Ronald Davis Bitton (February 22, 1930 – April 13, 2007) was a charter member and president of the

Mormon History Association The Mormon History Association (MHA) is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the study and understanding of all aspects of Mormon history to promote understanding, scholarly research, and publication in the field. MHA was founded i ...

, professor of history at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, and official

Assistant Church Historian Church Historian and Recorder (usually shortened to Church Historian) is a priesthood calling in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The role of the Church Historian and Recorder is to keep an accurate and comprehensive record of th ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) working with

Leonard J. Arrington Leonard James Arrington (July 2, 1917 – February 11, 1999) was an American author, academic and the founder of the Mormon History Association. He is known as the "Dean of Mormon History" and "the Father of Mormon History" because of his man ...

Biography

Bitton was raised in the area of

Blackfoot, Idaho Blackfoot (Shoshoni language: Soo-gahni) is a city in Bingham County, Idaho. The population was 11,907 at the time of the 2019 census. The city is the county seat of Bingham County. Blackfoot boasts the largest potato industry in any one area, and ...

. He started playing piano at age six and was a talented pianist. After two years at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

(BYU), he served as an

LDS missionary Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)—widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and communi ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

where he edited the church's '' L'Etoile'' periodical. While on his LDS mission he performed on the piano to assist in proselyting. He then served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Bitton returned to BYU where he was president of his

Phi Alpha Theta Phi Alpha Theta () is an American honor society for undergraduate and graduate students and professors of history. It has more than 400,000 members, with new members numbering about 9,000 a year through its 970 chapters. Founding Phi Alpha The ...

chapter. While president of the Phi Alpha Theta chapter at BYU he invited Arrington to address the spring banquet. Arrington also wrote a letter of recommendation for Bitton during this time. He graduated in 1956 from BYU with a BA in history. Afterward, he studied at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

; there he received a

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1958 and earned his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

French History The first written records for the history of France appeared in the Iron Age. What is now France made up the bulk of the region known to the Romans as Gaul. The first writings on indigenous populations mainly start in the first century BC. Greek ...

in 1961. Bitton was a professor of history at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

until 1961 when he started teaching at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

. He then joined the

faculty in 1966 where he taught for 29 years until his retirement in 1995. Coming out of retirement, from 2005–2006 Bitton was a visiting professor at

Brigham Young University Hawaii Brigham may refer to: Places * Brigham, Cumbria, England * Brigham, East Riding of Yorkshire, England * Brigham City, Utah, USA * Brigham, Wisconsin, USA * Brigham, Quebec, Canada People * Brigham (surname), including a list of people with t ...

. He was an original member and founder of the

in 1965 and he served as president from 1971–1972. Bitton served as an official

from 1972–1982. Bitton referred to this time as "Camelot", an exciting time of unprecedented development of new Mormon historical research. Bitton published several works with Arrington. With Arrington's help, Bitton was appointed as a consultant for BYU to the newly created Joseph Fielding Smith Institute with an honorarium of $1,000 per year. However, this position only lasted two years before it was terminated. Bitton married his wife Joan in 1984, and later in life they served together as guides on

Temple Square Temple Square is a complex, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah. The usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities that are immediately ...

for five years. He died at the age of 77 in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Awards and honors

Davis Bitton has been presented five awards by the MHA. His first award granted by the MHA was in 1975 for the ''Best Article By A Senior Author'' for his works ''Ritualization of Mormon History'' and ''The Making of a Community: Blackfoot, Idaho, 1878 to 1910''. Two years later he won the ''Outstanding Bibliography Award'' for his ''Guide to Mormon Diaries and Autobiographies''. In 1979, Arrington and Bitton were given the ''MHA Best Book Award'' for ''The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latterday Saints''. For his biography on George Q. Cannon, Bitton was honored with the ''MHA Best Book Award'' in 1999; in 2006, the Mormon History Association awarded Bitton the ''Leonard J. Arrington Award'' for "distinguished and meritorious service to Mormon history." Although his specialty was French history, Bitton made many contributions to Mormon history. Bitton was given the "Silver Award" from '' Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'' for an essay on

B. H. Roberts Brigham Henry Roberts (March 13, 1857 – September 27, 1933) was a historian, politician, and leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He edited the seven-volume ''History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

. Bitton's biography of George Q. Cannon was described by Deseret News "as a definitive study of one of the most important of all Mormon leaders."

Published works

The following is only a partial list of Bitton's published works:

Books

* * *
Winner of Outstanding Bibliography Award (

) *
Winner of Best Book Award (

) * * * * *
Winner of Best Book Award (Mormon History Association) and Evans Biography Award (

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

)

Articles

*
Winner of Best Article by a Senior Author (

) *

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Davis Bitton papers, MSS 7441
at L. Tom Perry Special Collections,

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gran ...

*
Archive link

Davis Bitton
at the MLCA Database * Talk given by James B. Allen at Bitton's funeral
''Davis Bitton: His Scholarship and Faith''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitton, Davis 1930 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 20th-century Mormon missionaries United States Army personnel of the Korean War American Latter Day Saint writers American Mormon missionaries in France Brigham Young University alumni Brigham Young University–Hawaii faculty Historians of France Official historians of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints People from Blackfoot, Idaho Princeton University alumni University of California, Santa Barbara faculty University of Texas at Austin faculty University of Utah faculty Writers from Utah Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery Latter Day Saints from Idaho Latter Day Saints from New Jersey Latter Day Saints from Texas Latter Day Saints from California Latter Day Saints from Utah Harold B. Lee Library-related 20th century articles 20th-century American male writers