She left small town for Harvard but found herself looking back

When Lilian Smith left Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to attend Harvard, she was eager for new experiences and a fresh start in a bigger city. She didn’t expect to ever look back. But during her junior year, a religion course on nationalism prompted her to re-examine her hometown from a new perspective.

“I didn’t learn much about it growing up,” Smith said, “but I feel it’s a history that could really benefit people in the town — so as to not repeat history. It’s important to talk about things that make people uncomfortable sometimes.”

Smith, a history concentrator with a secondary in chemistry, wrote her senior thesis on the establishment of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, a grassroots organization that has been instrumental in the fight against white supremacy in Idaho. It started as a group of concerned citizens who came together in opposition to the Aryan Nations, a neo-Nazi, white supremacist hate group that was headquartered just outside her hometown from 1978 to 2000.

Smith’s interest in the topic began in “Religion and Nationalism in the United States,” a course with Catherine Brekus, Charles Warren Professor of the History of Religion in America.

“From the very beginning, when Lilian first considered doing a project about Coeur d’Alene, she has been absolutely fearless,” said Carleigh Beriont, assistant director of undergraduate studies for the Committee on the Study of Religion, who advised Smith’s thesis. “Willing to dig into the darker recesses of the past to better understand why and how ideologies like that promoted by the Aryan Nations continue to resonate in her home community, happy to sit down with anybody and everybody who might have a story to tell, regardless of their political ideology or party affiliation. She has been resolute in her desire to portray Coeur d’Alene and its residents with nuance and care, challenging national media portrayals of her community and underscoring how shallow portrayals of the region have served as a draw for white supremacists.”

“From the very beginning, when Lilian first considered doing a project about Coeur d’Alene, she has been absolutely fearless.”

Carleigh Beriont

Smith did research in the archives of North Idaho College and Gonzaga University, and conducted formal interviews with locals, including the town’s former mayor, former and current members of the Task Force on Human Relations, leaders at the Human Rights Education Institute, a former member of the Aryan Nations, a police officer, an FBI agent, and a Republican Party leader in Kootenai County.

Her thesis describes how the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations grew from a few concerned citizens into a unified front of businesses, schools, churches, law enforcement, and politicians, working together to stop the spread of hate in the community. They offered victim support to residents who experienced religious or race-based harassment or violence from the Aryan Nations, advocated for state laws against malicious harassment, and raised $35,000 for human rights organizations during an Aryan Nations parade.

“Silence gives consent” became one of their biggest slogans, Smith said.

“These people really care about this work,” Smith said. “Many of these leaders saw the best in people in a way that I might not have, and that really shifted my perspective on my town.”

Even after Aryan Nations was bankrupted by a lawsuit in 2000 and vacated their property near Coeur d’Alene, the Task Force and its sister organization, the Human Rights Education Institute, continued to promote human rights more broadly, through education and diversity programming, awareness events, an annual human rights banquet, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations.

Even so, Smith’s research showed how national media narratives have continued to portray her hometown as a haven for intolerance. She believes this had a self-fulfilling prophecy effect, attracting an influx of residents who are now pushing back against the work of the Task Force.

“One of the themes of my thesis is the powerful role media narratives play in shaping the evolution of towns,” Smith said. “The town that exists today is not the town that existed in the ’70s, and it’s made the work of the Task Force and the Human Rights Education Institute increasingly difficult.”

On campus, Smith also worked in Roy G. Gordon Professor of Chemistry Eugene Shakhnovich’s biophysics lab, led tours for the Admissions Office, and served on the business board of The Crimson. She also founded Harvard Undergraduate SWAN, a nonprofit for students pursuing careers in public service.

After commencement, Smith will move to Washington, D.C., to pursue her longtime dream of becoming a teacher with the Teach for America corps.

Her feelings about not returning to Coeur d’Alene after commencement are complicated. Through her thesis research, Smith grew increasingly concerned about America’s deepening political polarization — fueled, she believes, by a trend of people moving to areas that better align with their political values, reinforcing ideological echo chambers.

“This is a national trend that young people are leaving their hometowns when they feel their values don’t align,” Smith said. “Many don’t return to reinvest in their communities. It’s really concerning.”

Nearly every Coeur d’Alene resident Smith interviewed for her thesis asked if she planned to return home after graduation. While she is excited for her next chapter in Washington, D.C., Smith said she couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt each time she told them no. “That pushed me to think more critically about the fact that I was leaving and consider the possibility of returning someday,” Smith said. “It’s disheartening that so many people tend to leave rather than stay and work to address the issues impacting their community. Realizing the strength of those who’ve remained in the community for so long gave me a deep respect for them.”