46th annual conference of the Mormon History Association begins

ST. GEORGE — In this sesquicentennial year of the founding of St. George in 1861, enthusiasts are gathering to this red-rock locale this weekend for the 46th annual conference of the Mormon History Association.

At the Dixie Center, more than 130 scholars, many of whom are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will give presentations on various aspects of Mormon history.

Speakers include Elder Bruce C. Hafen, president of the St. George Utah LDS Temple and an emeritus general authority of the church. He is a native son of St. George. William MacKinnon, this year's president of the association, will give the presidential address discussing his perspective as "A Presbyterian Afoot in the Mormon Past."

The conference concludes Sunday with a devotional in the historic St. George Tabernacle, built by Mormon pioneer settlers. Southern Utah University President Michael T. Benson and former Dixie State College President Douglas D. Alder are the featured speakers at the devotional, discussing southern Utah higher education and Mormon history.

In keeping with the setting, many of the conference presentations will focus on the theme "From Cotton to Cosmopolitan: Local, National and Global Transformations in Mormon History."

St. George began as part of the LDS Church's cotton mission of the 1860s. Though the cotton industry here was short-lived, the settlement remained and flourished into a tourism destination, a college town and the location of the church's oldest operating temple, dedicated in 1877.

Conference early-birds chose from any of three preconference tours, one of which highlighted the city's past with "Historic St. George LIVE." Put on by the city of St. George with the help of volunteers, it featured re-enactors portraying luminaries from the city's history, such as Mormon leaders Jacob Hamblin, Orson Pratt, Erastus Snow, probate judge John Menzies Macfarlane and church President Brigham Young. The latter's winter home, upgraded in 1873 from an existing structure he purchased, is today among the city's tourist attractions.

Among highlights of the tour: