From the Archives: Essential Readings on Polygamy
You’ve heard about early Mormon polygamy. Maybe you’ve read the Church essays. But you suspect there may be more to the story. Where should you start?
Independent Mormon historians and scholars writing for Dialogue Journal have covered polygamy objectively and in detail. Here are the three essential articles for someone who wants to learn more:
- A Trajectory of Plurality: An Overview of Joseph Smith’s Thirty-three Plural Wives by Todd Compton. Covers early Nauvoo polygamy as practiced by Smith.
- The Persistence of Mormon Plural Marriage, by Carmon Hardy. Covers “mainstream” Utah polygamy.
- LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890–1904, by D. Michael Quinn. Covers polygamy after the Manifesto that ostensibly ended the practice.
Further Reading
Compton and Hardy both have book-length treatments of their subjects. Respectively, these are In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith, and Solemn Covenant: The Mormon Polygamous Passage.
For in-depth looks at specific polygamy-related subjects, see Dialogue Journal’s topic page and the three-volume Persistence of Polygamy series edited by Newell Bringhurst and Christ Foster.
Also Recommended
Lindsay Hansen Park’s Year of Polygamy podcast is a tour de force. The first thirty-odd episodes are based on In Sacred Loneliness. Park includes sources for the rest of the episodes online.
