D.C. opens arms to Joseph Smith

WASHINGTON — In late 1839, Joseph Smith, leader of the still-fledgling Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, arrived in the nation's capital to petition President Martin Van Buren to help end the persecution of church members forced from their Missouri homes.

He left disappointed and, according to the official church history, with Van Buren's now-infamous words ringing in his ears: "Your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you."

The man revered by millions today as a prophet returns triumphantly to Washington, D.C., today and Saturday, the subject of a two-day international academic conference at the Library of Congress titled "The Worlds of Joseph Smith."

"We certainly hope Joseph Smith's reception in Washington will be better this time than it was last time," said John W. Welch, a professor of law at Brigham Young University and editor of BYU Studies. "We think it will be."

Many of the nation's top Smith scholars, some members of the church and others who are not, will participate in five sessions over two days that will examine the theological impacts, accomplishments and legacy of Joseph Smith since his birth 200 years ago.

No tickets remain for any of the sessions.

"In religious studies programs around the country, we are seeing a much greater interest in the life and teachings of Joseph Smith, and academic programs are seeing the Mormon experience and teachings of Joseph Smith as being worthy of careful study," Welch said. "They are finding things in the Joseph Smith legacy to be of intense interest to them."

The conference is part of a yearlong celebration by the church of the bicentennial of Joseph Smith's birth in December 1805 in Vermont.

By December 2005, the public should get its first glimpse of a 12-volume publication of Joseph Smith's papers, diaries and personal writings, all part of the Joseph Smith Papers Project that has been endorsed by the National Archives.

The project is sponsored by the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History at BYU and LDS Church Archives, and it will include materials now held by the Chicago Historical Society, Yale University, Community of Christ and other repositories, according to a BYU release.

The National Archives endorsement "reassures libraries and scholars that this project has been undertaken according to the highest scholarly standards," said Ronald Esplin, executive editor of the project. "We're confident that the quality of the papers will stand on their own."

The Library of Congress conference is intended to strike that same academic note with scholars who will be critically examining different aspects of Joseph Smith's life and legacy.

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