Robison, Louise Yates

From The Encyclopedia of Mormonism

See this page in the original 1992 publication.

Author: Cannon, Janath R.

Louise Yates Robison (1866-1946) succeeded Clarissa Williams to become the seventh general president of the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in October 1928 and led that society through the difficult years of the Great Depression (1928-1939). She had previously served as second counselor to President Williams in the general presidency. These two women had become friends while they prepared surgical dressings for the Red Cross during World War I. Louise Robison's name rarely appears on lists of outstanding LDS women, an obscurity that would have pleased this unassuming, down-to-earth woman of plain appearance and quiet ways; nevertheless, she deserves recognition for several unique contributions to the Church and for the important principle of service she exemplified.

Born May 27, 1866, in the small rural town of Scipio, in south-central Utah, Louise grew up in a log house where she learned pioneer values from her parents, Thomas and Elizabeth Yates. Her early marriage to Joseph L. Robison and subsequent rearing of six children shortened her studies at Brigham Young Academy, but her love of books and learning was lifelong. A six-month course in dressmaking at age fifteen helped prepare her for future service on the Relief Society General Board, where she directed the Temple and Burial Clothing Department.

As General President of the Relief Society, one of her practical responses to women's needs during the Depression of the 1930s was to establish Mormon handicraft in 1937. This shop enabled Relief Society women to sell homemade gift items on consignment. The shop reflected President Robison's appreciation both for the handiwork of women and for their role as mothers in the home. It flourished under the Relief Society until 1986, when management of the store was transferred to the Deseret Book Company.

Louise Robison believed that burdens could be lightened with song. A daughter later remembered that she sang, or sometimes whistled, while doing her work at home. "A singing mother makes a happy home," she said when she named the popular Relief Society choral groups Singing Mothers in 1934.

Several modest historic achievements can be credited to President Robison. She was the first Relief Society general president to address a regular session of a General Conference (October 1929). She was the first to visit the Relief Societies in Great Britain, and on that trip she also served as a delegate to the Tenth World Congress of the International Council of Women, held in Paris. In 1933 she instigated the erection of a monument to the Relief Society on the site of its founding in Nauvoo, Illinois. Later relocated in the Monument to Women gardens, it is thought to be the first Church effort to mark its historic sites in Nauvoo.

Welfare Services was the greatest concern of President Robison's administration. Her longtime friend and coworker Belle Spafford said that Louise Robison "stressed the volunteer compassionate services. "Go where you're needed, do what you can'; that was her theme" (Spafford). She practiced what she preached, and the principle of personal service she exemplified was a needed counterpoint to the more structured Church Welfare system.

After being released from service as Relief Society general president in 1939, Louise Robison lived in San Francisco with her daughter Gladys Winter. She died March 30, 1946.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z