Further Reading about the Pageant

This bibliography collects a sample of the literature addressing the history, performance, and social practices of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It is not intended as a complete list of works about the Hill Cumorah Pageant or other pageants staged by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Several of these titles are drawn from a list on LDS pageantry in the Brigham Young University library catalog: https://atom.lib.byu.edu/smh/search/?q=subjects%3A%22Pageants%22. 

 

Primary Sources

Crozier, D. A Testimony of the Hill Cumorah Pageant: Palmyra, New York. Independently published, Apr. 5, 2021.

Fugal, Peg. "To Build the Members' Testimonies." In Chicken Soup for the latter-day Saint Soul: Stories Celebrating the Faith and Family of Latter-day Saints, ed. Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Sherm and Peg Fugal, 2–5. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc., 2012.

Hess, Kathy. Hill Cumorah Pageant Work Crew. Blogspot, updated from May 28, 2008, to July 18, 2021. https://hcpworkcrew.blogspot.com. 

  • This blog contains extensive photos of the Hill Cumorah Pageant Work Crews from 2008 to 2019.
  • Note: As part of the Hill Cumorah Legacy Project, Daniel Gorman Jr. saved the blog in the Internet Archive Wayback Machine for long-term preservation and access. However, the webpages' formatting did not always carry over to the archived versions. Not all of the outlinks and embedded media were captured, either.

Terry, R. Hill Cumorah Pageant Journal. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018.

 

Secondary Sources

Popular Books and Academic Monographs

Davies, Douglas J. The Mormon Culture of Salvation. London, UK: Routledge, 2000.

Givens, Terryl L. By the Hand of Mormon The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Johnson, Jake. Mormons, Musical Theater, and Belonging in America. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2019.

Jones, Megan Sanborn. Contemporary Mormon Pageantry: Seeking after the Dead. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2018. 

Krakauer, Jon. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith. 2003; New York: Anchor Books, 2004.

  • Note: Krakauer devotes a few pages of his true-crime book to describing the Pageant.

Shaw, Marc E., and Holly Welker. Singing and Dancing to The Book of Mormon: Critical Essays on the Broadway Musical. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.

Steinberg, Avi. The Lost Book of Mormon: A Journey Through the Mythic Lands of Nephi, Zarahemla, & Kansas City, Missouri. New York: Nan A. Talese, Doubleday, 2014.

Turner, John W. The Mormon Jesus: A Biography. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2016.

 

Academic Articles, Book Chapters, and Dissertations

Armstrong, Richard N., and Gerald S. Argetsinger. "The Hill Cumorah Pageant: Religious pageantry as suasive form." Text and Performance Quarterly 9, no. 2 (1989): 153–64, https://doi.org/10.1080/10462938909365924. 

Bell, James A. "Performing Mormonism: “The Hill Cumorah Pageant” as Transformational Theatrical Ritual." PhD dissertation, Florida State University, 2006. Electronic Edition: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, ProQuest document ID305332683, https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/performing-mormonism-hill-cumorah-pageant-as/docview/305332683/se-2?accountid=13567. 

— — —. "Ritualized Theater: The Performing Pilgrim's Progress at the Hill Cumorah Pageant." In Mormons and Popular Culture: The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon, Vol. 1, Cinema, Television, Theater, Music, and Fashion, ed. J. Michael Hunter, 163–82. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger (ABC-CLIO), 2013.

Boyden, Walter Everett, Jr. "The Road to Hill Cumorah." PhD dissertation, Brigham Young University, 1982. Electronic Edition: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, ProQuest document 303223718, https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/road-hill-cumorah/docview/303223718/se-2?accountid=13567.

Hall, Airen. "Experiencing Zion: Contemporary pilgrimage in the Latter-day Saint tradition." PhD dissertation, Syracuse University, 2012. Electronic Edition: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, ProQuest document 1021374570, https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/experiencing-zion-contemporary-pilgrimage-latter/docview/1021374570/se-2?accountid=13567.

Jones, Megan Sanborn. "Imaging a Global Religion, American Style: Mormon Pageantry as a Ritual of Community Formation." In By Our Rites of Worship Latter-day Saint Views on Ritual in History, Scripture, and Practice, ed. Daniel Belnap, 317–48. Provo, UT: The Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University (Deseret Book Co.), 2013. Open access: https://rsc.byu.edu/our-rites-worship/imaging-global-religion-american-style-mormon-pageantry-ritual-community.

Justice-Malloy, Rhona, Lindsay Adamson Livingstone, and Scott Magelssen. "'This Is the Place': Performance and the Production of Space in Mormon Cultural Memory." In Enacting History, ed. Magelssen and Justice-Malloy, 22–40. Tuscalossa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2011.

Lewis, Heidi D. "'Speaking Out of the Dust': Religious Reenactments with the Specific Iconic Identity of Place." MA thesis, Brigham Young University, 2006. Electronic Edition: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, ProQuest document 2452560927, https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/speaking-out-dust-religious-reenactments-with/docview/2452560927/se-2?accountid=13567.

LoMonaco, Martha S. "Mormon Pageants as American Historical Performance." Theatre Symposium 17 (2009): 69–83. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/tsy.2009.0009.

McHale, Ellen E. "'Witnessing for Christ': The Hill Cumorah Pageant of Palmyra, New York." Western Folklore 44, no. 1 (1985): 34–40. https://doi.org/10.2307/1499949.

Schott, Sarah Bill. "Pilgrims, seekers and history buffs: Identity creation through religious tourism." MA thesis, Loyola University Chicago, 2005. Electronic Edition: ProQuest Theses & Dissertations Global, ProQuest document 304990176, https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/pilgrims-seekers-history-buffs-identity-creation/docview/304990176/se-2?accountid=13567.

Whitman, Charles W. "A History of the Hill Cumorah Pageant (1937–1964) and an Examination of the Dramatic Development of the Text of 'America's Witness for Christ.'" PhD diss., University of Minnesota, 1967. Electronic Edition: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, ProQuest document ID302222137, https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/history-hill-cumorah-pageant-1937-1964/docview/302222137/se-2.

Woodger, Mary Jane. "Harold and the Hill: Harold I. Hansen and the Hill Cumorah Pageant, 1937–1977." In Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History, vol. 3: New York–Pennsylvania, 155–176. Provo, UT: Department of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University, 2002. Open access: https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/rsc/id/33319.

The Journal of Book of Mormon Studies devoted the entirety of Vol. 13 (2004) to the cultural reception of the Hill Cumorah. Open-access link: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol13/iss1/. Articles on the Pageant include:

 

Secular and LDS Print Journalism

Gates, Crawford. "Souls are stirred by... Music from Cumorah." The Instructor 96, no. 11 (Nov. 1961): 368–69. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/instructor9611dese/page/n9/mode/2up. 

Noyce, David. "Will next year’s Manti Mormon Miracle Pageant be the last? Hill Cumorah show to end after 2020 as church steps away from large shows." The Salt Lake Tribune, Oct. 27, 2018, updated Oct. 28, 2018, https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2018/10/27/mantis-mormon-miracle/.

Zobell, Albert L., Jr. "Lest We Forget: Early Cumorah Pageants." The Improvement Era 71, no. 6 (June 1968): 24–27. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/improvementera7106unse/page/n27/mode/2up.