Richard S. Van Wagoner

Richard S. Van Wagoner (July 23, 1946 – October 10, 2010) was an American historian, audiologist, and author who published works on the history of Utah and the history of the Latter Day Saint movement.

Richard Van Wagoner
Born	July 23, 1946 Lehi, Utah, U.S.
Died	October 10, 2010 (aged 64) Lehi, Utah, U.S.
Academic background
Education	Brigham Young University (MS)
Academic work
Discipline	Audiology History
Sub-discipline	History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Early life and education

Van Wagoner was a Lehi, Utah, native and a fifth-generation Mormon.^[1] He was an Eagle Scout and was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the church's Central States Mission. In 1970, he graduated from Brigham Young University with an M.S. degree.

Career

Trained as a clinical audiologist, he began professional practice in 1977 in Salt Lake City, Utah.^[1]

Van Wagoner wrote the books Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess and Mormon Polygamy: A History.^[1][2] His 1994 biography of Sidney Rigdon won awards from the Mormon History Association and the John Whitmer Historical Association.^[1][2]

Van Wagoner was a member of the board of Signature Books, and was described after his death as a "trailblazer in Mormon studies", having published historical articles in Utah Historical Quarterly, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, and Sunstone.^[1] He lived in Lehi, Utah, and acted as the town's historical archivist.^[1][2]

Personal life

From the early 1980s, Van Wagoner lost his hearing due to otosclerosis;^[2] he received a cochlear implant in 2001, which partially restored his hearing.^[2]

Van Wagoner died unexpectedly at his home in Lehi, Utah, at age 64.^[1][2]

Works

Books

• Van Wagoner, Richard S.; Steven C. Walker (1982), A Book of Mormons, Midvale, Utah: Signature Books, ISBN 978-0-941214-06-3
• —— (1989) [1986], Mormon Polygamy: A History (2nd ed.), Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, ISBN 978-0-941214-79-7, LCCN 85063399, OCLC 19515803, archived from the original on 2014-10-30
• —— (1990), Lehi: Portraits of a Utah Town, Lehi, Utah: Lehi City Corp., ISBN 978-1-56085-001-4
• —— (1994), Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess, Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, ISBN 978-1-56085-197-4
• —— (2001), Pioneering Lehi City: A 150-Year Pictorial History, Lehi, Utah: Lehi City Corp., ISBN 978-0-9714191-0-0
• Young, Brigham (2009), Richard Van Wagoner (ed.), The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, vol. 5, Smith-Pettit Foundation, ISBN 978-1-56085-206-3

Articles

• Van Wagoner, Richard; Steven C. Walker (July–August 1981), "The Return of Thomas B. Marsh" (PDF), Sunstone (28): 28–30
• ——; Walker, Steven C. (Summer 1982), "Joseph Smith: The Gift of Seeing", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 15 (2): 48–68, doi:10.2307/45225078, JSTOR 45225078, S2CID 254395171
• —— (November–December 1983), "To Beard or Not to Beard" (PDF), Sunstone (42): 8–10
• —— (Fall 1985), "Mormon Polyandry in Nauvoo", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 18 (3): 67–83, doi:10.2307/45227986, JSTOR 45227986, S2CID 254343203
• —— (Summer 1986), "Sarah Pratt: The Shaping of an Apostate", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 19 (2): 69–99, doi:10.2307/45225431, JSTOR 45225431, S2CID 254299794
• ——; Steven C. Walker; Allen D. Roberts (Fall 1987), "The 'Lectures on Faith': A Case Study in Decanonization", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 20 (3): 71–77, doi:10.2307/45225561, JSTOR 45225561, S2CID 254325099
• ——; Mary C. Van Wagoner (Spring 1988), "Orson Pratt, Jr.: Gifted Son of an Apostle and an Apostate", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 21 (1): 84–94, doi:10.2307/45225710, JSTOR 45225710, S2CID 254324243
• —— (Spring 1991), "The Lehi Sugar Factory—100 Years in Retrospect", Utah Historical Quarterly, 59 (2): 189–204, doi:10.2307/45061979, JSTOR 45061979, S2CID 254430466, archived from the original on 2011-06-13
• —— (1994), "Lehi", in Powell, Allan Kent (ed.), Utah History Encyclopedia, Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, ISBN 0874804256, OCLC 30473917, archived from the original on 2013-11-02
• —— (1996), "Sidney and Me", Journal of Mormon History, 22 (1, 2): 151
• —— (Spring–Summer 2001), "The Making of a Mormon Myth: The 1844 Transfiguration of Brigham Young", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 34 (1, 2): 159–182, doi:10.2307/45226773, JSTOR 45226773, S2CID 254319448

Sunstone Symposium presentations

• Van Wagoner, Richard; Allen D. Roberts (August 27, 1982). "From Grace to Grace"
• Bradley, Martha; Richard Van Wagoner (August 23, 1985). "Changed Faces: Official LDS Positions on Polygamy, 1890-1-80"
• Van Wagoner, Richard S.; Lynne Watkins Jorgensen (August 12, 1995). "The Making of a Mormon Myth: The 1844 Transfiguration of Brigham Young - and - The Mantle of the Prophet Joseph Passes to Brother Brigham and the Twelve Apostles: A Collective Spiritual Witness"
• Van Wagoner, Richard S. (August 17, 1996). "Sidney Rigdon and the Elect Sisterhood"
• Ehat, Andrew E.; Richard S. Van Wagoner (August 22, 1996). "Pseudo-Polyandry: Explaining Mormon Polgyny's Paraboxical Companion"
• Van Wagoner, Richard; Breck England (August 23, 1996). "Orson Pratt, Jr"

Notes

1. "Utah, LDS historian won acclaim", Salt Lake Tribune, 2010-10-12.
2. Michael DeGroote, "Richard Van Wagoner, historian, dies at 64", Deseret News, 2010-10-12.

External links

• The Richard S. Van Wagoner Papers (J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah)