Marvin S. Hill was born in 1930 in Washington D.C. where he attended high school. In 1955 he graduated from Brigham Young University with a B.A. and M.A. in history. Hill continued his post-graduate training at the University of Chicago where he studied with Martin E. Marty and Sidney E. Mead, the latter of whom strongly influenced Hill's approach towards historical research and methodolgy. Before graduating with a doctorate in American intellectual history from Chicago in 1968, Marvin taught history at Chicago City Junior College, Hammond Indiana Junior College, and East Carolina College. Joining the history department at Brigham Young University in 1966, Hill remained on the staff as a Professor of American History until his retirement in 1993. Throughout a highly productive career, Marvin was the recipient of several prestigious awards. Yale University granted him a post-doctoral research fellowship in 1972. Three years later, Marvin and Dallin H. Oaks received the Mormon History Association's annual award for the best book in Mormon history. The book was entitled Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith. In 1977 the Mormon History Association deemed Hill's co-authored study of the Kirtland Ohio economy as the best article in the field of Mormon history. A banner year for Marvin was the year of 1989.. During that year he was granted two awards, one from the John Whitmer Historical Association and the other from the Mormon History Association. These awards were for the best article and the best book in Mormon historical studies. The book's title was Quest for Refuge: The Mormon Flight from American Pluralism. The last scholarly award which Professor Hill received occurred in 1990 when the John Whitmer Historical Association honored him with a special citation for his "Quest for Refuge" publication. Marvin has published numerous articles in Church History, B.Y.U. Studies, Dialogue, Journal of Mormon History, Utah Historical Quarterly, New York History, Sunstone, and the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. Hill's professional service was also noteworthy. He served as a member of the Mormon History Association's Council, was elected the Association's President, and worked on the editorial boards of the Journal of Mormon History and Dialogue. Within the community of Mormon scholars, Professor Hill achieved the reputation as a defender of the revisionist school of Mormon historiography known as the "New Mormon History." One of Hill's research projects fell victim to the verbal warfare engendered by the historigraphical controversies associated with the emergence and challenge of the New Mormon approach to historical writing. In the midst of working on a book-length project centering on the ten most prominent figures in the history of the Mormonism, Marvin was informed that further access to archival materials pertinent to his study would no longer be available. Consequently, his investigation of Mormon leaders was jettisoned.

The Marvin S. Hill papers (1788-2006) consist of manuscripts, dissertations, theses, articles, correspondence, book reviews, papers, interviews, journals, documents, newspaper clippings, congressional proceedings, speeches, archival materials, microfilm, and cassettes. It is significant to note that not all of Hill's research endeavors resulted in publication. One example is Hill's uncompleted biography of Joseph Smith, which his co-author and sister, Donna Hill, eventually published in 1977. Manuscript evidence of this project can be found in box 22 while research materials are located in boxes 23-38 and 56-57 and in reels 69-77 and 79-81. Information related to Hill's aborted study of the most eminent leaders in Mormon society has been filed in boxes 40-54 and 57-59 and in the three cassettes. Materials related to restrictions, which the L.D.S. Church and the B.Y.U. Library placed upon archival access, can be viewed in box 6. Publications pertaining to the attacks upon and justifications for the "New Mormon History" are housed in boxes 6-7. The unpublished manuscript entitled "New York Mormonism: The Foundation Stones" appears in box 14. Correspondence and assorted materials concerning Ezra Taft Benson's endorsement of the John Birch Society and the L.D.S. Church's reponse to his activities can be accessed in boxes 51-52.

Restrictions on Access:

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Restrictions on Use:

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material from the Marvin S. Hill papers must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator.

Preferred Citation:

Initial Citation: Marvin S. Hill papers, Accn 1496, Box [ ]. Special Collections and Archives. University of Utah, J. Willard Marriott. Salt Lake City, Utah.

Following Citations:Accn 1496.

Arrangement:

Folders 1-6 were donated in 1994, 2002 and 2007. Roger V. Paxton encoded boxes 2-68 and the remainder of the collection in 2011.

Acquisition Information:

Gift of Marvin S. Hill and Julie Myers, 1994-2007.

Processing Note:

Folders 1-6 were processed by Lisa DeMille 1994, 2002 and 2007.

Boxes 2-68 were processed by Roger V. Paxton in 2011.

Creator:

Hill, Marvin S.

Language:

Collection materials are in English.

Quantity:

43.45 linear feet

Language of the Finding Aid:

Finding aid encoded in English in Latin script.

Author of the Finding Aid:

Finding aid prepared by Lisa DeMille

EAD Creation Date:

2007

Subarea: