55 years ago today - May 11, 1967

Counselor Hugh B. Brown informed a church member in May 1967 that "numerous others" had complained about Benson's continued association with [Billy James] Hargis and the apostle's implied endorsement of his segregationist views. The First Presidency "are taking it to the Twelve as soon as Brother Benson returns from Europe as we prefer to have him present when the matter is discussed." Brown gave the reassurance that Benson's "activities in this connection will be curtained [curtailed]."

[Brown to Burns S. Hanson, 11 May 1967, carbon copy cross-referenced to "Hargis, Billy James," in "Hugh B. Brown File on the John Birch Society." From D. Michael Quinn, Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992), also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3.]

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