Currency & Finance: Mormon Financial Documents Through the Years
Financial records provide a wealth of historical insight about the Church’s past and members’ everyday lives. Explore these rare and valuable resources in a temporary exhibit at the Church History Library.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had financial needs and endeavors since the publication process of the Book of Mormon began in 1829. Mercantile stores, publication endeavors, land transactions, and even attempts at forming a banking institution were important parts of the Church under Joseph Smith’s leadership and after the Saints moved to the Great Basin in the late 1840s. Church members in the 19th century made efforts to colonize, establish communities, form businesses, and become economically self-sufficient. In the 20th century, Church members observed and participated in the extension of Church businesses and the economic changes resulting from the globalization of the Church. These financial endeavors are significant components of Latter-day Saint history, and they all generated records such as currency, land deeds, stock certificates, business ledgers, and tithing accounts, among others.
Account sheets detailing monetary contributions for the Zion's Camp expedition, Perpetual Emigrating Fund ledger.
From these records, historians can glean vital contextual information about the struggles Church leaders and members have faced in their efforts to finance Church operations and provide for their own lives and families. For example, an account sheet detailing the monetary contributions made both by members of the Camp of Israel expedition (later referred to as Zion’s Camp) and by Church members generally shows how much (or how little) the Saints had in terms of resources in 1834. Similarly, a note from the Kirtland Safety Society provides a glimpse into a period of time when currency worked differently and Joseph Smith and other Church leaders were exploring innovative ways to fund the development of Latter-day Saint communities.
Women and girls participate in straw-braiding in the Utah Territory.
Financial records also provide a window into the everyday lives of Latter-day Saints. Promissory notes from Winter Quarters (for provisions for Saints beginning their trek west in 1847) provide insight into the mix of anxiety and optimism that accompanied this pioneering expedition. Pages from the Perpetual Emigrating Fund ledger show how economics played heavily into efforts to gather scattered Israel to Zion and how so many Saints outside of Utah depended on money from the Church. Photographs such as one depicting women and girls participating in straw-braiding highlight the contributions of individual Church members to Utah Territory’s economy, especially women’s participation in the efforts of Brigham Young and other Church leaders to make the territory self-sufficient. Tithing records emphasize the importance of individual contributions to the Church—contributions that have funded much of the Church’s growth and operations.
Physical artifacts can provide historians with as much information as documents or oral histories. Artifacts such as those in this exhibit allow us to understand the evolving role of finances in Church history and in the lives of Church members.
These and other documents and artifacts can be seen in Currency and Finance: Mormon Financial Documents through the Years, an exhibit hosted by the Church History Library from February 26 to March 10.