Ronald O. Barney and Marilyn S. Barney

Ronald O. and Marilyn S. Barney live in North Salt Lake, Utah. They have three children and eleven grandchildren. Ron was raised in Ogden, and Marilyn in Layton, Utah. Both attended Weber State University.

Ron obtained history degrees from Weber State and Utah State universities. Ron was employed from 1977 to 2011 as senior archivist and historian in the LDS Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah.

He was Associate Editor of the Joseph Smith Papers and executive producer of KJZZ and BYUTV’s “The Papers of Joseph Smith,” a weekly television documentary, 2007-2010.

He has written several articles and three books:

• One Side by Himself: The Life and Times of Lewis Barney, 1808-1894 (Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 2001). Winner of David W. and Beatrice C. Evans Biography Award and Mormon History Association Best Biography Award.
• The Mormon Vanguard Brigade of 1847: Norton Jacob’s Record (Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 2005). Winner of Utah State Historical Society Best Documentary Book Award.

• Mack Watkins: A Biography (Salt Lake City: Sheridan Books, 2010).

He has served on editorial boards of the Western Historical Quarterly, BYU Studies, and Journal of Mormon History.

Marilyn was owner and operator of her own window décor and catering business in northern Utah for thirty years. She also served as director of volunteer services for Utah State Social Services. Marilyn served as business manager of the Mormon History Association, 2010-2011, before becoming Executive Directors of MHA, with Ron, 2011-2014.