Morehouse Faces Backlash Over Joseph Smith Portrait

[ad_1] by Ann Brown February 21, 2026

Smith based Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint motion.

By Robert Hill

An ongoing debate is happening on the campus of Morehouse Faculty because the Joseph Smith portrait is about to be displayed within the coming months.

Smith based Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint motion. He printed the “E-book of Mormon” at age 24 and, inside 14 years, had attracted tens of hundreds of followers by the point of his demise. Some within the Latter Day Saints had ties to slavery. Whereas Smith himself was not a slaveholder, some early church members owned slaves.

On Feb. 1, an oil portray of Smith was unveiled and is scheduled to be positioned on show in April contained in the Chapel’s Worldwide Corridor of Honor. College students and alums have raised considerations concerning this determination, pointing to Smith’s stance on slavery and the broader historical past of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The portrait is about to be displayed within the chapel’s Worldwide Corridor of Honor, an area that honors international leaders and influential figures.

As reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, “On Feb. 1, Morehouse Faculty unveiled a portrait of Joseph Smith to be displayed in its Worldwide Corridor of Honor as a part of the faculty’s effort to diversify the chapel’s illustration of worldwide spiritual figures. In the course of the unveiling, Smith was praised as being “Lincoln earlier than Lincoln.””

Nevertheless, the choice to implement the portrait has been met with criticism.

College students and alums are pushing again towards honoring Smith, arguing that it contradicts the mission and legacy of a traditionally Black faculty. They've raised considerations about how Smith supported slavery at completely different factors in his life, and the historical past of the Church, which restricted Black members from full participation for a few years.

College students like Alonzo Brinson, president of the Chapel Assistants Program, stated he was stunned by the disclosing and questioned its message.

As reported by 11Alive, ““I believed it was very bizarre that he didn't cease his church from proudly owning slaves. After which for those who discuss to Brigham Younger, Brigham Younger stated he acquired the concepts from Joseph Smith. So I, I simply thought that was very bizarre. I believed it was very disrespectful, not solely to Morehouse Faculty, however to Atlanta, to the entire AUC of Black Historical past Month, the primary day of it, that that’s how we began,” Brinson stated.”

The portrait might be positioned alongside outstanding figures comparable to Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela.

Supporters of Smith’s portrait have pointed to his 1844 presidential marketing campaign platform, throughout which he advocated for the abolition of slavery and proposed federal compensation to enslavers.