Item Detail
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26072
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0
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0
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English
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Joseph F. Smith and the Shaping of the Modern Church Educational System
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Joseph F. Smith : Reflections on the Man and His Times
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Provo, UT
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Salt Lake City: Religious Studies Center, BYU; Deseret Book
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401-417
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From 1901 to 1918, President Joseph F. Smith presided over one of the most expansive eras in the history of Latter-day Saint education, when the Church operated a series of after-school religion classes, private secondary academies, normal colleges, and a university. “The course of the church educational system from 1900 to 1930,” noted historian Thomas G. Alexander, “resembled nothing quite so much as a balloon. Expanding during the period to 1920, it shrank rapidly during the 1920s.” Interestingly, though President Smith chaired the Church Board of Education during an era of explosive educational growth, near the end of his presidency he remarked, “I believe that we are running education mad.” Responding to this concern, the policy decisions made by President Smith during his administration set the stage for the Church’s drastic reduction of the academy system following his death. Ultimately, it was his presidency that supported the creation of the released-time seminary program, the innovation that reshaped Church education, guiding it toward the supplementary education model it employs today. This paper analyzes the educational background, philosophy, and legacy of Joseph F. Smith and his impact on Church education. Beginning with his own limited education, it traces the role President Smith played in expanding the academies as a counselor in the First Presidency and later facilitating the formation of the seminary system as Church president. It places these changes within the context of the dramatic growth in public education that occurred in the West during the Smith era, demonstrating the transformative role he played in the formation of the modern Church Educational System. [From the text]