Leonard J. Arrington: Church Historian and Author of 'Great Basin Kingdom' (1917–1999)

Leonard J. Arrington (1917–1999) was a Latter-day Saint historian who opened a new era of LDS scholarship. In 1958 Harvard University Press published his path-breaking 'Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830–1900,' the first serious academic history of the Saints by one of their own. He taught at Utah State University and, from 1972 to 1982, served as Church Historian of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—the first professionally trained historian to hold the office—where he opened the Church Archives to scholars and oversaw a flowering of Latter-day Saint history. He wrote 'Brigham Young: American Moses,' histories of banking and the sugar-beet industry, and, in retirement, 'Adventures of a Church Historian.' His faithful, careful scholarship testified that the history of the Restoration could be examined honestly and would still stand.