Biography
Allen is a native of Logan, Utah and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). In the late 1940s, he was a proselyting missionary in the California Mission under Oscar W. McConkie.
Allen served in his church throughout his life, including as a Bishop of a student ward at Brigham Young University (BYU) in the 1960s and a stake high councilor. In politics, he also served for a time as a District Republican committeeman.
Allen was a significant historian of Mormonism with a strong grasp of its controversies. When his colleague Davis Bitton asked in an article "How many historians who are deeply familiar with the sources on Mormon origins still find it possible to remain in the fold", Bitton listed Allen among the first names he gave of people who fit this description.
Allen lives in Orem, Utah and is married to the former Renée Jones. They have five children and twenty grandchildren. One of his daughters married the writer Orson Scott Card. Allen's younger brother, John H. Allen, was a Colonel in the United States Army Reserve, the commander over the Judge Advocate General units of the 96th Sustainment Brigade, and a Federal Bankruptcy Judge.
Read more about this topic: James B. Allen (historian)
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