Maureen Ursenbach Beecher (born March 19, 1935) is a historian and editor of the history 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 Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church). She studied at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU) and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

. She worked in the History Department for the LDS Church from 1972 to 1980, and became a professor of English at BYU in 1981 while continuing her work in Mormon history at the

Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

. She published a popular book of Eliza R. Snow's writings.

Early life and education

Maureen Ursenbach was born on March 19, 1935, in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, the youngest of four children born to Charles and Margaret Lucille ( Harvey) Ursenbach. She attended Sunalta School in Calgary, followed by studies at University of Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton branches to finish her secondary education. She studied at BYU majoring in mathematics and English and graduating in 1958. She served as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

for the LDS Church later in 1958 in the Swiss-Austrian mission. After returning from her mission, she studied at the University of Utah, receiving her master's in English in 1966 and her PhD in comparative literature in 1973.

As a historian

Prior to her research on Mormon studies, Beecher (her married name) served as the managing editor of the Western Humanities Review. Beecher was an editor and senior research associate in the History Department for the LDS Church from 1972 to 1980. She was the founding president of the

Association for Mormon Letters Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

in 1976. In 1981, she took a position as an English professor at BYU while also a research professor in the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History. Beecher retired from BYU in 1997. She was the general editor for the Life Writings of Frontier Women series and published two books on Eliza R. Snow, including a definitive edition of Snow's writings, ''The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow''. The book won two awards and was popular, selling out of its first printing. Beecher has been a leading advocate for women's studies through her research on Snow and other Mormon women and Beecher served on the editorial board for ''Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought''. She writes, edits, and promotes Global Forum projects in Ottawa, Canada.

Personal life

Beecher married Dale Beecher. They later divorced. She is retired and lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Awards

*1992 Best Biography Award,

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 in ...

*1994 Leonard J. Arrington Award, Mormon History Association *1995

AML Award The AML Awards are given annually by the Association for Mormon Letters (AML) to the best work "by, for, and about Mormons." They are juried awards, chosen by a panel of judges. Citations for many of the awards can be found on the AML website. ...

for biography, for ''The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow'' *1996 Best Book Award, Mormon History Association *1996 BYU Women's Research Institute Best Article Award

Notes

Sources

Review of Beecher's papers of Eliza R. Snow that mentions some biographical details

External links

*
Bookfinder list of writings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beecher, Maureen U. 1935 births American Latter Day Saint writers American academics of English literature Brigham Young University faculty Historians of the Latter Day Saint movement Living people American women historians Canadian women historians Latter Day Saints from Utah Writers from Calgary Association for Mormon Letters people