Parley Pratt Lecture given by Matthew Grow

Park City Museum is hosting a Zoom lecture called Stranger Than Fiction: The Adventurous Life of Parley P. Pratt, who is the namesake of Parley’s Park City, given by Matthew Grow on May 19^th from 5-6 p.m. Please register at https://parkcityhistory.org/event/parley-pratt-lecture-given-by-matthew-grow/.

After Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt was the most influential figure in early Latter-day Saint history and culture. Missionary, pamphleteer, theologian, explorer, and apostle, Pratt described his eventful and adventurous life as “stranger than fiction!” This presentation will give an overview of Pratt’s life, including his connections with the area that became known as “Parley’s Park City,” and then as just Park City. Pratt’s “Golden Pass” toll road from Salt Lake City to contemporary Summit County not only forged the route of today’s I-80, but also gave the canyon its enduring name of “Parley’s Canyon.”

Matthew J. Grow is Managing Director of the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In that capacity, he leads a team of history professionals who collect documents and artifacts, preserve them, and promote understanding of the Church’s past through a publishing program, a research library, a museum, and many historic sites. Grow also serves as a general editor of the Joseph Smith Papers and Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days. His biography, Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism, co-written with Terryl Givens, was awarded the Best Book Award from the Mormon History Association. Grow received his PhD in American history from the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife Alyssa live with their four children in Sandy, Utah.

If you have any questions, please contact Diane Knispel at education@parkcityhistory.org.

Register for this lecture