Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Historical Department

The Church History Department (CHD) manages the historical and publishing activities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). This includes the Church History Museum, Church Historian’s Press, and various research and collection projects. Kyle S. McKay, an LDS general authority seventy, is the current Church Historian and Recorder. The position of CHR is based on revelations Joseph Smith said he received, which are included in the Doctrine and Covenants, calling for keeping records and preparing a church history. Oliver Cowdery, the first in this position, originally recorded meeting minutes, patriarchal blessings, membership information, priesthood ordinations, and a narrative church history. For a time, the callings of Church Historian and Church Recorder were separate, but in 1842 these callings were merged and now the Church Historian also acts as the Church Recorder. In 1972, the Church Historian's Office was renamed as the Historical Department. In 2000, this department was merged with the Family History Department to become the Family and Church History Department. On March 12, 2008, the Church Historian separated again from the Family History Department to become the CHD. A new Church History Library (CHL) was constructed in 2009 and it holds a collection that includes 600,000 photos, 270,000 books, pamphlets, magazines and newspapers, 240,000 collections of original, unpublished records, journals, diaries, correspondence and minutes, 23,000 audio-visual items, 4,000 oral histories and millions of digitized pages