| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 110.3

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the AHR online. About 330 words from this article are provided below; about 662 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the American Historical Association, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time. AHA members can go to the AHA individual membership section to locate their member numbers.
If you are not a member of the American Historical Association, you can:: • Join the AHA and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the American Historical Review.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the American Historical Review (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the American Historical Review.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 110.3 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Ethan R. Yorgason. Transformation of the Mormon Culture Region. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. 2003. Pp. xii, 261. $32.50.
It is well known that Mormonism changed in highly significant ways between 1880 and 1920, but Ethan R. Yorgason adds the special insight of a cultural geographer to understanding this transformation as he focuses on changing perspectives among both Mormons and non-Mormons in the "Mormon culture region." Nineteenth-century non-Mormons were bent on "Americanizing" Mormons by forcing them to get rid of polygamy, church domination of political life, and their brand of communitarianism. The Mormons' defense of these things exacerbated intraregional strain, but by 1920 they had abandoned polygamy, aligned themselves with national political parties, were no longer dominated politically by the church, and fully embraced American capitalism. As a result, the relationship between Mormons and non-Mormons was entirely different. In broad outline this is no surprise to students of Mormon history, but what is new is Yorgason's fresh interpretation of the underlying nature of the changes.	1
After a fine analysis of the nature of regions and their social significance in America, Yorgason discusses four major themes involved in the transformation of the Mormon cultural region: gender, the move from communitarianism to capitalism, perceptions of Mormon relationships to America and its history, and the family. In doing so, he does not hide his personal biases in favor of feminism, egalitarianism, and current liberal politics.	2
Yorgason shows that Mormon women were more independent and had more "cultural authority" in 1880 than they did in 1920. They were also part of the larger feminist movement, especially in the quest for suffrage. By 1920, however, they had stopped trying to reform gender roles further. Content with their achievements and with their roles in the still strongly patriarchal, monogamous American society, they were unprepared, Yorgason argues, to take the next step with American feminism that involved criticism of that society.	. . .

There are about 662 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.