Milton Vaughn Backman, Jr. (born 1927) is a historian of American religions with particular emphasis on the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement.
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Backman was a professor of Church History at Brigham Young University.
Backman is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has served in various positions in the church, often related to teaching and welfare. He has served as a member of a bishopric and on a stake high council.
As a young man, Backman served as a Mormon missionary in South Africa.
Among his many works are The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830-1838, American Religions and the Rise of Mormonism, Joseph Smith's First Vision: The First Vision in its Historical Context and Christian Churches of American: Origins and Beliefs. Backman also compiled the work entitled Eyewitness Accounts of the Restoration. Backman also edited Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint History: New York with Larry C. Porter and Susan Easton Black.[1] Backman has also compiled a collection of diaries and biographies of people who knew Joseph Smith with the assistance of Keith W. Perkins.[2]