Tech Forum

Does anyone know where I can find conference reports online for pre-1942 conferences? Lds.org has them starting in 1974 and scriptures.byu.edu has them starting in 1942. I'd like to have access to the reports starting with the first conference (1851?).

kjsalty wrote:Does anyone know where I can find conference reports online for pre-1942 conferences? Lds.org has them starting in 1974 and scriptures.byu.edu has them starting in 1942. I'd like to have access to the reports starting with the first conference (1851?).

I forget how far back GospeLink went. It is a commercial program, but someone may still have it and be able to tell you. I think it went back a little farther than 1942, but not much, so it may not be worth the effort.

I am not aware that anything has been digitized earlier than that.

lajackson wrote:I forget how far back GospeLink went. It is a commercial program, but someone may still have it and be able to tell you. I think it went back a little farther than 1942, but not much, so it may not be worth the effort.

GospeLink goes back to October 1897. See here.

Years ago a company known as Hawkes Publishing republished the complete set, one volume would have two reports in it from the same year, and they started with April 1880 when the first one was printed. They did not print another one until 1897, and Conference Reports books were printed first by Deseret News Press then the Church beginning in the 70s until they were discontinued in 2009. The Ensign serves the same purpose and the magazines have printed them for many years before the Ensign was started the way we know it now.

The Hawkes reprints were red with silver embossing, although the first few years in the reprint series were printed with silver ink. The bulk of what was sold was 1898-1926, although as noted they printed the 1880 and 1897 books for a short time. And also 1927-1936. No reprints were ever made of the reports after that. The lds.org site goes back to 1971 for the Ensign, although right now generalconference.lds.org goes back to 1974 only right now

Joseph F. Smith gave a talk in 1916, I believe in April that was referred to by Truman Madson in his lecture on the presidents of the church. It is about those that have gone on before us.

All of the Conference Reports, April 1880, then from October 1897 to the last issue in October 2011, have been digitized by the Church and put online at Archive.org. It's a little hard to navigate the collection directly on Archive.org to find a specific conference – if it's helpful, you can find them organized by date here:
http://scripturetools.net/periodicals/conference-report?lang=eng

you can also find them in a folio db if you remember how to get those going.....

http://www.ldsinfobase.net/lds_stuff.html

On my iPad I go to safari and type in Conference reports free texts free downloads and tap on the website that comes up. Then tap date published and scroll down several times there is jubilee 1880 then 1898 and up to 1942 and then some