She was a devout and faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who taught Sunday School lessons at her church for many years, including a stint during the early 1960s teaching 14-year-olds. Her views on many social issues were more liberal than most of the Republican Party, and she appeared on stage with Martin Luther King Jr. at Michigan State University on March 9, 1966, when King gave his "Chicago Wall" speech. On the issue of the LDS Church policy of the time that did not allow black people in its lay clergy, she defended the church, saying, "If my church taught me anything other than that the Negro is equal to any other person, I could not accept it." She was a member of the Women's City Club in Detroit, but in 1967, said she would resign unless the club dropped a policy barring black guests from eating in its dining room.