Vesta Smith papers on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, circa 1986-1987

Series — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MSS 1659 Series 2

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Contains papers relating to the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution which occurred on September 17, 1987. Includes a genealogy project for the Founding Fathers of which Vesta Smith took part. There are books, research, and genealogical information on all the signers of the Constitution as well as those who took part but did not sign. Also includes research and preparation for a Brigham Young University seminar in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the Bicentennial. There is also an American flag that was flown at the request of Senator Orrin Hatch.

Dates

Creation: circa 1986-1987

Creator

Smith, Vesta, 1937- (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Privacy restricted until 2037; permission to use materials must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from the Vesta Smith papers must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.

Biographical / Historical

From the Collection:

Vesta Smith (born 1937) is a Mormon author in the District of Columbia. She served as president of American Mothers, Inc.

Vesta was born on July 10, 1937, in Bluffdale, Utah, to Reynold Wilford Crump and Myrtle Almira Frost. She attended Utah State University for a short time and then decided to pack up and move with some girlfriends to California. Once there she worked as a stenographer for McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm. Then she spent a year in Hawaii with friends and in 1959 decided to attend Brigham Young University. After the death of her mother that same year, she stopped school to live with her father. She saved while she worked, took a trip to Europe and when she came home met Dr. Joseph Smith, a doctor at the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. The two were married August 23, 1963, in the Logan Temple. Joe had six children from a previous marriage, most of whom would live with them in Salt Lake City. Additionally, they had two daughters together. The Smith family moved to Washington, D.C., in 1974, when Joe began law school. Vesta also went back to school at George Washington University. She began working for a mother's volunteer organization, the American Mothers, Inc.