[4] Durham married Faye Lenore Davis[4] and they began having children while he attended college in Logan.
[6] Historian Donald Q. Cannon considered Durham's dissertation part of the "major scholarly contribution to the study of Mormon history" that occurred during the 1960s.
[7] Durham began teaching for the Church Educational System (CES) in 1955 while attending school in Logan.
[4][8] After receiving his master's degree, he stayed in Logan and in 1958 became associate director of the LDS Church's Institute of Religion adjacent to Utah State University.
[16] In 1974 Durham took a year off as Institute Director to work on a book in the church's 16-volume sesquicentennial history to be published in 1980.
[18] While he was president, the MHA launched the Journal of Mormon History, whose inaugural issue received criticism from some CES personnel for an article by Jan Shipps about Joseph Smith.
[20] In 1994[21] and 1995 he taught at BYU's travel study program in Nauvoo, Illinois,[22] and he was a service missionary at Brigham Young University–Hawaii from 1996 to 1999.
This is not to suggest that no other source of inspiration could have been involved, but the similarities between the two ceremonies are so apparent and overwhelming that some dependent relationship cannot be denied.
[27][28]Durham said he was attempting to raise questions and he appealed to the historical community to clarify Joseph Smith's relationship to folk magic and Masonry, rather than burying their heads "in the traditional sand".
[30] It was the only time she saw Leonard J. Arrington angry, who had worked for years to open the church archives and now feared they would be closed.
[44] It is still cited by critics of the Mormon temple rites,[28][32][45][46][47] though his colleague Gilbert W. Scharffs believes Durham's statements have been exaggerated.
[51] Looking back during the 1980s, Durham privately wished he had presented some material differently, noting that the evidence for the Jupiter Talisman was actually quite weak.
Jan Shipps believed the speech was part of Mark Hofmann's inspiration in creating the Salamander Letter,[25] a hoax document which seemed to support Quinn's and Durham's work linking Joseph Smith's religious experiences with "magic".
Despite his position as a local religious teacher for the church in his area, Durham was on good terms with Jerald and Sandra Tanner,[58] well-known opponents of Mormonism, and was known to have purchased materials from them.
[59] In a 1972 speech he explained how he is motivated by the Tanner's criticisms: I can't help but think that when they raise these issues it does something to us to have to defend...
'[58]His colleague Gilbert W. Scharffs said, "I have seldom found a man with a firmer conviction of Jesus Christ and the LDS Church.