Skip to main content
Intellect

'Mormon problem' in 19th-century U.S. politics topic for Dec. 10 BYU lecture

The 2008 election is not the first time The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been a focus of attention in the national political scene. The early Saints were discussed often in the nation’s capital during the time of Brigham Young. Thomas G. Alexander will highlight this time in his lecture, “Thomas L. Kane and the ‘Mormon Problem’ in National Politics,” on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at 3 p.m. in the Harold B. Lee Library auditorium.

This presentation is part of the Thomas L. Kane Exhibition Lecture Series held in conjunction with the exhibit “In Honorable Remembrance: Thomas L. Kane and the Latter-day Saints” now on display in L. Tom Perry Special Collections.

Alexander is the Lemuel Hardison Redd, Jr. Professor of Western American History Emeritus at Brigham Young University. He joined the BYU faculty in 1964, and served as the assistant director, associate director and was the director of the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies from 1972 to 1992. Author, co-author, editor or co-editor of 22 books and monographs and 130 articles, Alexander specializes in Utah history, Western history, environmental history and Mormon history.

For more information, contact Roger Layton, Harold B. Lee Library communications manager, at (801) 422-6687 or roger_layton@byu.edu, or Thomas G. Alexander at (801) 375-8797 or thomas_alexander@byu.edu.

Writer: April Chalk

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

Wildfires in residential areas are on the rise; why hydrants and the water system behind them were never meant to stop those fires

July 01, 2025
BYU professor Rob Sowby teaches and studies environmental engineering, urban water infrastructure and sustainability. He has particular expertise in the planning, design, construction and operation of public water systems. That expertise has been increasingly important (and regularly sought out) in the wake of apocalyptic wildfires that have taxed those public water systems.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Meet the BYU math student helping make wildfire predictions faster and smarter

June 25, 2025
Using machine learning and math, a BYU student improved a key tool firefighters rely on during wildfire season
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Geology meets history: BYU professor studies WWII shrapnel on Normandy beaches

June 05, 2025
Eighty years after D-Day, BYU geologists uncover lingering WWII shrapnel on Normandy beaches to study how history still shapes the coastline today.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=