Dean Lowe May (April 6, 1938 – May 6, 2003) was an American academic, author and documentary filmmaker and professor of History at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. May specialized in nineteenth- and twentieth-century social and cultural history of the American West through the study of community and family. He taught American studies as a Fulbright guest professor at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Ain Shams University Ain Shams University ( ar, جامعة عين شمس) is a public university located in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 1950, the university provides education at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels. History Ain Shams University was fou ...

Cairo, Egypt Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. May was a member of the Utah State Board of History, editor of the ''

Journal of Mormon History The Mormon History Association (MHA) is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the study and understanding of all aspects of Mormon history to promote understanding, scholarly research, and publication in the field. MHA was founded i ...

'' (1982–1985), and served as president of the

Mormon History Association The Mormon History Association (MHA) is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the study and understanding of all aspects of Mormon history to promote understanding, scholarly research, and publication in the field. MHA was founded i ...

in 2002. May was honored as a ''Pioneer of Progress in Historic and Cultural Arts'' by the Days of 47 Celebration Committee for the State of Utah in 2002.

Education and career

May received a master's degree in history from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1967. Completing his Ph.D. at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1974, he focused on the economics and history associated with the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and the administration of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. His thesis was entitled "From New Deal to New Economics: The Response of

Henry Morgenthau Jr. Henry Morgenthau Jr. (; May 11, 1891February 6, 1967) was the United States Secretary of the Treasury during most of the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He played a major role in designing and financing the New Deal. After 1937, while ...

and Marriner S. Eccles to the Recession of 1937." May's training in economics and history led to a position with the Historical Department of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

in 1974, where he worked with

Church Historian Church Historian and Recorder (usually shortened to Church Historian) is a priesthood calling in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The role of the Church Historian and Recorder is to keep an accurate and comprehensive record of th ...

Leonard J. Arrington Leonard James Arrington (July 2, 1917 – February 11, 1999) was an American author, academic and the founder of the Mormon History Association. He is known as the "Dean of Mormon History" and "the Father of Mormon History" because of his man ...

. During 1974, May was also a fellow at the

Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities and located on Washington Square in Chicago, Illinois. It has been free and open to the public since 1887. Its collections encompass a variety of topics rela ...

and Community History Institute, studying quantitative methods which he used in his studies of

Kanab, Utah Kanab ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah, United States.Find a County
". ''N ...

and other

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

communities. In collaboration with Arrington he revised and expanded a long manuscript by the late

Feramorz Y. Fox Feramorz Y. Fox (28 September 1881 – 29 November 1957) was a president of Latter-day Saints University, which later became LDS Business College. Fox was the son of Jesse W. Fox Jr., and Ruth May Fox. He was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Ut ...

into the book '' Building the City of God: Community and Cooperation Among the Mormons''. The work examined the social importance of community and discussed unity, individuality, and human imperfection and failure. In 1977, May joined the History Department at the University of Utah, and taught at the institution until his death in 2003. For six years, he served as director of the university's Center for Historical Population Studies. To supplement his university presentations, May wrote and produced an award-winning twenty-segment video series entitled ''A People's History of Utah'' (Salt Lake City, University of Utah Instructional Media Services, 1981–88). The series consists of 20 half-hour programs and has been broadcast on public television and used as a supplement to University history courses and in Utah public school classrooms. The series explores the dynamic relationship between the natural and political forces sculpting Utah, and includes an examination of the history and contributions of minority communities and cultures within the state. In a supplementary text by the same title, published in 1987, May discussed his aims as a historian: ''"History belongs to the people. Though there must be discourse among the scholars--fierce debates and exchanges on arcane topics in professional meetings and journals--the product, to justify our endeavor, must ultimately be accessible to all"'' (May, A People's History of Utah, p. ix). He produced a second video series ''Utah Remembers'' (Salt Lake City,

KJZZ-TV KJZZ-TV (channel 14) is an independent television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside CBS affiliate KUTV (channel 2) and MyNetworkTV affiliate KMYU (channel 12) in St. George. The ...

channel 14, 1996), which consists of seven 45-minute programs. During the summer of 2001, May crossed the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

on the Norwegian built ''

Christian Radich ''Christian Radich'' is a Norwegian full-rigged ship, named after a Norwegian shipowner. The vessel was built at Framnæs shipyard in Sandefjord, Norway, and was delivered on 17 June 1937. The owner was The Christian Radich Sail Training Foundati ...

'', a full-rigged sailing vessel. The voyage reenacted the 19th Century Mormon passages from Europe to the United States. May served as a member of the ship's crew and taught immigration history to his fellow passengers. Seeking to complement the history of the Mormon land migration by wagon and handcart, May focused on the voyage as an element that prepared European converts to forge an LDS community identity. May presented papers at meetings of Western History, Mormon History, and Social Science History Associations. Nearly four dozen articles were published in ''Utah Historical Quarterly'', '' Idaho Yesterdays'', ''

'', ''Sociology and Social Research'', ''Population Studies'', ''Agricultural History'', ''

Church History __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual ...

'', and the ''Journal of Family History''. May was a contributor to the FDR Encyclopedia and The Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups. His final book, ''Three Frontiers: Family, Land, and Society in the American West: 1850-1900'' (Cambridge University Press, 1994), employs quantitative methods and personal histories to explore three agricultural communities. When the University of Utah completed its new Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building, it posthumously named its western and Utah history library after May, as well as two other rooms in the building.

Biography

May was born in

Worland, Wyoming Worland is a city in Washakie County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 5,487 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Washakie County. It is located within the Big Horn Basin and along the Big Horn River in northwestern Wyoming. ...

to Frank Peter and Wanda Lowe May. When he was nine, the family moved to a forty-acre farm near

Middleton, Idaho Middleton is a city in Canyon County, Idaho, United States. The population was 5,524 at the 2010 census, up from 2,978 in 2000.Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

for

(LDS Church) in

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

. He married Cheryll Lynn May in 1967 in the

Oakland California Temple The Oakland California Temple (formerly the Oakland Temple) is a Temple (LDS Church), temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) located in Oakland hills, the hills of Oakland, California. It was built in the early 1960 ...

and the couple had three children, Timothy, Thaddeus and Caroline. He later served in the LDS Church as a

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and as a

High Councilor A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in certain denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. The name "stake" derives from the Book of Isaiah: "enlarge the place of thy tent; stretch forth the curtains of thine h ...

for a stake at the University of Utah. For the last eight years of his life May sang with the Utah Symphony Chorus. May died on 6 May 2003, following a heart attack.

Selected publications

*"A Ray of Millennial Light: Early Education and Social Reform in the Infant School Movement in Massachusetts, 1826-40," with Maris A. Vinovskis. Included in Maris A. Vinovskis, ''Education, Society and Economic Opportunity'' (New Haven:

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

, 1995), pp. 17–44. *"Sugar House Ward: A Latter-day Saint Congregation," with

Jan Shipps Jo Ann Barnett Shipps (born 1929), known as Jan Shipps, is an American historian specializing in Mormon history, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century to the present. Shipps is generally regarded as the foremost non-Mormon scholar ...

and Cheryll L. May. Included in James P. Wind and James W. Lewis, eds., ''American Congregations, Vol I'' (Chicago:

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

, 1994), pp. 293–348. Winner of the T. Edgar Lyon Award for Excellence from the

, 1995. *''Utah: A People's History'' (Salt Lake City:

University of Utah Press The University of Utah Press is the independent publishing branch of the University of Utah and is a division of the J. Willard Marriott Library. Founded in 1949 by A. Ray Olpin, it is also the oldest university press in Utah. The mission of th ...

, 1987). *''Building the City of God: Community and Cooperation Among the Mormons'', with

and Feramorz Y. Fox. (Salt Lake City:

Deseret Book Deseret Book () is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores throughout the western United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation (DMC), the ...

, 1976). *"Body And Soul: The Record of Mormon Religious Philanthropy,"

(September, 1988): pp. 322–336. *''From New Deal to New Economics: the American Liberal Response to the Recession of 1937'' (New York: Garland Press, 1981) *''The Mormon History Association's Tanner Lectures: The First Twenty Years'', with Richard L. Bushman,

Thomas G. Alexander Thomas Glen Alexander (born August 8, 1935) is an American historian and academic who is a professor emeritus at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, where he was also Lemuel Hardison Redd, Jr. Professor of Western History and director of ...

, and Reid Larkin Neilson (

University of Illinois Press The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic project ...

, ) *''Three Frontiers: Family, Land, and Society in the American West: 1850-1900'' (New York:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 1994). Winner of the Best Book Award, 1995 from the

Notes

External links

Memoriam by Jill Mulvay Derr, Organization of American Historians

{{DEFAULTSORT:May, Dean Lowe 1938 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Mormon missionaries Academic staff of Ain Shams University 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints American Mormon missionaries in the United States Brown University alumni Cultural historians Harvard University alumni Historians of the American West Historians of the Latter Day Saint movement Historians of Utah People from Middleton, Idaho People from Worland, Wyoming University of Utah faculty Latter Day Saints from Idaho Latter Day Saints from Wyoming Latter Day Saints from Massachusetts Latter Day Saints from Rhode Island Latter Day Saints from Utah 20th-century American male writers