[1] The position of CHR is based on revelations Joseph Smith said he received, which are included in the Doctrine and Covenants, calling for keeping records and preparing a church history.
Oliver Cowdery, the first in this position, originally recorded meeting minutes, patriarchal blessings, membership information, priesthood ordinations, and a narrative church history.
[4] A new Church History Library (CHL) was constructed in 2009 and it holds a collection that includes 600,000 photos, 270,000 books, pamphlets, magazines and newspapers, 240,000 collections of original, unpublished records, journals, diaries, correspondence and minutes, 23,000 audio-visual items, 4,000 oral histories and millions of digitized pages.
On April 10, 2019 LeGrand R. Curtis, Jr., who had been serving as an Assistant Executive Director of the CHD, was announced to replace Steven E. Snow as the CHR.
The Museum underwent a major renovation in 2015 and since its opening 30 year prior had welcomed more than 7.5 million visitors, hosted more than 100 different exhibits, and sponsored nine editions of the International Art Competition.