Image via Carole Maguire
Is it merely a coincidence that Women's History Month coincides with the creation of the Relief Society in March of 1842? Maybe so, but let me tell you about one of my heroes, Emma Hale Smith, founder of the organization.
Emma Hale Smith was the creator of the Relief Society, one
of the world's oldest and largest organizations of women. Founded in New York State, it
has been in continuous operation since March 17, 1842. Emma was the gathering's first president, and its very first meeting, she predicted to all present they were about to do something extraordinary. This week in my studies
regarding Emma, I found this quote by her mother-in-law, Lucy Mack Smith, “She
has been tossed upon the ocean of uncertainty-she has breasted the storms of
persecution, and buffeted the rage of men and devils, which would have borne
down almost any other woman.” What did this mean, exactly?
Many people reading Lucy Mack Smith's words, if they are unfamiliar with seafarers and their lore, might not understand the depth of admiration that this mother-in-law felt for her son's wife. They might not have grasped the many layers of meaning in the above quote if not for for the history I'm about to share.
According to the research done by many historians and
maritime aficionados like Debra Ronca, sailors tend to be more superstitious
than the rest of us. The long list of nautical legends, folklore and
superstitions may seem odd to us landlubbers, but when your profession exposes
you to the elements and uncontrollable natural disasters, you're better safe
than sorry. Good luck charms and omens of bad luck pertaining to sailing, boats
and sailors have endured for centuries. Just two of these false beliefs are
that a sea voyage which starts on a Friday is doomed, or whistling on a boat
will conjure up a storm. One old nautical superstition held that women on ships
or boats were very bad luck. Women were historically forbidden from sailing on
military vessels or merchant ships because captains believed their presence
would anger the sea gods who would cause rough waves and violent weather. (An
alternate explanation might have been that bringing a woman on an extended sea
voyage could be extremely "distracting" to the all-male crew — and
probably cause problems for the woman as well. A distracted or jealous crew is
an unsafe crew.)
Yet, although sailors believed a woman on board would anger
the sea gods, they also believed a bare-chested woman calmed the seas. A
topless woman would "shame" nature into suppressing its anger. This
is why you still see bare breasted female figureheads with their blouses wide
open on the prows of boats and ships. (From “Why Were Women on Ships Considered
Bad Luck?” by Debra Ronca)
A fictionalized account of these unfounded, traditional
fears can be found in the well-researched book Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (published
1993). The scenes themselves seemingly come to life on the televised Outlander series
whose third season was based upon this novel. Another example of sailors’
traditions is demonstrated when, to ward off misfortune, the sailors of the Artemis
must touch a horseshoe placed in a prominent position on deck. Regarding that
horseshoe, everyone had to rub it before embarking on their journey. With the
Artemis already underway, the strong-willed protagonist of the series, Claire,
who has not as yet caressed the object, wishes to placate the seafaring men by
making an obligatory touch of the metal shoe. Captain Raines says, "Too
late for that. It must be done at the beginning of a voyage." She is
quickly instructed on many of the traditions that ward off bad omens and sea
demons and is told that during the voyage, women should be baring their breasts
so that the sea-gods will perhaps show mercy upon the crew.
Lucy Mack Smith was poetic and at the same time sincere in
her praise of Emma. Her daughter-in-law was there as a beacon of prayer and
mercy - a bit of a bad omen to tradition - who had weathered fierce storms of
disease and persecution.
Who was Emma Hale Smith, beyond her creation of an enduring
world-wide sisterhood?? Most notably, her name is associated with her husband Joseph
Smith Junior, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She had an active role in Church proceedings
and advisement. Her discouragement of men spitting their tobacco onto her
floors led to a health code called the Word of Wisdom. Decades later, many
people such as the Kellogg Brothers took an interest in health codes and
practices similar to the Word of Wisdom. Shortly afterward, physicians embraced
the consumption of healthy food alongside the abstinence of hard liquors and
tobacco.
Emma was also a scribe to her husband at a time when many men,
but women especially, could not read or write. (This was in a time before
organized Women’s Liberation or the Suffragette movement.) Women did not advise
their husbands in their religious callings let alone preach on the pulpit or
transcribe sermons. The Relief Society was the beginning of something big, a
movement with momentous repercussions.
Many times, Emma witnessed the horrifying burns and injuries
that her husband endured at the hands of angry villagers. She suffered the loss
of several children, one notably after its birth. A chill wind blew into the room
in which her infant’s cradle was kept after a door was left open during a home
invasion. Local mobs, incensed by their hate, strove to pour hot tar on Joseph,
and then cover his body in feathers. They burst in as he was singing to and
cradling the child in his arms. Stories are told of removing such a mess from
human skin. It could take a day, maybe two leaving tears, welts and open sores.
Emma not only had to tend to her injured husband by peeling the tar from his
raw skin, but comfort a sick and dying baby.
Some people in this world would have considered it bordering
on evil at the most, maybe poor judgment at the least, for Emma to be outspoken
in the church, well educated, and by her husband’s side, through all the
turmoil that came her way. Ultimately her husband was martyred. Perhaps more
mercy could have been shown to Emma and her family by people inside and out of
the church. Maybe mercy was shown more than we can imagine, as at one point the
mob came to castrate Smith. Ultimately, through the storms that came Emma’s
way: death, escape, polygamy, moving every several years from state to state,
sacrifice and widowhood – this great woman’s prayers for mercy bared her very
soul. She was a blessing and an example to the women of her time, and mine as
well.
Emma Hale Smith is one who endured. She leads my personal vessel as a woman of
strength, patience and prayer. Lucy Mack Smith’s words were an eloquent summary
of Emma, whose countenance is carved in my heart; Emma Hale Smith leads the way
as the woman I honor this Woman’s History Month.
