Ronald Kent Esplin (born 1944) is the managing editor of

The Joseph Smith Papers ''The Joseph Smith Papers'' (or Joseph Smith Papers Project) is a project researching, collecting, and publishing all manuscripts and documents created by, or under the direction of, Joseph Smith (1805-1844), the founder of the Latter Day Saint ...

project and the former director of the

Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History The Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History (later renamed to Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History) was an academic research organization at Brigham Young University (BYU) from 1980 to 2005 that sought to promo ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

(BYU).

Biography

Esplin was born in Cedar City, Utah and raised in Salt Lake City. Esplin served as a missionary for

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 nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

in the Central American Mission, when that mission not only included all the countries from Guatemala to

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, but also had Colombia within its borders. Esplin holds degrees from Brigham Young University, 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 ...

and the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

. In 1972 Esplin was planning to start a teaching career as an

Institute An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

instructor. He was recruited to work for the summer under

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 ...

doing a search and study of

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his death in 1877. During his time as ch ...

's papers in the church archive. He remained working in the Church History Archives until 1980 when Church Commissioner of Education

Jeffrey R. Holland Jeffrey Roy Holland (born December 3, 1940) is an American educator and religious leader. He served as the List of presidents of Brigham Young University, ninth President of Brigham Young University (BYU) and is a member of the Quorum of the Twe ...

announced that Esplin and his colleagues would come to Brigham Young University with Holland who was appointed university president. Esplin received a Ph.D. from BYU with his doctoral dissertation being entitled ''The Emergence of Brigham Young and The Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830-1841''. By 1984 Esplin was director of the Smith Institute and he helped Dean C. Jessee to get ''The Papers of Joseph Smith: Volume 1'' published in 1984. Esplin was also involved in the decision to entirely revamp the project. In 2001 he left BYU and took over as director of the papers project full-time. However, from 2001 to 2005 the project was operating at BYU. In 2005 it relocated to the Church Archives (part of the Church History Department) in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

.http://deseretnews.com/cgi-bin/cqcgi_plus/@plus.env?CQ_SESSION_KEY=QNLCBEAZMEDF&CQ_CUR_DOCUMENT=10&CQ_TEXT_MAIN=YES Esplin's research has focused on the early period of the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints particularly the role of

during the presidency of

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, ...

. Esplin was among the contributors to the ''Atlas of Mormonism'' and the ''

Encyclopedia of Mormonism The ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'' is a semi-official English-language encyclopedia for topics relevant to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, see also "Mormon"). The five-volume texts have been digitized and are available ...

''. Esplin was also one of fourteen editors working on the project under Daniel H. Ludlow. Besides directing the Smith Institute, Esplin also taught classes in Church History at BYU. As managing editor of the Joseph Smith papers project Esplin has been working to make it so that once the papers come out they are available in many libraries around the world. Esplin also served as the 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 ...

from 2006 to 2007. Esplin has seven children and has served in such positions as a counselor in a

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

.Ronald Esplin
"Utah's First Thanksgiving"
''

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

'', October 1982, p. 51.

Published works

Articles

"A Place Prepared in the Rockies"
''

'', July 1988, p. 7
"Fire in His Bones"
''

'', March 1993, p. 44
"'God Will Protect Me until My Work Is Done'"
''

'', August 1989, p. 16
"Brigham Young in England"
''

'', June 1987
"Hyrum Smith: The Mildness of a Lamb, the Integrity of Job"
''

'', February 2000, p. 30
"Utah's First Thanksgiving"
''

'', October 1982, p. 49-51

Chapters

*"Joseph Smith and the Kirtland Crisis, 1837" in ''Joseph Smith: Prophet and Seer'' *"Modern Efforts to Preserve Church History" in ''Preserving the History of the Latter-day Saints'' *"A Place Prepared: Joseph, Brigham, and the Quest for a Promised Refuge in the West" in ''Window of Faith: Latter-day Saint Perspectives on World History''

Books

*With David J. Whittaker and James B. Allen, ''Men with a Mission: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles, 1837-1841''

Notes

External links

Biographies
of Joseph Smith Papers Project staff, including Esplin *

to the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary '' American Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Esplin, Ron 1944 births 20th-century Mormon missionaries 21st-century American historians American Mormon missionaries Mormon missionaries in Central America American male non-fiction writers Brigham Young University alumni Brigham Young University faculty Historians of the Latter Day Saint movement Living people Mormon studies scholars University of Utah alumni University of Virginia alumni