Ronald K. Esplin
Ronald K. Esplin is a general editor of the Joseph Smith Papers. He served as the project’s managing editor until 2012. He received degrees in history from the University of Utah, the University of Virginia, and Brigham Young University. Most of his publications have involved Brigham Young and early Utah or pre-Utah Mormon history, including Men with a Mission: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles, 1837–1841. Many of them also concern Joseph Smith and early Latter-day Saint leadership.
BYU Studies Publications
- Brigham Young and Priesthood Denial to the Blacks: An Alternate View
- From the Rumors to the Records: Historians and the Sources for Brigham Young
- How the Joseph Smith Papers Became a Project of Consequence(2025)
- Inside Brigham Young: Abrahamic Tests as Preparation for Leadership
- Joseph, Brigham and the Twelve: A Succession of Continuity
- Life in Nauvoo, June 1844: Vilate Kimball's Martyrdom Letters
- Minutes of the Afternoon Meeting of the Council of Fifty, April 11, 1844
- Sickness and Faith, Nauvoo Letters
- The Genesis of the Joseph Smith Papers Project(2025)
- The Record of the Twelve, 1835: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles’ Call and 1835 Mission
- Understanding the Council of Fifty and Its Minutes