Latter-day Saint Perspectives

On this episode of the LDS Perspectives Podcast, Russell Stevenson interviews Elizabeth Kuehn, a Joseph Smith Papers historian and documentary editor, about one of the lasting blemishes on the Mormon Kirtland experience – the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society Bank. Most agree that the Panic of 1837 was the proximate cause of the failure of the bank, but many have long speculated about Joseph Smith’s culpability in the episode and how the practical fallout from the collapse led to the falling away of some of Joseph’s closest associates. When we talk about bank panics, it is natural to visualize It’s a Wonderful Life. George Bailey has a savings and loan company and all these people run into the bank, and they want to withdraw their money. He says, “Well, you know, your money’s in this person’s home, and your money’s in that person’s home.” But this is not at all like it was within Kirtland. The Kirtland Safety Society was not a deposit bank, so it doesn’t have that It’s a Wonderful Life connection. It’