Leonard Arrington
| Leonard J. Arrington | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Leonard James Arrington July 2, 1917 Twin Falls, Idaho, U.S. |
| Died | February 11, 1999 (aged 81) Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Heart failure |
| Resting place | Logan City Cemetery |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Ph.D (Economics) |
| Alma mater |
University of Idaho University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| Occupation | Historian Author University professor |
| Employer |
Utah State University Brigham Young University |
| Known for | LDS Church Historian, 1972–1982 Writings in Mormon history |
| Spouse(s) | Grace Fort (1942–1982) Harriett Ann Horne (1983–1999) |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Noah and Edna Arrington |
Leonard James Arrington (July 2, 1917 – February 11, 1999) was an American author, academic and the founder of the Mormon History Association. He is known as the "Dean of Mormon History" and "the Father of Mormon History" because of his many influential contributions to the field. He was the first Church Historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1972 to 1982, and was director of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History from 1982 until 1986.
Arrington grew up in a large family in Idaho, where he and his family were members of the LDS Church. After high school, he studied agricultural economics at the University of Idaho and continued studying economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While teaching at the Utah State Agricultural College in Logan, Utah, Harvard University Press published his book Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830–1900 in 1958. After a Fulbright professorship at the University of Genoa in Italy, Arrington raised funds to pay for research and writing on LDS (Mormon) biographies. He taught Western American History at Brigham Young University (BYU) from 1972 to 1987.
In conjunction with his teaching appointment at BYU, Arrington was also appointed as the first Church Historian for the LDS Church from 1972 to 1982. It was the first time a professional historian was given this job. Arrington and his team of researchers, forming the church Historical Department, began many projects to document LDS Church history, ranging from articles for the church's official magazine to scholarly books written for a non-LDS audience. The Historical Department was not subject to the church's Correlation Program and enjoyed some freedom of research. However, over time, various church members and apostles disliked the historical articles. The new director of the Historical Department, G. Homer Durham, required that all publications go through him and halted the hiring of new employees. In 1982, the LDS Church released Arrington as Church Historian and transferred the History Division to BYU, creating the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History. Arrington published over 20 books and articles, including several biographies, with the help of many research assistants.
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