Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born on August 18, 1927 in Plains, Georgia. She was the eldest of four children of Wilburn Edgar Smith, an auto mechanic and farmer, and Frances Allethea "Allie" Murray Smith, a dressmaker. Her brothers were William Jerrold "Jerry" Smith (1929–2003), an engineer, and Murray Lee Smith (1932–2003), a teacher and minister. Her sister, Lillian Allethea (Smith) Wall (born 1936), named for Lillian Gordy Carter, is a real estate broker. Rosalynn was named after Rosa, her maternal grandmother. The family lived in poverty, although Carter later claimed that she and her siblings were unaware, since even though their family "didn\'t have money," neither did "anyone else, so as far as we knew, we were well off." Churches and schools were at the center of her family\'s community, and the people of Plains were familiar with each other. Carter played with the boys during her early childhood since no girls on her street were her age. She drew buildings and was interested in airplanes, which led her to believe that she would someday become an architect.\n', '

Rosalynn\'s father died of leukemia when she was 13. She called the loss of her father the conclusion of her childhood. Thereafter, she helped her mother raise her younger siblings, as well as assisting in the dressmaking business in order to meet the family\'s financial obligations. Rosalynn would credit her mother with inspiring her own independence and said that she learned from her mother that "you can do what you have to do". At Plains High School, Rosalynn worked hard to achieve her father\'s dream of seeing her go to college. Rosalynn graduated as salutatorian of Plains High School. Soon after, she attended Georgia Southwestern College, but later dropped out. She had aspirations to go beyond Plains, but she was forced to leave the college due to lack of money and also because of obligations to her mother and siblings.\n', '

Their families were already acquainted when Rosalynn first dated Jimmy Carter in 1945 while he was attending the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. She developed a crush on him after seeing a picture of him in his Annapolis uniform.\n', 'The two were riding in the back seat of the car of Ruth Carter\'s boyfriend when Jimmy surprised Rosalynn by kissing her. This was the first time that Rosalynn had ever allowed a boy to do this on the first date. Rosalynn agreed to marry Jimmy in February 1946 when she went to Annapolis with his parents. The two scheduled their marriage to take place in July and kept the arrangement secret. Rosalynn resented telling her mother she had chosen to marry instead of continuing her education. On July 7, 1946, they married in Plains. The marriage canceled Rosalynn\'s plans to attend Georgia State College for Women, where she had planned to study interior design.\n', '

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