Milton V. Backman Jr.: LDS Historian and Author of 'The Heavens Resound' (1930–2020)

Milton V. Backman Jr. (1930–2020) was a Latter-day Saint historian and long-time professor at Brigham Young University. His 'The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838' remains the only full narrative history of the Ohio period of the Church in print, and his 'Joseph Smith's First Vision: Confirming Evidences and Pervasive Influences' gathered and defended the historical evidences of the Prophet's theophany. A careful, faithful scholar, Backman believed that the honest history of the Restoration would only confirm it. His life's work testified that the events of the Restoration—the First Vision, the Kirtland temple outpouring, the organization of the kingdom—are real history, witnessed by records that can be examined and trusted.