“Through a Glass Darkly”: Portrayal of the Mormons in Nineteenth-century American Periodical Literature

Authors

Stanley J. Thayne, Brigham Young University
Dr. Cynthia Hallen, Brigham Young University

Keywords

Mormons, American periodical literature, magazines, LDS

College

Humanities

Department

Linguistics and English Language

Abstract

During the nineteenth century the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then known primarily as the Mormon Church, was a subject of great controversy in American periodical literature. Major magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly, Scribner’s, Harper’s, The North American Review, and The Century published articles about the Mormon people. While working as a research assistant for Dr. Cynthia Hallen, documenting literary influences on Emily Dickinson, I came across several of these articles and wondered how the Mormon Church would have been portrayed to readers such as Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the rest of the nineteenth-century American reading public.

Recommended Citation

Thayne, Stanley J. and Hallen, Dr. Cynthia (2013) "“Through a Glass Darkly”: Portrayal of the Mormons in Nineteenth-century American Periodical Literature," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013: Iss. 1, Article 894.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/894