The event was inspired by a recent tricentennial conference at the Library of Congress on the life and teachings of the famed Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards. The Joseph Smith bicentennial conference came together through the combined efforts of Gerald McDermott of Roanoke College in Virginia, Robert Millet of BYU and James Hutson, chief of the manuscript division at the Library of Congress.

Hutson visited BYU in 2002 as part of an exhibit for the 2002 Winter Games titled "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic," which laid the groundwork for a joint BYU-Library of Congress conference on Joseph Smith.

"Joseph Smith was very committed to preaching gospel to all the world, and he encouraged public education and learning on the part of all people in the world," Welch said. "The Library of Congress is one of the great institutions of learning that is open to the entire public, and it is consistent we would honor Joseph Smith and study his life at Library of Congress."

Among the topics to be considered:

• "Joseph Smith's Many Histories," by Richard L. Bushman, with responses by Robert Remini, Richard T. Hughes and Grant Underwood.

• "Joseph Smith and the Recovery of Past Worlds," by Terryl L. Givens, with responses by Margaret Barker, John E. Clark and John W. Welch.

• "Joseph Smith in a Personal World," by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of The Quorum of the Twelve.

• "Joseph Smith Challenges the Theological World," by David Paulsen, with responses from Richard Mauw, Randall H. Balmer and Robert Millet.

• "Joseph Smith and the Making of a Global Religion," by Douglas J. Davies, with responses from Gerard McDermott, Jan Shipps and Roger R. Keller.

In 1839, Joseph Smith's whirlwind visit included "preaching" to some members of Congress and meeting with newspaper editors — kind of the same approach used in Washington today to lobby Congress and bend the media's ear.

And even though Joseph Smith left Washington frustrated, Remini writes in his book, "Joseph Smith," that the trip opened the young prophet's eyes to a bigger world beyond the frontiers of Ohio, Missouri and Illinois.

"Here he was tending his flock scattered in different parts of the world, meeting with the president of the United States, and now receiving national attention in the newspapers for what he had created in just a few short years," Remini wrote.

With the church well into its second century, even the Library of Congress finds such a man worthy of scholarly attention.

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E-mail: spang@desnews.com