On Saturday, Dec. 2, the organization Utah-California Women will present to Susan Easton Black, a Brigham Young University professor, its annual Heritage Award, bestowed each year upon an outstanding woman who has demonstrated a significant contribution to the community, the arts, friends, family or church.
Many descriptives fit Black: scholar, writer, editor, teacher, wife, mother and more."There's something about a university," Black said in a telephone interview from Provo. "When you are a university scholar you have a lot of interests." In her case, divergent interests have resulted in an undergraduate degree in political science, a master's in counseling and a doctoral degree in educational psychology.
Early on, Black said, she envisioned herself becoming an adviser to a congressman long before the time women generally attained that objective. However, "your goals and interests expand and take you in new directions," she said, noting that she then thought she would like to be a high school counselor helping young people. "But what I really love and find special is teaching and writing about Joseph Smith," she said.
Black has written, edited or "put together" more than 70 books. Her love of LDS Church history resulted in the 48,000-page "Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - 1830-1848," which ran to 50 volumes. She also completed a six-volume work about the early members of the Reorganized LDS Church. She also wrote "Finding Christ Through the Book of Mormon." Black co-edited with Larry Porter "Lion of the Lord," a collection of essays about Brigham Young that will be published for the Jan. 4, 1996, Utah centennial. In February 1996, Black's "Why We Believe: Personal Expressions of Faith from Latter-day Saint Scholars" will be published. She edited this book of experiences of LDS scholars, from Hugh Nibley to Tru-man Madsen, to show how their scholarship has helped their faith.
Black said she loves to read and write. But she has also been honored for her teaching. Black began teaching at BYU in 1978 and was named a fellow by the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute and awarded the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Teaching Award.
Said Black, "I have loved being a teacher. Sometimes you stand in front of the class and wonder, `Is anyone getting this?' Receiving the Maeser Award was a real treat, a total highlight."
Black continues to be the only woman to teach church history/doctrine at BYU. "The men I've worked with have always treated me as a friend and a colleague. I've always appreciated them," she said. Black also has served on the board of directors of the women's chapter of the Provo Chamber of Commerce.
There is another facet to the writing and teaching of this professor. "I can hardly name a week that I don't give a talk somewhere, whether for Education Week, `Know Your Religion' programs or firesides. The BYU motto is `Enter to learn, go forth to serve.' How can we serve if we all stay on the Wasatch Front? I may not go to the world, but I can take my faith and scholarship at least within the United States," she said.
Black is married to retired psychology professor Harvey Black; they are the parents of eight children. With psychology as one of her interests, she says being married to a psychologist has its advantages. She said, "At least we can say to each other, `How do you feel about what you just said?' "
The Utah-California Women award luncheon, "The Sights and Sounds of Christmas," will be held at the Little America Hotel, with lunch beginning at 2 p.m. and entertainment by the Cadillacs and pianist Bob Bailey. The organization's traditional holiday boutique will also be held Dec. 2 and will be open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets for the event are $22, and all proceeds will benefit the Utah-California Women's philanthropy, the Utah Special Olympics. For reservations contact Shauna Ogden, 1125 N. 1575 West, Provo, UT 84602, (801) 373-2070.