Item Detail
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22478
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1
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0
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English
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The History and Folklore of the Strangite Latter Day Saints
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Madison, Wisconsin
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The University of Wisconsin - Madison
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Ph.D. diss.
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"From 1844 to 1856, James J. Strang led the second largest Latter Day Saint movement to emerge after the martyrdom of the Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith, Jr. Although at the time many viewed him as a serious challenger for the leadership of the greater Latter Day Saint movement, in the wake of his own assassination in 1856, his movement was decimated and has largely been forgotten by mainstream America and scholars alike. In recent years, a number of historians have begun to approach the topic of the Strangite Saints with renewed vigor. However, most of this attention has focused on the early years of the movement and typically leaves off with the demise of Strang. In this work, I have sought to redress that issue by painting a more holistic picture of the Strangite Latter Day Saints in terms of their history and the folklore associated with their movement, both esoteric and exoteric. In doing so, I have employed theories and methodologies from a host of social science disciplines, including folklore, history, sociology, and religious studies; the works of Mircea Eliade, Richard M. Dorson, Alan Dundes, Rogers Brubaker, and Wayland Hand being of special significance. What emerges is the story of a people whose narrative is full of hope and loss, nostalgia and melancholy, love and hatred, and, more than anything, humanity. The Saints have adapted to situations largely outside of their control. They have maintained some traditions, and they have lost others. Along with the American nation, they have transformed from an agrarian people to an urban, or at least suburban, people. Yet, through it all, they have remained true to themselves. They embrace their uniqueness, both within the American context and within the religious context. Forcibly driven from their homes in 1856, they became a diasporic people, but have now returned to their sacred space. Proud of their self-professed status as a remnant people, they await the coming of a new prophet, and the dawning of a day long anticipated in their teachings." [Author's abstract]