What Else Is In the Church Archives?

June 9th, 2008, by Kent Larsen

This week I added to the wiki a list of items in the LDS Church archives that were categorized under “New York City New York History” in the computer catalog. The list includes some tempting items, including several interviews and diaries that I don’t think we knew existed, and yet another indication of LDS branches operating in New York City after the Easter States Mission was closed.

You can find the list of items in the wiki here.

I thought the following were particularly interesting:

  • Mortimer, George Harding. Interview, New York City, New York and Salt Lake City, Utah, 1973-1976 – OH 439   — Mortimer was the President of the New Jersey Stake and a lawyer involved with the Church’s involvement with the 9 West 57th Street skyscraper, the purchase of the site where the Temple now stands, and probably other fascinating events in Church history in New York City.
  • Soper, Walter Monson. Interview, Provo, Utah, 1979 – MS 2735 302   — The Soper family were the mainstays of the LDS presence in the greater New York area, since the family lived in the Uniondale area more or less continuously from the 1840s through the 1950s.
  • New York Branch, Eastern States Mission. Record books, 1857-1861 and 1873-1874 – LR 491 21   — If I remember correctly, the Eastern States Mission was closed in 1873-1874.
  • Hughes, Charles E., G. Wesley Johnson, Marian A. Johnson. Mormons in Northern New Jersey; New Jersey Mormon History Association (Provo, Utah) 1994.   — I wish someone had told me that this item exists! I’m trying to get a copy now.

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