Mormon History Association Oral History Interview with Kathryn M. Daynes on April 24, 2024

This oral history interview with Kathryn M. Daynes, conducted on April 24, 2024, highlights her extensive career as a historian, focusing on her specialized research in 19th-century Mormon polygamy and her contributions to family history and genealogy. Daynes recounts her academic journey, including her shift from English to history and her challenging 18-year pursuit of a Ph.D. from Indiana University while raising a child with special needs. She details her pioneering quantitative research on polygamy, which formed the basis of her award-winning book, More Wives Than One, and discusses her transition to teaching family history at BYU, where she also directed the Center for Family History and Genealogy. The interview further explores her involvement with the Mormon History Association, including her presidency, and her ongoing work on a new book about the prosecution of polygamists, emphasizing the importance of factual accuracy and understanding historical subjects from their own perspectives.