The second annual Juanita Brooks Utah History Conference honors Juanita Brooks’ legacy and highlights how her historical contributions continue to shape scholarship in the present. 

Juanita Brooks is one of southern Utah’s most well-known cultural and academic contributors. From 1925-1933, Juanita taught English and served as the Dean of Women at Dixie College, her alma mater. After early retirement, she published one of the most important works of Mormon history, The Mountain Meadows Massacre (University of Oklahoma Press), which contextualized and unearthed new first-person accounts of the 1857 tragedy. The book had far-reaching effects on Mormon history but also led to significant changes to research on Utah history, the history of violence and colonialism, and how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints approaches telling its history. 

Brooks’ life and scholarship exemplify the importance of studying local and family histories and demonstrate how scholarship can transform communities for the better.