Morehouse faces backlash over plan to honor Joseph Smith with chapel portrait amid slavery debate

By Robert Heuvel

There is an ongoing debate taking place on the campus of Morehouse College as Joseph Smith’s portrait will go on display in the coming months.

Smith founded Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. He published the Book of Mormon at the age of 24 and within fourteen years had attracted tens of thousands of followers by the time of his death. Some of the Latter-day Saints had ties to slavery. Although Smith himself was not a slave owner, some early Church members owned slaves.

An oil painting by Smith was unveiled Feb. 1 and is expected to go on display in the chapel’s International Hall of Honor in April. Students and alumni have expressed concern about this decision, pointing to Smith’s stance on slavery and the broader history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The portrait will be displayed in the chapel’s International Hall of Honor, a space that honors world leaders and influential figures.

As reported by The Salt Lake TribuneOn February 1, Morehouse College unveiled a portrait of Joseph Smith, to be displayed in the International Hall of Honor, as part of the college’s efforts to diversify the representation of international religious figures in the chapel. During the unveiling, Smith was hailed as “Lincoln before Lincoln.”

However, the decision to implement the portrait was met with criticism.

Students and alumni oppose honoring Smith, arguing that it contradicts the mission and legacy of a historically black university. They have raised concerns about how Smith supported slavery at various points in his life, and about the church’s history, which for years limited black members from full participation.

Students like Alonzo Brinson, chair of the Chapel Assistants Program, said he was surprised by the revelation and questioned its message.

As reported by 11Alive“I thought it was very strange that he did not stop his church from owning slaves. And then when you talk to Brigham Young, Brigham Young says he got the ideas from Joseph Smith. So I, I just thought that was really weird. “I thought it was very disrespectful, not just to Morehouse College, but to Atlanta, to the entire AUC of Black History Month, on the first day of it, that we started like this,” Brinson said.”

The portrait will be placed next to prominent figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.

Supporters of Smith’s portrait have referred to his 1844 portrait platform for presidential campaignin which he advocated the abolition of slavery and proposed federal compensation to slave traders.

Currently, Morehouse has not announced any plans to remove or move the portrait.

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