Journal of Book of Mormon Studies Volume 13 Number 1 Article 7 7-31-2004 The Hill Cumorah Pageant: A Historical Perspective Gerald S. Argetsinger Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Argetsinger, Gerald S. (2004) "The Hill Cumorah Pageant: A Historical Perspective," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Vol. 13 : No. 1 , Article 7. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol13/iss1/7 This Feature Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Title The Hill Cumorah Pageant: A Historical Perspective Author(s) Gerald S. Argetsinger Reference Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 13/1–2 (2004): 58–69, 171. ISSN 1065-9366 (print), 2168-3158 (online) Abstract Almost every summer since 1935, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has staged a pageant at the Hill Cumorah. This article starts with the history of the pageant from its beginnings in the 1920s as a Cumorah Conference of the Eastern States Mission convened by mission president B. H. Roberts and held at the Smith Family Farm. Details about the pageant’s move to the Hill Cumorah as well as scripts, directors, music, costumes, props, set design, lighting, and cho- reography are included. The author concludes with the details of retiring the original script after 50 years of use and of the challenges of producing and revital- izing the new pageant while maintaining its purpose as a missionary tool. Mission president B. H. Roberts addresses a group of missionaries on the Hill Cumorah during a “Cumorah Conference” of the Eastern States Mission in the 1920s. Courtesy of Palmyra Bean Packer. the hill cumorah pageant: gerald s. argetsinger Smith Family Farm to celebrate Pioneer Day. Part of that celebration included the acting out of scenes from the Book of Mormon and church history. Almost every summer since 1935, the Church Over the next decade, the Cumorah Conference of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has staged a expanded to a three- or four-day event and included pageant at the Hill Cumorah. Missionaries origi- missionaries serving in both the eastern states and nally presented these as part of the “Cumorah Canada. The program expanded to include ser- Conference” of the Eastern States Mission, which mons, athletic events, a Hill Cumorah pilgrimage, was convened annually to coincide with the July and a variety of entertainment programs to which 24th Pioneer Day celebration marking the day when the public was invited. On September 21, 1923, epi- Brigham Young first entered the Salt Lake Valley in sodes from the life of Joseph Smith were acted out 1847. The tradition of the Cumorah Conference was at the Smith Family Farm, the Sacred Grove, and begun in the early 1920s when the mission presi- the Hill Cumorah, marking the centennial of Joseph dent, B. H. Roberts, and a group of missionaries Smith’s first visit by the angel Moroni. Permission traveled from New York City to the newly acquired to use the hill was granted by its owner, Pliny T. 58 VOLUME 13, NUMBER 1–2, 2004 A scene from the present-day Hill Cumorah Pageant: Lehi and his family sail to the promised land. All photos in this article courtesy of the author unless otherwise noted. a historical perspective Sexton. “Footprints in the Sands of Time,” a play by first time, trumpeters played from the crest of the John W. Stonely that celebrated the restoration of hill, a tradition that still marks the commencement the gospel, was presented at the Smith Family Farm, of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. The theme for the honoring the centennial of the church in 1930, to 1936 conference was “America’s Witness for Christ,” an audience of 200. As part of the annual Palmyra and the conference featured a historical pageant, celebration at the Smith Farm, the final pageant was “Truth from the Earth,” adapted by Oliver R. Smith presented on July 23, 1934, by a cast of 30. and Meryl Dunn from the works of O. V. Whit- The church acquired the Hill Cumorah in the ney and C. W. Dunn. Mission president Donald B. early 1930s, and in July 1935 the Palmyra confer- Colton announced plans to make a pageant at the ence events were moved to the hill. That summer, Hill Cumorah an annual event. Even though there as part of the dedicatory exercises of the Angel Mo- was no specific script, the intent was to present a roni Monument, “The Book of Mormon in Song, pageant of quality that would quickly gain recogni- Picture, and Story” was presented, featuring vocal tion as “America’s Oberammergau.”¹ selections by such eminent soloists as Margaret Ro- The next year was the pivotal year in the de- maine, formerly of the Metropolitan Opera. For the velopment of the pageant as we know it. President JOURNAL OF BOOK OF MORMON STUDIES 59 Colton appointed a “New York Committee” com- programs are vague. Second is the fact that over posed of H. Wayne Driggs, Roscoe A. Grover, Ira time, the name Harold I. Hansen came to be synon- J. and Beatrice Markham, William L. Woolf, and ymous with the Hill Cumorah Pageant, dwarfing all Oliver R. Smith. They were responsible for develop- others who contributed. His involvement has taken ing an appropriate script for presentation at the hill. an almost mythical stature. The situation is best Until then all programs had depicted scenes from characterized by the description of the American both the Book of Mormon and church history. In Revolution’s history in the musical 1776 (Peter Stone 1937 the two themes were separated and two out- and Sherman Edwards, 1964): door dramas were presented. “The Builders,” by Oliver R. Smith, about the Mormon handcart pio- John Adams: . I mean, what will people neers, was performed on Saturday, July 24. A Book think? of Mormon play taking its title from the previous Ben Franklin: Don’t worry, John. The history year’s theme, “America’s Witness for Christ,” by books will clean it up. H. Wayne Driggs, an English professor at New York John Adams: It doesn’t matter. I won’t appear in University, was performed on Friday, the 23rd, and the history books, anyway—only you. Franklin again on Sunday, the 25th. This script, with oc- did this, Franklin did that. Franklin casional modifications, became known as the Hill smote the ground, and out sprang George Cumorah Pageant and was presented annually, Washington, fully grown and on his horse. excluding the war years, for 50 years, from 1937 to Franklin then electrified him with his miracu- 1987. Its purpose was to depict the Book of Mormon lous lightning rod, and the three of them— as the fulfillment of Bible prophecy and as a testi- Franklin, Washington, and the horse—con- mony of Christ’s divinity. The dramatic structure ducted the entire Revolution all by themselves. was chronological, generally following the tradition of the American community pageant, which was To the admiration of many and the chagrin of oth- to depict independent scenes related to a theme. ers, Harold I. Hansen seemingly conducted the en- That first year, it included six episodes from the tire Hill Cumorah Pageant by himself. Book of Mormon: “The Prophet Abinadi,” “Alma the Younger,” “The Sons of Mosiah,” “Samuel the Lamanite,” “Signs at the Crucifixion of Christ,” and The Wood and Hansen Years “Christ’s Appearance to the Nephites.” As missionaries grappled with staging the first In April 1939, J. Karl Wood was interviewed production of “America’s Witness for Christ,” a new by David O. McKay, then second counselor to missionary with theatrical experience easily solved President Heber J. Grant, and called to direct the some staging problems. His name was Harold I. pageant, the first time a theater professional was Hansen, and he was quickly named a codirector brought in from outside the mission to oversee the of the pageant, working with Joseph W. Williams production. Wood was the director of the Logan under the supervision of Oliver R. Smith. There is (Utah) Pageant Society and, according to his fam- some confusion regarding the responsibilities of ily, was interviewed by President McKay specifically persons working on the pageant prior to World War about “directing” the pageant. Wood’s call was ex- II. Interviews conducted by pageant researchers tended by a letter from Stephen L Richards, which Charles W. Whitman (1967) and Randy V. Hansen adds to the confusion, stating only that Wood was (1978) verify that involved individuals have ex- being called to “help out” with the pageant. Wood, tremely different recollections.² These differences who had known Hansen for years, invited him to reflect an early rent between the New York Com- return after his mission, and the two worked to- mittee and the Utah production personnel that con- gether, dividing producing, technical, and direct- tinued for decades. These differing opinions seem ing responsibilities through 1941, the final year of to stem from two primary concerns. First, during production before the pageant was suspended for the early years of the pageant, participants ignored the duration of World War II. The predominant precise theater terminology. Therefore, published perception is that Hansen served as the artistic credits in advertising, newspaper, and even pageant director and that Wood served as the technical 60 VOLUME 13, NUMBER 1–2, 2004 King Mosiah, Alma, Ammon and King Lamoni, General Moroni and the title of liberty, and an exciting destruction scene that preceded Christ’s appearance at Bountiful.