Wilford E. Smith personal papers, 1934-2000
Scope and Contents
Contains correspondence, news clippings, history, Fiji mission magazines, history of the mission, mission speeches, correspondence from later mission presidents, and other scrapbook pages about his time as mission president in the Fiji Suva Mission, some of which were signed by Spencer W. Kimball, Marion G. Romney, Gordon B. Hinckley, and Howard W. Hunter, 1981-2000. It also includes news clippings and correspondence from 1962 to 1963, a whacking stick signed by students, "Val Hyric," copies of the Te Karere magazine from 1938 to 1939, gospel materials in the Creole language Bislama, newspaper clippings, war service records from 1953 to 1981, a photograph of Ruth Smith's Granite High School 50th Reunion Class of 1936, and an Oak Hills First Ward Yearbook for when Wilford Smith was bishop, 1976.
Dates
- 1934-2000
Creator
- Smith, Wilford E., 1916-2010 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Open for public research.
Conditions Governing Use
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from the Wilford E. Smith papers must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.
Biographical History
Wilford E. Smith (born 1916) was a Mormon missionary and college professor in Utah.
Wilford Emery Smith was born May 16, 1916, in Holladay, Utah. He grew up on his family farm and attended Irving School in Holladay. From 1932 to 1934, he attended Granite High school. In April 1935 he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps. On September 2, 1936, he was called to be a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New Zealand and served there from 1936 to 1939.
After his mission he attended Brigham Young University with the intention of training to become a school teacher. He also met Ruth Christensen in 1939 and they married on August 31, 1940. They had five children. He transferred to the University of Utah in 1940. In June 1943 he graduated wth a bachelor's degree from the School of Education with a major in sociology and a minor in psychology.
In 1944, he was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the Army and served in the South Pacific during the Second World War. He was awarded battle stars for the Leyte and Okinawan campaigns. He was an active reservist from 1946 to 1976 and retired as a full colonel, receiving the Meritorious Service Medal. He became a professor of sociology at Brigham Young University in 1948 after completing his master's degree in Educational Administration and received his Ph.D. at the University of Washington in 1952.
In 1981, he was called to serve as a mission president in the Fiji Suva Mission. He has served in various other positions in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as on multiple educational boards.
Extent
13 folders
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
Retained in its original order.
Repository Details
Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States