Richard I. Kimball
Richard I. Kimball is the leading expert on Latter-day Saint recreational history. His book Sports in Zion: Mormon Recration 1890-1940 published by the University of Illinois press is the leading work on this subject.
Although sports and the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are clearly Kimball's chief specialties he has worked on a broaders array of subjects related to American sport history and Latter-day Saint social history.
Kimball is the son of James L. Kimball, Jr., who was for about 25 years an employee of the Church Archives and a leading figure in the study of Nauvoo history. Thus Richard Kimball is in turn the grandson of J. LeRoy Kimball, who was the first president of Nauvoo Restoration, Inc. and one of the leading figures in the establishment of Nauvoo as a major Mormon tourist destination. This also makes Kimball the 3rd great-grandson of Heber C. Kimball.
Kimball recieved his bachelors degree from BYU and his Ph.D. in history from Purdue University. He joined the BYU faculty in 1998 as an adjunct faculty member, but has since moved to a permanent position as a regular faculty member. He has been associated with BYU Studies and the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation.
Kimball produced a documentary and an article about the orchards of Utah Valley along with Gary Daynes. He is currently working on a work entiteld To the Athlete Dying Young specifically focused on a Chicago Cubs player who died young which has lead to him being invited to speak at gatherings in Chicago.
Kimball has published in such journals as the American Historical Review reviewing such works as books by other authors that deal with religion and sports.
