Clarissa Williams, the sixth president of the Relief Society, was a third-generation Latter-day Saint and the first Utahan native to hold the position. Her mother, Susan West, was the seventh wife of George A. Smith, cousin to the Prophet Joseph Smith. She grew up influenced by George’s first wife, Bathsheba W. B. Smith, the fourth Relief Society president, who involved young Clarissa in the women’s organization early.
Clarissa attended private school and was hired at the age of fourteen as a pupil teacher. She attended the University of Deseret (now called the University of Utah) and graduated with a teaching certificate. She went on to establish her own private school. When her children were born, she continued to encourage education, feeling that higher education for girls was not a luxury but a necessity.
In 1873, Clarissa met William Newjent Williams. They courted for two years, until William was called to serve a mission in Wales. They quickly decided to be married, and held their wedding the day after he received his mission call, July 17, 1877. The next day, William left his new bride to serve his two year mission. After his return in July of 1879, they had eleven children, eight of whom survived to reach adulthood.
In addition to the various community organizations she served in, Clarissa was called to preside over the Salt Lake Relief Society. She met and became fast friends with Louise Yates Robison, who would succeed her as general Relief Society president, while preparing surgical dressings with the Red Cross. She served under Bathsheba W. Smith as treasurer and member of the general board in 1901, and as first counselor under Emmeline B. Wells in 1911. She was called to serve as the sixth president of the Relief Society in 1921.
As President, Clarissa combined the offices of secretary and treasurer. She instituted modern accounting procedures for Relief Society funds. She emphasized social services, and considered one of the highlights of her presidency to be the success of health care efforts, which she saw as the purpose of social work.
When the U. S. government forbade any group or individual to store large quantities of food, the wheat from the grain storage program was sold, providing a large supply of cash. Clarissa recommended that the accrued interest be used for health, maternity, and child welfare services. She organized youth camps for underprivileged children, courses in home hygiene and care of the sick, a free milk fund, and health examinations for preschoolers. She also proposed the creation of memorial funds to honor past Relief Society presidents and to further important social projects.
Knowing her health was failing, Clarissa asked for her release in October 1828. She died less than 18 months later, on March 8, 1930, at the age of seventy-one. She spent her life serving not only the physical needs of women, but also their educational skills and development of skills and talents.
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