In order to shed light on the rich Mormon history contained in BYU’s L. Tom Perry Special Collections, an exhibition lecture was given on Wednesday.

The speakers, Lowell C. “Ben” Bennion and Thomas R. Carter, authorities on Mormon and Utah history, spoke on the relevance of polygamy and the ordinary architecture of Mormon houses during the 19th century, as contained in Elizabeth Kane’s book, “Twelve Mormon Homes.”

The lecture was one of a series in remembrance of Thomas L. Kane and the Latter-day Saints, said David Whittaker, curator of the Kane exhibit at BYU.

Thomas L. Kane was a friend of the Mormons in the late 19th century. He and his wife, Elizabeth, accepted Brigham Young’s invitation to go on a journey from Salt Lake City to St. George to investigate the intentions of the Mormons and to learn how to be of service to an exiled people, Whittaker said.

Bennion and Carter unfolded pages from “Twelve Mormon Homes.” Bennion said while Elizabeth Kane was bothered by Mormon polygamy, she grew to respect and admire women who entered the system.

Wherever the Kanes traveled, they found themselves in the company of polygamists. “We think that historians of early Mormonism should acknowledge this social reality,” Bennion said.

One of the most popular types of houses in the United States during the 19th century was the I-house, so named for its commonality in the central midwestern states of Indiana, Iowa and Illinois, Carter said.

This type of house was popular among Mormons also. Carter cleared up a common misconception that double front door houses signified the dwelling place of a polygamist family. During this time period, double front doors were a fashionable construction on a house, chosen for their pleasing symmetry, he said.

Since the external appearance of houses does not signify whether a single or polygamous family dwelled within, census records are highly relied upon.

“Census records are still our most reliable way of knowing who was living where and when,” Carter said.

Brady Winslow, a BYU student from Kaysville, Utah who is studying history, was interested in the lecture because of his aspiration to become a church history professor.

“Regardless of our thoughts and feelings regarding polygamy, it’s important to understand our history,” Winslow said.

Whittaker said of Elizabeth Kane’s “Twelve Mormon Homes,” “It’s a classic of Mormon social history, and I invited Ben and Thomas to take some aspect of that volume and give us some new perspectives. I was very pleased with their using part of her records of that trip south with Brigham Young to talk about that Mormon community and its practice of polygamy.”

Tuesday’s lecture will be a chapter in a much larger book that is being compiled on the Kanes’ journey through all of the Mormon communities.

Copyright Brigham Young University 16 Jan 2009