Valeen Tippetts Avery (December 22, 1936 – April 7, 2006) was an American biographer and historian of Western American and

Latter Day Saint The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by J ...

history. With biographer Linda King Newell, she co-authored '' Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith'', a biography of the wife of the founder of

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 nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, ...

Biography

Avery was born in the agricultural and industrial city of Great Falls, Montana. She attended

Rocky Mountain College Rocky Mountain College (Rocky or RMC) is a private college in Billings, Montana. It offers 50 liberal arts and professional majors in 24 undergraduate disciplines. In fall 2013, the college had 1069 enrolled students. It is affiliated with the ...

Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

, and

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-d ...

, in Provo, Utah. She married Charles C. Avery in 1961; the couple had four children, but divorced in 1986. In 1996, Avery married Bryan Collier Short. Avery attended graduate school at Northern Arizona University during her research for

Emma Smith Emma Hale Smith Bidamon (July 10, 1804 – April 30, 1879) was an American homesteader, the official wife of Joseph Smith, and a prominent leader in the early days of the Latter Day Saint movement, both during Smith's lifetime and afterward as ...

's biography. She earned a master's degree in history in 1981, and her Ph.D. in history in 1984. She served as 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 ...

between 1987 and 1988. Avery was well known in the western history field for articles, reviews and commentaries. She served as professor of history, with specialties in women's history and Colorado Plateau Studies, at Northern Arizona until her retirement in 2005. Avery died in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Major biographies

''Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith'' was well received by the scholarly community when it was first published in 1984. The biography won the Evans Biography Award, the Mormon History Association Best Book Award, and the

John Whitmer Historical Association The John Whitmer Historical Association (JWHA) is an independent, nonprofit organization promoting study, research, and publishing about the history and culture of the Latter Day Saint movement. It is especially focused on the Community of Christ ...

(RLDS) Best Book Award. Avery and Newell provided the following note in the book's introduction: :''Early leaders in Utah castigated Emma from their pulpits for opposing Brigham Young and the practice of polygamy, and for lending support to the Reorganization. As these attitudes filtered down through the years, Emma was virtually written out of official Utah histories. In this biography, we have attempted to reconstruct the full story of this remarkable and much misunderstood woman's experiences.'' Despite its quality and recognition, the biography was startling and controversial among leaders, administrators and members of

. Shortly after publication, Avery and Newell, both participating members in the church, were refused any opportunity to talk about their research or book in church meetings. In the preface to the second edition of the book, the authors write: «After a ten-months stalemate Linda Newell successfully petitioned church leaders to reconsider the prohibition. On April 26, 1986, she was informed that the restrictions ... were no longer in effect.» Yet the fact that the lifting of that ban was not reported by the church-owned newspaper ''Deseret News'' led them to say that it «gave the unmistakable message to faithful church members that both the book and its authors were still suspect.» Avery produced a biography of the life of the youngest son of Joseph and Emma Smith,

David Hyrum Smith David Hyrum Smith (November 17, 1844 – August 29, 1904) was an American religious leader, poet, painter, singer, philosopher, and naturalist. The youngest son of Joseph Smith and Emma Hale Smith, he was an influential missionary and leader in ...

, ''From Mission to Madness: Last Son of the Mormon Prophet'' in 1998. This biography also won the Evans Award for the best biography in Western history. She describes Smith's mental deterioration, starting with a probable breakdown early in 1870 and ending with his 1904 death in the Northern Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane in

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Elgin is located northwest of Chicago, along the Fox River. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 114,797, the seventh-large ...

. He was confined in the institution for twenty-seven years. The book draws on a large body of Smith's correspondence and poetry to examine both his personality and his emotional state.

Selected publications

* "Emma Smith: An Unknown Sister," in Maren M. Mouritsen, ed., ''Blueprints for Living: Perspectives for Latter-day Saint Women, Volume Two'' (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1980). * "Emma Smith Through Her Writings" '' Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'' 17 (Autumn 1984). * ''From Mission to Madness: Last Son of the Mormon Prophet.''

University of Illinois Press The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic proje ...

, October 1998. . * "''Insanity and the Sweet Singer: A Biography of David Hyrum Smith, 1844-1904''" Ph.D. dissertation, Northern Arizona University, 1984. * "Irreconcilable Differences: David H. Smith's Relationship with the Muse of Mormon History" ''

Journal of Mormon History 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 ...

'' 15 (1989). * "Sketches of the Sweet Singer: David Hyrum Smith, 1844-1904" '' John Whitmer Historical Association Journal'' 5 (1985). * "''The Last Years of the Prophet's Wife: Emma Hale Smith Bidamon and the Establishment of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints''" (M.A. thesis, Northern Arizona University, 1981). With Linda King Newell:
"Jane Manning James: Black Saint, 1847 Pioneer"
''

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

'' (official publication of

), Aug. 1979.
"Lewis C. Bidamon, Stepchild of Mormondom"
''

BYU Studies ''BYU Studies Quarterly'' is an academic journal covering a broad array of topics related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( Mormon studies). It is published by the church-owned Brigham Young University. The journal is abstracted ...

'' 19 (Spring 1979). * ''Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Prophet's Wife, Elect Lady, Polygamy's Foe.'' Doubleday Publishing, September 1984. . 2nd edition. rev., Urbana, IL:

, 1994. * "New Light on the Sun: Emma Smith and the New York Sun Letter" ''

'' 6 (1979). * "Sweet Counsel and Seas of Tribulation: The Religious Life of the Women in Kirtland," ''

'' 20 (Winter 1980).
"The Elect Lady: Emma Hale Smith"
''

, Sept. 1979. * "The Lion and the Lady: Brigham Young and Emma Smith," ''Utah Historical Quarterly'' 48.1 (Winter 1980). Reprinted in Roger D. Launius and John E. Hallwas, eds., ''Kingdom on the Mississippi Revisited'' (Urbana:

, 1996), pp. 198–213. With Linda King Newell and Maureen Ursenback Beecher: * "Emma and Eliza and the Stairs" ''

'' 22 (Winter 1982).

Notes

References

*. Discusses the religious controversy following ''Mormon Enigma's'' initial publication in 1984 (page 40 to 48).

External links

The Valeen T. Avery Papers at Utah State University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avery, Valeen Tippetts 1936 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American biographers 20th-century American historians 20th-century American women writers American Latter Day Saints American women historians Brigham Young University alumni Historians of the Latter Day Saint movement Latter Day Saints from Montana Northern Arizona University alumni People from Great Falls, Montana Rocky Mountain College alumni American women biographers