{cite book}}: |editor1= has numeric name (help)
• Cannon, George Q. (2014). Cannon, Adrian W.; Turley, Richard E. Jr.; Orton, Chad M. (eds.). The Journals of George Q. Cannon: Hawaiian Mission, 1850-1854. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book. ISBN 9781609078843.

Articles and chapters

In addition to the following, Turley contributed seven articles to the Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History (2000).

• Esplin, Ronald K.; Turley, Richard E., Jr. (1992). "Mountain Meadows Massacre". In Ludlow, Daniel H (ed.). Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan Publishing. pp. 966–68. ISBN 0-02-879602-0. OCLC 24502140.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link).
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (1994). "The Provenance of William E. McLellin's Journals". In Shipps, Jan; Welch, John W. (eds.). The Journals of William E. McLellin. Urbana, Illinois and Provo, Utah: University of Illinois Press and BYU Studies. pp. 257–61. ISBN 0-8425-2316-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (July 19, 1997). "Vanguard Pioneers Reach Zion, Send 'Ensign to Nations'". Church News. Salt Lake City: Deseret News. pp. 5, 13. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (Fall 2002). "Latter-day Saint Doctrine of Baptism for the Dead". The BYU Family Historian. 1 (1). Provo, Utah: Center for Family History and Genealogy, Brigham Young University: 23–39. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (Fall 2002). "What's New in Latter-day Saint Church History?: Recent Developments in the Family and Church History Department?". Journal of Mormon History. 28 (2): 1–13. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (June 27, 2003). "[Reviews of] Under the Banner of Heaven". Church Response to Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (July 14, 2003). "Faulty History: A Review of Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith" (PDF). Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (2005). "Gathering Latter-day Saint History in the Pacific". In Underwood, Grant (ed.). Pioneers in the Pacific: Memory, History, and Cultural Identity Among the Latter-day Saints. Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University. pp. 145–59. ISBN 0-8425-2616-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (2005). "The Calling of the Twelve Apostles and the Seventy in 1835". Joseph Smith and the Doctrinal Restoration: The 34th Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium. Provo and Salt Lake City, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University and Deseret Book. pp. 369–380. ISBN 1-59038-489-X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) (video link) Also published in Joseph: Exploring the Life and Ministry of the Prophet (2005), pp. 230–242. ISBN 1-59038-471-7
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (Summer 2006). "Recent Mountain Meadows Publications: A Sampling". Journal of Mormon History. 32 (2): 213–25. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (September 2007). "The Mountain Meadows Massacre". Ensign. 37 (9). Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 14–21. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Walker, Ronald W. (2008). "The Andrew Jenson Collection". BYU Studies. 47 (3): 5–44. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• —— (2008). "The David H. Morris Collection". BYU Studies. 47 (3): 111–30. {{cite journal}}: |author= has numeric name (help); Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (2008). "Problems with Mountain Meadows Massacre Sources". BYU Studies. 47 (3): 143–57.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (2009). "[Review of] House of Mourning". Utah Historical Quarterly. 77 (2): 193–95. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (Spring 2009). "Roundtable on Massacre at Mountain Meadows" (PDF). Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 42 (1): 131–36. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (2010). "Mountain Meadows Massacre". In Reeve, W. Paul; Parshall, Ardis E. (eds.). Mormonism: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 95–100. ISBN 9781598841084. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link).
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (September 2010). "The First Mormon Tabernacle Choir Recordings, 1910". Ensign. 40 (9): 54–59. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (2010). "Assistant Church Historians and the Publishing of Church History". In Turley, Richard E. Jr.; Harper, Steven C. (eds.). Preserving the History of the Latter-day Saints. Church History Symposium. Provo and Salt Lake City, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University and Deseret Book. ISBN 978-0-8425-2777-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link).
• Turley, Richard E., Jr.; Reeves, Brian D. (Winter 2011). "Unmasking Another Hofmann Forgery". Journal of Mormon History. 37 (1): x–xiv. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link). Also published in the Utah Historical Quarterly, Winter 2011 issue, pages 92–95.
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (Spring 2011). ""Epoch in Musical History": The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's First Recordings". Utah Historical Quarterly. 79 (2): 100–121. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link).
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (2014), Clash of the Legal Titans: The First Trial of John D. Lee July 20 to August 7, 1875 (PDF), Juanita Brooks Lecture Series, St. George: Dixie State College of Utah {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link).
• Turley, Richard E., Jr.; Cannon, Jeffrey G. (2016). "A Faithful Band: Moses Mahlangu and the First Soweto Saints". BYU Studies. 55 (1): 8–38. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Other

• Turley, Theodore (1982). Turley, Richard E. Jr. (ed.). Theodore Turley: Mission Journal, 1839-1840. Honor's thesis. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University.
• Turley, Ida Elizabeth Eyring (1997). Turley, Richard E. Jr. (ed.). The Diary of Ida Elizabeth Eyring Turley: 1874-1952. Salt Lake City: s.n.
• Turley, Richard E. Jr., ed. (2002). Selected Collections from the Archives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [electronic resource], 2 volumes. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press.
• —— (2006). Why Can't I Forget My Sins?. [sound recording]. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book. ISBN 1-59038-553-5. {{cite book}}: |author= has numeric name (help)

External links

• Template:Worldcat id
• Biography at Joseph Smith Papers Project website (accessed May 4, 2012)