Acknowledgments
Completion of this dissertation marks the end of a journey which came close to not beginning. I started my college education the same year my second child began his, so this acknowledgment is a chance not only to thank those who have been helpful during the research and writing of this dissertation, but also those who were critical along the way. Thanks to pressure from Susan Heath, I began my undergraduate work in the Adult Degree Program now at Vermont College. Choosing historian Dick Hathaway as my first advisor was fortunate; his enthusiasm for history is contagious, and his commitment to teaching inspiring. I spent an equally constructive semester under the guidance of Tom Absher, who calmed my writing terrors. I owe them both my gratitude.
I started graduate work in New York University’s Liberal Studies program where Francis Peters and Warren Dean were more helpful than either has reason to suspect. Richard Hull advised my masters thesis with patience and interest, and encouraged me to continue my studies in history. I’m grateful for that advice.
To my dissertation committee, Susan Ware, Carl Prince, Pat Bonomi, Molly Nolan and Richard Bushman, I am particularly indebted. Susan Ware has served as my major advisor, which only partly describes the influence she has had on my intellectual development and academic career. Starting with her course in women’s history, through the research and writing of this dissertation, her criticism, comments and suggestions have made me think deeper about issues and more creatively about my topic. Carl Price was the first to spur my intellectual interest in the Mormons; [v] he helped me become a historian and continues to help me be a better one. Pat Bonomi gave me helpful comments on the first draft of this study and helped sharpen my focus and improve the final product. Molly Nolan gave me insightful comments on a paper I wrote on polygamy for her historiography seminar—that course was one of the highpoints in my graduate studies. I am also grateful that Richard Bushman agreed to moonlight from Columbia University to serve on my committee. His willingness to do so provided a bridge to Utah’s community of scholars, and his interest has been important to my efforts.
In Utah, the early support of Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, Leonard Arrington, Martha Sontag Bradley, Carol Cornwall Madsen and Lavina Fielding Anderson was, and is, an intellectual and personal boon. I’m also grateful for the help I’ve received from Tom Alexander, Jesse Embry and Ron Esplin at Brigham Young University; Vella Evans and Walter Jones at University of Utah; Linda Thatcher at Utah State Historical Society; and James L. Kimball, Steve Sorensen and Ron Barney at the Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Utah, I discovered, is a great place to work.
I’ve also benefited personally and intellectually from my relationship with my N.Y.U. colleagues, Melanie Gustafson, Eliza McFeely, Alice Fahs and Jeanne Houck. Another group of friends and scholars have been of particular help: Ailie Cleghorn, Elaine Abelson, Julia Alverez, Joan Smith and Judy Yarnall; each followed a non-traditional path to the academy and has been an inspiration to me. [vi]
By C. Y. Coffin, February 1896. This political cartoon appeared in various newspapers and it is also found in the Division of Prints and Photographs, Library of Congress.
