In March 2002, the Smith Institute hosted top Latter-day Saint historians at the "Telling the Story of Mormon History" symposium. This symposium was designed to explore the ways in which Mormon history is presented and the range of purposes it serves. Elder Bruce C. Hafen opened the conference with a keynote address explaining some of the challenges he faced when writing his biography of Elder Neal A. Maxwell, The Story of a Disciple's Life. Other speakers covered a range of topics: George Q. Cannon and Emmeline B. Wells as historians; historians' treatment of the history of Nauvoo, the matter of Mormon-Indian relations, and Church history beyond North America; postmodernist influences on history writing; new angles for viewing Mormon Trail history and for telling the history of a ward; and the types of records historians rely on.