Family history researchers can thank President Howard W. Hunter for improvements and advances in the LDS Church's family history program during the eight years he headed the Genealogical Society as an apostle.
Two of the most significant were the move toward computerization and the work toward completing the huge storage vault for microfilms.By the early 1960s, computers were being developed for business, industry, education and other major institutions.
In April 1964, three months after his call as president of the Genealogical Society, then-Elder Hunter signed up for a weeklong computer seminar in San Jose, Calif.
When discussions and proposals on computers came up as the society began converting its records to electronic retrieval systems, then-Elder Hunter was prepared to speak knowledgeably.
The move to computerization also led to the introduction of the name-extraction program that provides a ready supply of names for temple ordinances.
President Hunter set an example by doing research on his family lines. And after he became pro-phet, among his main points of emphasis were temples and temple work.
When President Hunter became president of the society, work was also well under way on the Granite Mountain Record Vault, excavated deep in a mountainside in Little Cottonwood Canyon southeast of Salt Lake City. It was also the location where the Saints quarried the granite to build the Salt Lake Temple nearly a century before.
In June 1966, the Granite Mountain facility was dedicated, with President Hunter conducting the services.
As a result of studies and discussions, some significant and far-reaching changes were made in the church's family history operations and submissions for temple ordinances.
Among the changes, some of which have been modified further, were:
- The order in which vicarious temple ordinances were to be performed became more flexible. The emphasis was placed on having the work done more than the order of the ordinances.
- One temple recommend became good for any of the church's temples. In the past, members needed recommends for each temple.
- Forms for submitting names for temple ordinances were simplified.
- Temple ordinances could be performed for individuals after they had been dead a year without inquiring into these individuals' worthiness.
- The Pedigree Referral Service was developed to bring together individuals working on the same surnames in the same locales.
- The Genealogical Society's research division no longer did research for patrons. Rather, recommendations were made to family groups from a list of private, accredited researchers.
- The library was converted to open stacks, greatly speeding the process of finding and obtaining books and later microfilm.
- Branch libraries were established at dozens of sites, mostly stake centers, outside Salt Lake City. These became the forerunners of today's stake family history centers.
- The library and offices were moved to temporary quarters in downtown Salt Lake City - the southeast corner of 100 South and Main - when the old genealogy building was demolished to make way for the present Church Office Building.
In late 1972, when the new church-office skyscraper was ready for occupancy, the society moved into the west wing. The society moved into its present quarters on West Temple in late 1985.
- Special classes, seminars and publications were developed to teach research techniques. From 1966 through 1977, an annual genealogical conference, the Priesthood Genealogical Seminar, was held at Brigham Young University.
These and other changes altered dramatically the way the Genealogical Society operated and the services it was able to provide to LDS and non-LDS researchers alike.
Other highlights included Salt Lake City's hosting of the World Conference on Records in August 1969, a conference that opened doors for the church for access to records, and then-Elder Hunter's attendance at the International Congress on Archives in Moscow and the 10th International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences in Vienna.
On Nov. 13, 1994, President Hunter was honored in a special program at the Salt Lake Tabernacle commemorating the 100th anni-versary of the Genealogical Society of Utah.
"The names of Howard W. Hunter and family history are almost synonymous," said President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency who conducted the service.
Recalling President Hunter's supervision of the first World Conference on Records in 1969, President Monson said researchers and historians from throughout the world were brought together and made to feel at home as guests of the church.
"I know of no other person who could have met this challenge so successfully as did Howard W. Hunter," President Monson said.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Stakes created since Dec. 11, 1994*
*2,000th stake created
Dec. 18:
Whangarei New Zealand
Taichung Taiwan
Chiguayante Chile
Juliaca Peru
Moquegua Peru
Angol Chile
Tucuman Argentina
Jan. 8
Santo Domingo Dominican
Republic North
Jan. 15
Piracicaba Brazil
Guatemala City Guatemala Palmita
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Vina Del Mar Chile Agua Santa
Vina Del Mar Chile Forestal
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Valparaiso Chile Playa Ancha