The Fred E. Curtis Papers: LDS Church Surveillance of Fundamentalist Mormons, 1937-1954 Fred E. Curtis (1900-1967), an LDS bishop in the Hawthorne Ward, Granite Stake, was given a special assignment by the First Presidency in the 1930’s to observe 20th-century Mormon holdouts in his vicinity who continued to believe in, preach and/or practice plural marriage. Among his duties, he recorded license plate numbers and provided lists of Church members under suspicion to the First Presidency and the Presiding Bishopric. Curtis also coordinated with the Salt Lake City police department. Somehow, Bishop Curtis’s records eventually became a part of the Utah Attorney General’s Polygamy Investigation Files. This paper presents a summary of the content of the Fred E. Curtis papers and provides some comparisons from contemporary Fundamentalist Mormon sources.

Marianne Watson, D. Michael Quinn