This volume offers an important new perspective of LDS racial history through the lens of authoritative documents. 29 The seven chapters contain official and/or authoritative statements tracing the changing status of black people during the period 1830 (the date of the founding of the Mormon church) down to the present. The documents include statements from relevant LDS scriptural works produced by Mormon founder Joseph Smith and canonized as scripture on par with the Old and New Testaments--in particular, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. But the majority of documents are noncanonical statements given by Mormon leaders and/or church spokesmen, most of which were publically [sic] stated and/or circulated through official church publications and/or through the media.

Each of the seven chapters begins with a brief introduction outlining the historical context and unifying theme. Also included are extended contextual essays for each document, carefully explaining its meaning, importance, and influence. While no claim is made that one general authority speaks for the church on doctrinal matters, it is clear that certain general authorities exerted a stronger authoritative voice than others. The only documents bearing the imprimatur of the church are a handful of First Presidency statements on race made in the latter half of the twentieth century, along with two official statements in 2012 affirming the equality of all races, and one in 2013, where the church disavowed its earlier teachings undergirding the priesthood ban.31 Nevertheless, a sampling of the documents reveals certain patterns and themes in Mormon racial history, particularly the divine curse and other theological rationales for the ban.