Winter Quarters Visitors Center
February 1, 2025
By: Marian North
I visited the Winter Quarters Visitor Center many years ago. At the time, the exhibits filled me with wonder as I considered the amazing stories of hardship, tragedy, and triumph over adversity of the Mormon pioneers. Many of the stories I heard were familiar to me, others were brand new. Each one was poignant and awe inspiring.
This time, my visit to the visitor center was different. As I participated in the Untold Stories of the Black Pioneers, I still felt awe and the tug of tragedy and triumph over adversity, but it came from a different perspective. It felt as though, from the shadows of the background, figures from the past moved forward, stepping out in front to tell their stories. The familiar pioneer stories I had heard over the years and the visuals of the endured struggles were still there, but they were in the background, in a supporting role. It was a new dimension; a new look at something I hadn’t seen before, but was there all the time.
It started the moment I heard the choir sing Child of God and Sam Luther singing Hold On. The soulful passion of the music and the conviction of the words…. that we know who we are…. touched my soul. This is a new sound to the visitor center….one that has been kept in the background with some of our unseen brothers and sisters, now ready to be shared and appreciated. It was stirring and beautiful.
Then when LaSonya Luther, the creator of the event, walked in, clothed in pioneer dress with a head scarf, a world of understanding opened up to me as I realized a part of the history of the Camp of Israel has not been seen. That is when the figures from the shadows began to emerge. With each station a story was shared in a way that was new to me, by those who were the best to tell it. It was a new and enriched perspective.
Attending the Untold Stories of the Black Pioneers has caused me to reflect again on a blessing of understanding I received last year:
We are all children of the same Heavenly Parents. My brothers and sisters that appear different than me, (whether it be color of skin, what we wear or what we sing) have a piece of God’s beauty and divinity that I don’t have. If I ever hope to become more like my Savior and my Heavenly Parents, I need them. I need to learn from all of them.
This experience has brought me closer to that very thing. Thank you to LaSonya and those who participated for such a blessed event.
Choir songs:
“Together” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEv0alPRA0
“Child of God” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwkEI6HP2ck
Black Lives Bless 