Collective Consolidation Begins

Abstract

The process of collective memory consolidation is effortful and slow and can involve a great deal of contest and negotiation. The memories that make it through this process are incredibly durable. Orson Pratt was the foremost relater in the process of consolidating a collective Mormon memory of Joseph Smith’s first vision. Like Joseph Smith and everyone else, Pratt inescapably remembered in a sociocultural context that shaped what could consolidate.