Janiece Johnson and Jenny Reeder joined us in March to discuss the experiences and distinct voices of women in the early days of the Restoration. They share anecdotes from church history you may never have heard before, and discuss the importance of knowing the stories of LDS women, and hearing their testimonies. Together, Johnson and Reeder recently authored The Witness of Women: Firsthand Experiences and Testimonies from the Restoration, which we discuss in this interview. (Read the MWP review here).
Janiece Johnson is a transplanted Bay Area, California native who loves history, design, art, good food, and traveling. She has master’s degrees in American Religious History and Theology from Brigham Young University and Vanderbilt’s Divinity School respectively. She finished her doctoral work at the University of Leicester in England. Janiece has published work in gender and religious history—specializing in Mormon history and the prosecution for the Mountain Meadows Massacre. She is currently a visiting professor of Religion at Brigham Young University-Idaho.
Jenny Reeder is the nineteenth-century women’s history specialist for the LDS Church History Department, where she recently co-edited Át the Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses of Latter-day Saint Women with Kate Holbrook and the Church Historian’s Press. She earned her PhD in American History at George Mason University, emphasizing women’s history, religious history, memory, and material culture.
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