It's the Maxwell Institute podcast.

I'm Blair Hodges.

As the 20th century dawned, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was still at odds with the United States,

a country that had provided fertile soil for the growth of their faith, but also a country they felt alienated from.

Some of the things Mormons did to keep themselves separate from the outside world actually ended up helping them reconcile with it.

In their efforts to build a self-sustaining Great Basin

Kingdom in the West, they sent missionaries back to the eastern United States, not to preach

their restored gospel per se, but to learn at universities, to advance in fields like law and

medicine. This changed the church. In his new book, Thomas W. Simpson argues that American universities played a key role in making

Latter-day Saints feel at home in America again.

In this episode of the Maxwell Institute podcast, Simpson joins us to talk about his new book.

It's called American Universities and the Birth of Modern Mormonism.

It's a story about the tensions that come along with being a people set apart

and a people trying to fit in.

Questions and comments about this and other episodes can be sent to MIP Podcast at BYU.edu.

And please take a moment to rate or review the show in iTunes.

I really appreciate hearing from people about what they like about the show.

Thomas W. Simpson joins me today here in Salt Lake City. Thanks for coming on the Maxwell Institute podcast. Of course. Glad to be here. Well, I wanted to begin by talking about

two figures that play a prominent role in the book, Romania Pratt and Hannah Sorensen. These are

two Latter-day Saint-Women. And forgive me for starting off with a little bit of a mini-letcher,

but I want to kind of set the stage a little bit, especially for listeners who aren't familiar

with Latter-day St. History. So here's a quick little thing to

...