What's New

June 2024

Explanation of Figures Now Available

Did you know that Wilford Woodruff included over 9,000 illustrations in his journals? He used 18 symbols repeatedly in predictable contexts to identify recurring events and emotions, which account for almost 8,400 of his drawings. The interpretation of the symbols comes from Joshua M. Matson’s work, "Decoding the Self-Tracking Symbols of Wilford Woodruff's Journals," BYU Studies 63:1 (2024): 151-204. You can now click directly on the figures in the transcriptions of Wilford's journals, which will take you to the descriptions and interpretations available on our website.

Mormon History Association Conference

The Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation was well represented at the Mormon History Association Conference held June 13 to 16 in Kirtland, Ohio. LaJean Purcell Carruth, Advisor to the Project, as well as two former editors and two former assistants of the Project, gave presentations. In addition, the Foundation was nominated for the Ardis E. Parshall Public History Award for our 2023 "Building Latter-day Faith" Conference.

195th Anniversary of the Three Witnesses

June 28 is the 195th anniversary of Moroni showing the gold plates to the Three Witnesses. The anniversary coincides closely with Episode 5 of Scripture Central’s production, “A Marvelous Work.” In this episode, three scholars—Dan Peterson, Casey Griffiths, and Steve Harper, Executive Editor of the Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation—talk about the evidence, provided by these and other witnesses, of the truth of the Book of Mormon. The episode was filmed on location in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio and includes never-before-seen re-enactments of these miraculous events.