BIO

Loa Markarian is a history and theatre major from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Her research interests include medieval societies, religions, magic, and queer culture and history. They hope to continue working in research in the future.

Federal Investigation of Polygamous Mormons Under White Slavery Act

Abstract

With the hopes of describing the history and story of those engaging in polyamory as members of the FLDS, who have been marginalized by society, our research delves into FBI files from the 1930s to 1970s during the period of the White-Slave Traffic Act of 1910. We aim to uncover various findings of the FBI by decoding reports, letters, and numerous other primary sources. Concurrently, we annotate Excel documents with all of the information we find to construct a timeline tracing the evolution of the group. These FBI files give insight into why some of the individuals involved in the FLDS have been surveilled throughout history and simultaneously provide enlightenment of the contrasting beliefs of different members of this group. Early discoveries in these files consisted of the names and actions of individuals involved in these practices as well as revealing leaders in the group. In this presentation, our focus is on the images and newspapers procured from these files as well as any additional compelling information associated with the FLDS.

Keywords: religion, mormons, mormonism, polygamy