Frederick J. Pack
Encyclopedia
Frederick James Pack was a professor of geology
at the University of Utah
and Brigham Young College
and a writer on the deleterious effects of tobacco
on human health. Pack was also a leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), serving as the chairman of the Gospel Doctrine Committee of the church.
, Utah Territory
to John Pack
(who had first come to Utah in 1847 in Brigham Young's advance company) and Mary Jane Walker. Early on he attended LDS College in Salt Lake City.
, where he obtained a degree in mining engineering in 1904. By 1906, he had completed masters and Ph.D.
degrees in geology
at Columbia University
in New York City
. In 1906 and 1907, he was a professor of geology and mineralogy
at Brigham Young College
in Logan. In 1907 he became the Deseret Professor of Geology at the University of Utah, a position he held until his death.
In 1918, Pack published Tobacco and Human Efficiency, which has been described as the most "comprehensive or conscientious summation of the case to discourage cigarette use" that had been produced by that date. However, Pack's work on tobacco has been criticized as being tainted with "suppositions" and "moral bias" arising from his status as a Latter-day Saint who believed that avoiding tobacco was a commandment from God
.
In his later professional life, Pack created a travel company called Utah Intelligence Tours, which specialized in tours of areas in Utah
and the Western United States
that are of particular geological or paleontological
interest.
Pack's personal and professional papers are held by the J. Willard Marriott Library
at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
ordained him a seventy and in 1897 Apostle John W. Taylor ordained him a high priest. Pack and his wife Sadie
served as LDS Church missionaries
in the Colorado
Mission
of the church in 1896 to 1898. While on this mission Pack presided over the Pueblo Conference
and later the Colorado Springs Conference.
From 1911 to 1916 Pack was the Sunday School
Superintendent in the Liberty Stake in Salt Lake City. From 1920 to 1930 he was a member of the high council in the same stake. In 1920, Pack became a member of the Deseret Sunday School Union General Board.
In 1932, Pack delivered a series of 28 weekly radio lectures entitled, "The Breadth of Mormonism".
During the last years of his life, Pack was the chair of the Gospel Doctrine Committee of the LDS Church. He was a frequent contributor to church magazines, with many of his writings focusing on the scientific justifications for the Word of Wisdom
.
entitled "Should Latter-Day Saints Drink Coca-Cola?" In the article, Pack reasoned that because Coca-Cola
contained caffeine
, which is also present in tea
and coffee
, Latter-day Saints should abstain from Coca-Cola in the same way that they abstain from tea and coffee. Since this time, some Latter-day Saints have believed that drinking Coca-Cola or other caffeinated beverages amounts to a violation of the Word of Wisdom.
was the first counselor to May Anderson
in the general presidency of the Primary from 1925 to 1929. The Packs were the parents of four children.
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
at the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
and Brigham Young College
Brigham Young College
Brigham Young College was a college and high school in Logan, Utah. It was founded by Brigham Young on 6 August 1877, 23 days before he died. He deeded several acres of land to a board of trustees for the development of a college. This was just two years after he founded Brigham Young Academy in...
and a writer on the deleterious effects of tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
on human health. Pack was also a leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), serving as the chairman of the Gospel Doctrine Committee of the church.
Early life
Pack was born at BountifulBountiful, Utah
Bountiful is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 42,552, a three percent increase over the 2000 figure of 41,301...
, Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
to John Pack
John Pack
John Pack was a member of the Council of Fifty and a missionary in the early days of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.-Biography:...
(who had first come to Utah in 1847 in Brigham Young's advance company) and Mary Jane Walker. Early on he attended LDS College in Salt Lake City.
Professional life
Pack attended the University of UtahUniversity of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
, where he obtained a degree in mining engineering in 1904. By 1906, he had completed masters and Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
degrees in geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In 1906 and 1907, he was a professor of geology and mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
at Brigham Young College
Brigham Young College
Brigham Young College was a college and high school in Logan, Utah. It was founded by Brigham Young on 6 August 1877, 23 days before he died. He deeded several acres of land to a board of trustees for the development of a college. This was just two years after he founded Brigham Young Academy in...
in Logan. In 1907 he became the Deseret Professor of Geology at the University of Utah, a position he held until his death.
In 1918, Pack published Tobacco and Human Efficiency, which has been described as the most "comprehensive or conscientious summation of the case to discourage cigarette use" that had been produced by that date. However, Pack's work on tobacco has been criticized as being tainted with "suppositions" and "moral bias" arising from his status as a Latter-day Saint who believed that avoiding tobacco was a commandment from God
Word of Wisdom
The "Word of Wisdom" is the common name of a section of the Doctrine and Covenants, a book considered by many churches within the Latter Day Saint movement to consist of revelations from God...
.
In his later professional life, Pack created a travel company called Utah Intelligence Tours, which specialized in tours of areas in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
and the Western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
that are of particular geological or paleontological
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
interest.
Pack's personal and professional papers are held by the J. Willard Marriott Library
J. Willard Marriott Library
J. Willard Marriott Library is the library of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was named for J. Willard Marriott, the founder of Marriott International. The library building is over and houses over 3 million volumes. The University of Utah Press is a division of the Marriott...
at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
Church life
Pack was a devout member of the LDS Church. In 1892, he became an elder of the church. In 1896, Apostle Francis M. LymanFrancis M. Lyman
Francis Marion Lyman was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . He was the President of the Quorum from 1903 until his death....
ordained him a seventy and in 1897 Apostle John W. Taylor ordained him a high priest. Pack and his wife Sadie
Sadie Grant Pack
Sadie Grant Pack was the first counselor to May Anderson in the general presidency of the Primary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1925 to 1929....
served as LDS Church missionaries
Mormon missionary
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
in the Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
Mission
Mission (LDS Church)
A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether or not Mormon missionaries live or proselytize in the area...
of the church in 1896 to 1898. While on this mission Pack presided over the Pueblo Conference
District (LDS Church)
A district of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative unit composed of a number of congregations called branches. A district is a subdivision of a mission of the church and in many ways is analogous to a stake of the church. The leader of a district is the...
and later the Colorado Springs Conference.
From 1911 to 1916 Pack was the Sunday School
Sunday School (LDS Church)
Sunday School is an official auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . All members of the church and any interested nonmembers, age 12 and older, are encouraged to participate in Sunday School.-Purpose:...
Superintendent in the Liberty Stake in Salt Lake City. From 1920 to 1930 he was a member of the high council in the same stake. In 1920, Pack became a member of the Deseret Sunday School Union General Board.
In 1932, Pack delivered a series of 28 weekly radio lectures entitled, "The Breadth of Mormonism".
During the last years of his life, Pack was the chair of the Gospel Doctrine Committee of the LDS Church. He was a frequent contributor to church magazines, with many of his writings focusing on the scientific justifications for the Word of Wisdom
Word of Wisdom
The "Word of Wisdom" is the common name of a section of the Doctrine and Covenants, a book considered by many churches within the Latter Day Saint movement to consist of revelations from God...
.
Coca-cola and the Word of Wisdom
In 1918, Pack published an article in the church's Improvement EraImprovement Era
The Improvement Era was an official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1897 and 1970....
entitled "Should Latter-Day Saints Drink Coca-Cola?" In the article, Pack reasoned that because Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
contained caffeine
Caffeine
Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a stimulant drug. Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the seeds, leaves, and fruit of some plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants...
, which is also present in tea
Camellia sinensis
Camellia sinensis is the species of plant whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce Chinese tea. It is of the genus Camellia , a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. White tea, green tea, oolong, pu-erh tea and black tea are all harvested from this species, but are processed...
and coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, Latter-day Saints should abstain from Coca-Cola in the same way that they abstain from tea and coffee. Since this time, some Latter-day Saints have believed that drinking Coca-Cola or other caffeinated beverages amounts to a violation of the Word of Wisdom.
Family
Pack married Sadie Grant on November 25, 1896. Sadie Grant PackSadie Grant Pack
Sadie Grant Pack was the first counselor to May Anderson in the general presidency of the Primary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1925 to 1929....
was the first counselor to May Anderson
May Anderson
May Anderson was the second general president of the children's Primary organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1925 and 1939. Anderson also served as the first counselor to general Primary president Louie B...
in the general presidency of the Primary from 1925 to 1929. The Packs were the parents of four children.
Books
- Frederick J. Pack (1927). Intelligence tours Through Utah's Geological Wonders (Salt Lake City: Intelligence Tours, Inc.)
- —— (1924). Science and Belief in God: A Discussion of Certain Phases of Science and their Bearing upon Belief in the Supreme Being (Salt Lake City: Deseret News) (republished in 2007 by Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 1432568574)
- —— (1918). Tobacco and Human Efficiency (Salt Lake City: Deseret News)
Periodical articles (incomplete)
- Frederick J. Pack, "The Breaking of Law—An Instance", Improvement Era 18:2 (Dec. 1914)
- ——, "The Creation of the Earth: Part I", Improvement Era 13:11 (Sep. 1910)
- ——, "The Creation of the Earth: Part II", Improvement Era 14:3 (Jan. 1911)
- —— and George D. PyperGeorge D. PyperGeorge Dollinger Pyper was the fifth general superintendent of the Sunday School of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a member and manager of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and the editor of a number of Latter Day Saint periodicals.Pyper was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory...
, "Did Lehi Land in Chile", The InstructorThe InstructorThe Instructor was an official periodical of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1930 and 1970, during which It was the official organ of the LDS Church's Sunday School auxiliary....
73:4 (1938) p. 160 - ——, "How the Impending Tobacco Crusade Can be Avoided", Improvement Era 24:3 (Jan. 1921)
- ——, "The Modern Denial of Jesus Christ", Improvement Era 29:5 (Mar. 1926)
- ——, "An Offshoot of the Spalding Argument", Improvement Era 16:8 (May 1913)
- ——, "An Open Question to Dr. Spalding", Improvement Era 16:7 (May 1913)
- ——, "Should Latter-Day Saints Drink Coca-Cola?", Improvement Era 21:5 (Mar. 1918)
- ——, "The Spalding Argument", Improvement Era 16:4 (Feb. 1913)
External links
- Frederick J. Pack Papers : University of Utah