Edwin Brown Firmage, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Stan Larson, 30 August 2010

Transcript of seven interviews by Stan Larson with retired University of Utah Law Professor Ed Firmage in August through November 2010. Part of the University Oral History Project, Everett Cooley Collection tape numbers U-3039, U-3040, U-3041, U-3042, U-3066, U-3069 and U-3070

Mr. Firmage begins this series of interviews with a discussion of his family history and heritage. His grandfather started Firmage´s Department Store in Provo, Utah, which origins and organization he relates in detail. Firmage´s father also made his career in the store. Firmage discusses in depth his childhood, his roots and genealogy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), and his educational pursuits leading to and including the study of law.Throughout the interviews, Firmage discusses several controversial issues relating to the LDS Church, including polygamy; Church leadership; priesthood as it relates to blacks and women; succession of the Church president; ongoing animosities with Boyd K. Packer, a prominent LDS church leader; and his discussions with Church leadership regarding the Mountain Meadows Massacre.Through his scholarship and work in international, constitutional and human rights law, Firmage talks about his activist work representing the socially disenfranchised. He details his time spent working on Hubert Humphrey´s staff in Washington, DC, in the 1960´s; the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala in the 1980´s and 1990´s; as a Fulbright Professor in Russia; and on the reparation of families in Vietnam. He also explains his involvement in the MX Missile debate as part of his interest in nuclear weaponry and peaceful dispute resolution, and specifically his activities with the LDS Church in that work. He joined the faculty of the law school at the University of Utah, during which time he discusses his work and activities in defending First Amendment rights. Firmage talks about the development of two books he authored: Zion in the Courts: A Legal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and To Chain the Dog of War. Firmage concludes by discussing his "...personal, religious and spiritual journey and lessons learned..." over his lifetime. Interviewer: Stan Larson