Claudia Bushman: Mormon historian

Claudia Lauper Bushman is a historian specializing in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which she is a member.

She was born in 1934 and grew up in San Francisco. She married Richard L. Bushman, who is also a historian. They are the parents of six children. She was New York State’s mother of the year in 2000.

Bushman earned her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College, her master’s in American literature from Brigham Young University, and her PhD in history from Boston University. She taught at the University of Delaware and became director of the Delaware Heritage Commission in 1984. She has taught American studies and women’s and religious history at Columbia University. From 2007 to 2008, she was an adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University where she led an oral history project and collected oral histories of hundreds of Mormon women. The collection was published in 2013 as ‘’Mormon Women Have Their Say: Essays from the Claremont Oral History Collection.’’

Bushman has published several books, including Mormons in America (with Richard Bushman), Building the Kingdom: A History of Mormons in America (with Richard Bushman), In Old Virginia: Slavery, Farming and Society in the Journal of John Walker, America Discovers Columbus: How an Italian Explorer Became an American Hero, Mormon Sisters: Women in Early Utah, and Contemporary Mormonism: Latter-day Saints in Modern America.

She was involved with the formation of Exponent II, a Mormon feminist magazine, and was editor for a number of years before she resigned.

Bushman has been involved with public relations and cultural activities in New York City. She produced the youth celebration held in connection with the dedication of the Manhattan New York Temple.

She is well known for her advocacy for the importance of women, not only in history, but also in the writing of history.

Bushman is a sister of Bonnie Goodliffe, one of the Salt Lake Tabernacle organists.