“From Cotton to Cosmopolitan: Local, National, and Global Transformations in Mormon History”
The 46th Annual Conference will be held at the Dixie Center in St. George, May 26-29, 2011. Surrounded by the beautiful sandstone bluffs and red soil, the Dixie Center is a modern conference facility located just off I-15, Bluff Street exit (exit 6). Rooms have been arranged at six nearby hotels. 

WHY COME TO ST. GEORGE?

MHA holds its annual meetings at sites that are linked to Mormon history. We have met in Missouri, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Idaho, Canada, England, Hawaii, Denmark, California, Arizona, and several sites in Utah.

Those who come to St. George in May 2011 will be here for the community’s sesquicentennial and for the centennial of Dixie State College. They will be able to see the St. George Temple, the first one that the Mormons built in the West. They will realize how similar it is to the Nauvoo Temple. Two of the MHA sessions will be held in the St. George Tabernacle, one of the finest structures ever built by the Latter-day Saints, a genuine piece of New England architecture. The opening social will be on the classic town square next to the Tabernacle and surrounded by many pioneer structures.

Those who take the historic tours will meet Orson Pratt, Jacob Hamblin, Erastus Snow, John Menzies Macfarlane, and Brigham Young in their historic settings. Other tours will visit the Grafton ghost town, Zion National Park, Pipe Springs, Hildale (polygamy), and Grand Canyon. Everywhere visitors will feel he atmosphere of the Mohave Desert and reflect on the tremendous sacrifice required of the early pioneers. Others may choose to visit a half dozen art galleries in the city center.

Some of the papers delivered at the sessions will focus on southern Utah and help attendees realize that St. George (named for George A. Smith) was the capital of the a southern Mormon region extending from Harmony on the north to Bunkerville on the south (and a stretch down the Little Colorado River), and from Kanab and Virgin on the east to Panaca and Pioche on the west. They will realize that Erastus Snow presided over 40 communities that implemented the village system and family farms, imposing them on a hostile habitat. They will consider the competition for control of the area between the Native Americans, the Mormons, and the miners (largely from Nevada). That area was initially isolated but has now become the home to national monuments and national parks and is a national destination of high repute.

Come to Utah’s Dixie, and maybe buy a condo while you are here!

Doug Alder
Local Arrangements Co-Chair

Contents

President's Welcome

St. George Airport

Conference Hotels

Preliminary Conference Program (3MB pdf download)

Printable Registration Form - (pdf download)

Advertisers and Exhibitor Information

Pre-Conference Tours

Post Conference Tours

ST. GEORGE CONFERENCE HOTELS

MHA has negotiated a rate of $89 (single/double/triple/quadruple) per night at six St. George Hotels. All hotels are located within 3 miles of the Dixie Center. All hotels offer swimming pools, spas, exercise rooms, and free parking. Three of the conference hotels (Best Western Abbey Inn, LaQuinta, and Lexington Hotel) will shuttle conference attendees from their hotels to the Dixie Center. The six conference hotels are as follows:

This downloadable (1MB pdf) map shows the locations of the conference hotels and the Dixie Center.

Best Western Abbey Inn
1129 South Bluff Street
St. George, UT 84770
www.bwabbeyinn.com

Located off I-15 (Exit 6) and only .81 mile from the Dixie Center. The Abbey Inn is a 100 percent non-smoking hotel. Hotel offers a complimentary full hot breakfast buffet, free high speed internet, business center, guest laundry and free airport transportation. All hotel rooms offer microwaves, refrigerators, coffeemakers, and hairdryers.

To make reservation call 888-222-3946 or 435-652-1234 and indicate you are attending the Mormon History Association Conference. Rate is only guaranteed until April 24, 2011.

Clarion Suites (formerly Comfort Suites)
1239 South Main
St. George, UT 84770
www.stgeorgecomfortsuites.com

Located directly off I-15 (Exit 6) and only .6 miles (2 blocks) from the Dixie Center. The Comfort Suites is a 100 percent non-smoking hotel. Hotel offers a complimentary hot breakfast, free high speed Internet access throughout hotel, a business center and guest laundry. All rooms have microwaves, refrigerators, coffeemakers, and hairdryers.

To make reservations call 800-245-8602 or 435-673-7000 and indicate you are attending the Mormon History Association Conference. Rate is only guaranteed until April 24, 2011.

Fairfield Inn by Marriott
1660 South Convention Center Drive
St. George, UT 84770
www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sgufi-fairfieldinn-st-george/

Located off I-15 (Exit 6) and across the street (.22 miles) from the Dixie Center. The Fairfield Inn is a 100 percent non-smoking hotel. Hotel offers a complimentary hot breakfast, free high speed wireless internet access, and a business center. All rooms have microwaves, refrigerators, coffeemakers, and hairdryers.

To make reservations call 435-673-6066 or 888-236-2427 and indicate you are attending the Mormon History Association Conference. Rate is only guaranteed until April 24, 2011.

Hilton Garden Inn (FULL – No MHA Rooms Available)
1731 South Convention Center Drive
St. George, UT 84790
www.stgeorge.hgi.com

Located off I-15 (Exit 6) and is adjacent to the Dixie Center. The hotel offers an on-site restaurant (American Grill) and private lounge (The Office), high-speed internet access, business center, and free airport shuttle. All rooms have microwaves, refrigerators, coffeemakers, and hairdryers. The Hilton Garden Inn is also offering suites at $135 a night.

To make reservations call 1-877-STAY-HGI or 1-435-634-4100 and indicate you are attending the Mormon History Association Conference or go online www.stgeorge.hgi.com. To book on-line you must enter the dates you want booked, then room type (i.e., non-smoking King), double check the dates you want, under Special Accounts section enter our designated Group Code MHEC in the box for Group/Convention Code. Rate is only guaranteed until May 2, 2011.

LaQuinta Inn & Suites
91 East 2680 South
St. George, UT 84790
www.laqstgeorge.com

Off I-15 (Exit 4) and 2.95 miles from the Dixie Center. Hotel offers complimentary hot breakfast buffet, business center, free high-speed internet (wired and wireless) and free airport shuttle. The LaQuinta Inn is a 100 percent non-smoking hotel. All rooms offer microwaves, refrigerators, coffeemakers, and hairdryers.

To make reservation call 888-788-2457 or 435-674-2664 and indicate you are attending the Mormon History Association Conference. Rate is only guaranteed until April 24, 2011.

Lexington Hotel and Conference Center (formerly Holiday Inn)
850 South Bluff Street
St. George, UT 84770
www.histgeorgeutah.com

Off I-15 (Exit 6) and only 1.23 miles from the Dixie Center. Hotel offers free wireless internet access, business center, on-site restaurant (Orchids), and free airport transportation. All rooms offer microwaves, refrigerators, coffeemakers, and hairdryers. Hotel offers free wireless internet access, business center, free deluxe breakfast,  on-site restaurant (Orchids),  and free airport transportation.

To make reservation call 800-457-9800 or 435-628-4238 and indicate you are attending the Mormon History Association Conference. Rate is only guaranteed until April 24, 2011.

ADVERTISING AND EXHIBITING INFORMATION

Potential exhibitors and advertisers should contact Pat Scott at the MHA Office (801-521-6565) for exhibit space at the 2011 MHA Conference in St. George and/or advertising space in the 2011 Preliminary and Final Programs. Download the registration form, complete, and return. To be included in the preliminary program this form and actual ads must be received no later than February 4th.

This is a full-day bus tour of Mormon settlements, historic trails, and sites in southern Nevada led by Michael Landon, an archivist at the LDS Church History Library. This tour highlights significant locations along the Spanish Trail, the Warm Springs campsite of the 1849 Mormon gold missionaries, and the Mormon communities along the “Mormon Corridor.” In Las Vegas, attendees will visit the Old Mormon Fort, now a Nevada State Park as well as the Clark County Heritage Museum in Henderson. Tour registration includes bus transportation, a box lunch, all entrance fees, and gratuities. Since weather can be warm in southern Nevada in May, attendees are encouraged to bring a hat and dark glasses. Tour is limited to one bus. Tour departs from the Dixie Center.

Cost: $70 Before May 1, 2011

Tour 2: “Historic St. George LIVE
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (repeated)

This two-hour bus tour begins at the Pioneer Center for the Arts. Through the skill of reenactors, Jacob Hamblin will welcome visitors at the original adobe house in the courtyard. Entering the Pioneer Opera House, visitors will meet Orson Pratt who has the odometer he designed on the 1847 trek to the Salt Lake Valley and is eager to describe his role in founding St. George. A bus will take the group to the St. George Tabernacle to join Erastus Snow, then to the Old Courthouse, where a trial is in progress with John Menzies Macfarlane presiding. The last stop is Brigham Young’s Home to meet with St. George’s most famous resident and tour his home. Preregistration is required. Tour costs include bus transportation, guide fees, and gratuities.

Cost: $20 Until May 1, 2011

Tour 3: “Tour of Art Galleries”
1:00 – 1:30 p.m.
3:00 – 3:30 p.m. (repeated)

This walking tour begins at the St. George Art Museum at the Pioneer Center for the Arts. Tour participants will have a half-hour guided tour of the Museum and then will stroll down Main Street for two blocks, visiting six art galleries in various historic buildings. The tour ends at the St. George Tabernacle and Town Square. Preregistration is not required. While there is a $3 entrance fee to the Museum, the tour is free.

POST CONFERENCE TOURS

Tour 1: “‘We Call It ‘Canyon Country’: History and Scenery of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona”
May 29-31, 2011

Departs: Sunday, St. George Tabernacle 10:00 a.m.
Returns: Tuesday, 4:30 p.m.

This three-day, two-night bus tour has it all: geology and scenery at the Grand Canyon and Zion national parks, plus three diverse national monuments, a variety of cultural history, and nineteenth-and-twentieth century Mormon history sites. In three days and only 450 miles, attendees will visit Pipe Spring National Monument (with its mixed Paiute and Mormon history), the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, House Rock Valley (that borders the Vermillion Cliffs), Lee’s Ferry, and Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell, Page, AZ, Kanab, UT, Maynard Dixon’s Mt. Carmel home, Zion National Park, and various pioneer communities, each with a unique history. The tour will travel along the Honeymoon Trail, see film locations made famous by movies from the 1920s to the present, and observe the wildlife that has made the Kaibab Forest famous.

The tour will be led by historians Todd Compton, John Petersen, and Janet Seegmiller. Tour registration includes bus transportation, all meals, entrance fees, two nights lodging in Kanab, all guide fees, and gratuities. Tour is limited to one bus.

Cost: Shared Room $340 Single Room $415 Until May 1, 2011

Tour 2: “The Incredible Passage: The Hole-in-the- Rock Expedition and More”
May 29-30, 2011

Departs: Sunday, St. George Tabernacle, 10:00 a.m.
Returns: Monday, 5:00 p.m.

This two-day, one-night tour will spotlight the remarkable 1879-80 Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition to settle what is now Bluff, Utah. This rugged trek has been called one of the most difficult colonization efforts in the United States. Attendees will visit Parowan’s Rock Church (the mission’s departure point), Panguitch, Bryce Canyon, Escalante; hear the tales of those remarkable pioneers; travel the amazing “All American Highway” (Highway 12) to Boulder (one of the most remote areas in the continental U.S.) and visit the Anasazi State Park, and return through Salina and Richfield with a visit to Cove Fort. While restrictions prevent traversing the trail south of Escalante, attendees will clearly hear the stories from historian Jerry Roundy and see the rugged countryside. Tour guide Karin Barker of the Glen Cannon Natural History Association will share her knowledge of the area’s archaeology, geology, and local history. Tour registration includes bus transportation, all meals, entrance fees, one night lodging in Escalante, all guide fees, and gratuities. Tour is limited to one bus.

Cost: Shared Room $220 Single Room $260 Until May 1, 2011