Barbara B. Smith

Barbara B. Smith demonstrated sound judgment and tolerance as president of the Relief Society during a time of intense conflict over women’s issues. She was often interviewd about her stand against the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution. She encouraged Latter-day Saint women to be involved in their communities and represent Church attitudes about women without being combative or divisive. Sister Smith continued the Relief Society’s emphasis on disaster relief, emergency preparedness, and welfare. She also emphasized homemaker education and the importance of the family. During her presidency the Relief Society grew to about two million members worldwide. Sister Smith asked the women of the Church to personally commit to a lifetime of learning and active service. She and her husband, Douglas H. Smith, have seven children.

Relief Society Challenges The Equal Rights Amendment

During the administration of Barbara B. Smith, the Mormon Church and Relief Society were official and active opponents to Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) proposals. The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposal to amend the United States Constitution adding the provisions: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article." It was assumed by many that the Amendment would be certain to pass. In fact, the Amendment had passed both the US House and Senate with no changes by 1972 and only needed ratification by a two-thirds majority of states to become law.

As the implications of ERA became known, conservative groups, including the Mormon Church, opposed the Amendment on the grounds that it would cause the violation of protections given under current laws to women. While maintaining that "The place of woman in the Church is to walk beside the man, not in front of him nor behind him, " ("Frequently Asked Questions about the Proposed Equal Rights Amendment: A Closer Look," 'Ensign', Mar. 1980, 5), Church officials raised concerns related to potential effects from the Amendment, including women being required to give compulsory miliary servce, homosexual marriage, a male's financial responsibilities for children he fathered, and abortion.

Barbara actively campaigned against ERA and appeared on television (Phil Donahue show) to promote the Church's official position. Relief Society sisters Church-wide were mobilized to campaign against ERA. 14,000 Mormon women attended the International Women's Year meeting in Salt Lake City and voted down all ERA proposals in June 1977. Similar events occurred in Hawaii and Washington state, where high Mormon attendance at IWY meetings disrupted ERA proposals, also during 1977.

By 1982, not enough states had ratified the Amendment and efforts by the Relief Society to stop its passage ended.

Stories from the life of Barbara B. Smith

• On a television show, Barbara was asked if the Church's goals were unattainable and the cause of high depression rates among Mormon women. Barbara did not deny that the Church has high standards, but she encouraged women to take “one step at a time” and to remember that our goals should be “stars to steer by, not sticks to beat ourselves with.” (as told in Sydney Smith Reynolds, "Wife and Mother: A Valid Career Option for the College-Educated Woman," Ensign, Oct. 1979, 67)

• When Barbara was called to the Relief Society General Board, Belle S. Spafford, then general president of the Relief Society said to Barbara, “You know that you are a part of the most glorious sisterhood upon the face of the earth, don’t you?” (Barbara B. Smith, “The Bonds of Sisterhood,” Ensign, Mar. 1983, 21)

• One of Barbara's sons was interested in athletics, school, and many other things and began questioning if he should serve a mssion. After a special experience during that son's patriarchal blessing, Barbara was blessed to know the things she should say to help her son think more seriously about a mission. Of the experience she said, "I think every mother in Zion is entitled to this kind of spiritual help in preparing her sons and daughters for the privilege and the responsibility of missionary service." (Barbara B. Smith, "A Mother's Insight," Tambuli, June 1978, 14

• Barbara first attended Relief Society on March 17, 1942, for a Relief Society Birthday program. She was expecting and her mother didn’t want to leave her alone at home. She said, "That day at Relief Society the hundred years of Relief Society history were reviewed, a meaningful way for me to see what Relief Society was all about and how I could fit into it. I started to attend our ward Relief Society regularly soon after that." (“ ‘Joy in Every Minute’: An Interview with Sister Barbara B. Smith,” Ensign, June 1975, 61)

Testimony of Barbara B. Smith

• Barbara's testimony was recorded during a General Conference at the time of her release:

I am proud to testify today that our prophets and Apostles are men called of God. They will always lead the Church aright by divine direction and by the power of the Holy Ghost.

The women of the Church have an important work to do. That work requires great strength of character, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and a pure heart that will be a light unto the world and a bulwark of righteousness against the darkness that covers the earth with contention and evil.

In all humility I declare my ever-expanding love for you. I assure you, too, that I deeply love our newly called and sustained general president of the Relief Society. I know Relief Society is in good hands. It will continue to grow and move forward in countless ways to bless the lives of all of the daughters of God.

I know this is true. I feel it with every fiber of my being, just as I know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer.

May we all make the most of every moment of our lives, that somewhere beyond the hills of time we will be with them again, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. (Barbara B. Smith, "Warmed By the Fires of Their Lives," Ensign, May 1984, 29)

Sources

• LDS.org, Barbara B. Smith Biographical Sketch