A window through which one can gain a fascinating glimpse of the LDS church in the South in the late nineteenth century is Southern Star, the weekly tabloid published at the headquarters of the Southern States Mission in Chattanooga, Tennessee, from 8 December 1898 until 1 December 1900. An examination of its contents provides significant insight into the status of the Church in the southern states near the turn of the century. This glimpse reveals that as the nineteenth century drew to a close Mormonism in the southern part of the United States was a faith still struggling to define, defend, and sustain itself in a largely hostile environment.
