Independent Historian

Russell Stevenson is author of For the Cause of Righteousness: A Global History of Blacks and Mormonism, winner of the 2015 Mormon History Association Best Book Award. He has published on topics on race and sexuality in Mormonism in Journal of Mormon History and Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought.

Raphael Abraham Frank Mensah (1924-1990s)

Raphael Abraham Frank Mensah (1924-1990s), a schoolmaster and theologian, played a foundational role in bringing Mormonism to Ghana. Born in 1924 in Winneba, Gold Coast, as the British colony of Ghana was then called, he was the eldest of five children, three sons and two … Read MoreRaphael Abraham Frank Mensah (1924-1990s)

Joseph William “Billy” Johnson (1934–2012)

Joseph William “Billy” Johnson, an import officer for the state metal industries of Ghana, played a foundational role in establishing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in that African nation in the 1960s. Johnson was born on December 17, 1934, in Lagos, Nigeria. … Read MoreJoseph William “Billy” Johnson (1934–2012)