Archives West Finding Aid

Lowell Lindsay Bennion (1908-1996) was a well known LDS scholar and humanitarian. He was born in Salt Lake City to Milton Bennion and Cora Lindsay Bennion. He attended the University of Utah and graduated in 1928. That same year he married Merle Colton and soon after was called on a mission to Germany, one of the last young LDS missionaries to be called while married. He continued to study in Germany after his mission ended and was heavily influenced by the ideas of Max Weber. When Bennion returned to the United States in 1934, he became the first director of the brand-new LDS Institute of Religion at the University of Utah. He influenced a whole generation of LDS college students in Salt Lake City. In the 1960s however, he clashed with LDS Church authorities over the issue of African-Americans being denied the priesthood. He was fired from his position in 1962. Although hurt deeply, he refused to say anything bitter and encouraged his students to not protest his release. Bennion was quickly hired as Assistant Dean of Students at the University of Utah and as a Professor of Sociology. He continued to work at the university until 1972 when he became Executive Director of the Salt Lake Area Community Services Council. During his eighteen years with Community Services, he helped establish the Utah Food Bank and helped get volunteers directly involved in helping individuals. In 1986, the University of Utah established the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center in his honor. The center promotes student humanitarian service to those in the community. Bennion continued to work and volunteer until a few years before his death in Salt Lake City in 1996.