Henrietta Smith
Library science professor and school media librarian Henrietta Mays Smith was born on May 2, 1922, in Harlem, a neighborhood in New York. Smith is the daughter of Nettie Johnson Mays, a domestic worker, and Henry Lucas Mays, a chef who worked on riverboats on the Hudson. Smith attended Hunter College, studying English and history. She earned her B.A. degree from Hunter College in 1943 and in 1946, she received her B.S.L.S. degree from Columbia University. Smith then moved to Tallahassee, Florida, where she served as a cataloguer at Florida A&M University for the next two years. Dr. Smith received her M.S.L.S. degree from Columbia University in 1959.
Smith started her career working for Florida A&M University's Library as a cataloger and later returned to New York to complete her M.S.L.S. degree. She also worked at the Countee Cullen Branch of the New York Public Library as a children's librarian where she become interested in storytelling and the power of oral traditions. In 1949, she married Isaiah Courtney Smith, a young civil rights lawyer. Returning once again to Florida, Smith worked for Broward County Public Schools, as a school media specialist. In 1975, at the age of fifty three, she received her Ph. D. degree from the University of Miami and joined the faculty of the Florida Atlantic University's School of Education. After ten years at Florida Atlantic, she left the institution and joined the faculty of the University of South Florida's School of Library Science where she was the first and only African American faculty member on campus. She specialized in children's librarianship and the art of storytelling.
Since retiring in 1993, Smith has been remained active in the library science field. She has sat on many American Library Association (ALA) selection committees for several literary awards such as the Coretta Scott King Awards, the Caldecott Award, and the Newbery Award. In 1994, she edited the book The Coretta Scott King Book Awards: From Vision to Reality. She has been a board member of the Florida Association of Media in Education (FAME) and the Florida Library Association (FLA) and has continued her general membership. She has also been involved with Storytellers Association, an association which teaches and develops multicultural storytelling and the oral tradition. In 2000, she wrote the introduction to Lift Every Voice and Sing: A Pictorial Tribute to the Negro National Anthem.
Smith lives in Florida with her husband, I.C. Smith, now a retired judge. She has two adult children, Cynthia Smith Jackson and Robin Smith. In 2008, she was honored by the American Library Association (ALA) as the recipient of the Association for Library Service to Children's (ASCL) Distinguished Service Award for Smith's accomplishments and contributions to children's librarianship.
Henrietta Mays Smith was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on August 13, 2007.
A2007.235
Female
8/13/2007
Smith
Married
Hunter College
Columbia University
University of Miami
Morris High School
P.S. 139 Frederick Douglass School
Julia Ward Howe Junior High School 81
Henrietta
New York
SMI19
Christmas, Easter
New York
Anywhere New
Take Time To Smell The Roses.

Florida
5/2/1922
Tampa
United States
Chicken Wings
Library science professor and school media librarian Henrietta Smith (1922 - ) became the first African American faculty member at the University of South Florida’s School of Library and Information Science.
University of South Florida, School of Library Science
Florida Atlantic University, College of Education
Broward County Public Schools
Countee Cullen Branch, New York Public Library
Florida A&M University
New York Public Library
Blue, Yellow
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Henrietta Smith's interview
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Henrietta Smith lists her favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Henrietta Smith describes her mother's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Henrietta Smith describes her father's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Henrietta Smith describes her upbringing in New York City's Harlem neighborhood
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Henrietta Smith remembers her parents' cooking
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Henrietta Smith remembers her relationship with her father
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Henrietta Smith describes her family's holiday traditions
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Henrietta Smith describes her mother's emphasis on etiquette
Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Henrietta Smith remembers her lessons in elocution
Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Henrietta Smith talks about her sister
Tape: 1 Story: 12 - Henrietta Smith describes her father's personality
Tape: 1 Story: 13 - Henrietta Smith describes her neighborhood in New York City
Tape: 1 Story: 14 - Henrietta Smith describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood
Tape: 1 Story: 15 - Henrietta Smith remembers the Grace Congregational Church of Harlem
Tape: 1 Story: 16 - Henrietta Smith recalls her experiences at P.S. 81 in New York City
Tape: 1 Story: 17 - Henrietta Smith describes her early aspirations
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Henrietta Smith describes her mother's parenting
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Henrietta Smith remembers Morris High School in New York City
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Henrietta Smith describes her experiences at New York City's Hunter College
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Henrietta Smith remembers attending Hunter College with Ruby Dee
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Henrietta Smith remembers volunteering at the 135th Street Library in New York City
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Henrietta Smith talks about the 135th Street Library
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Henrietta Smith recalls attending library school at Columbia University
Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Henrietta Smith recalls working as a cataloguer at the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes in Tallahassee, Florida
Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Henrietta Smith recalls her return to the New York Public Library system
Tape: 2 Story: 10 - Henrietta Smith describes the work of Augusta Braxton Baker
Tape: 2 Story: 11 - Henrietta Smith recalls the discrimination faced by African American authors
Tape: 2 Story: 12 - Henrietta Smith remembers the notable African American librarians
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Henrietta Smith recalls her storytelling lessons from Augusta Braxton Baker
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Henrietta Smith recalls the Hans Christian Andersen storytelling hour
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Henrietta Smith remembers Jean Blackwell Hutson
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Henrietta Smith describes her duties as a children's librarian
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Henrietta Smith remembers meeting and marrying her husband
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Henrietta Smith remembers the birth of her first daughter
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Henrietta Smith describes her husband's law practice
Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Henrietta Smith remembers moving to Delray Beach, Florida
Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Henrietta Smith describes her work for the public schools of Broward County, Florida
Tape: 3 Story: 10 - Henrietta Smith talks about her doctoral studies at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida
Tape: 3 Story: 11 - Henrietta Smith remembers her tenure at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Henrietta Smith describes working at University of South Florida
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Henrietta Smith remembers E.J. Josey
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Henrietta Smith recalls the creation of the Coretta Scott King Award
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Henrietta Smith describes the John Steptoe New Talent Award
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Henrietta Smith talks about the Coretta Scott King Awards Book
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Henrietta Smith talks about illustrator Ashley Bryan
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Henrietta Smith describes the African American Research Library and Cultural Center
Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Henrietta Smith remembers Doris Clark
Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Henrietta Smith remembers Lucille Thomas
Tape: 4 Story: 10 - Henrietta Smith remembers Charlemae Rollins
Tape: 4 Story: 11 - Henrietta Smith remembers Virginia Lacy Jones
Tape: 4 Story: 12 - Henrietta Smith remembers Effie Lee Morris
Tape: 4 Story: 13 - Henrietta Smith describes her involvement in Storytellers International
Tape: 4 Story: 14 - Henrietta Smith remembers telling stories with Blue Water
Tape: 4 Story: 15 - Henrietta Smith recalls the creation of the Pura Belpre Award
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Henrietta Smith shares her philosophy of storytelling
Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Henrietta Smith talks about access to African American children's literature
Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Henrietta Smith describes her concerns for children's literature
Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Henrietta Smith shares her concerns for public libraries
Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Henrietta Smith talks about the Negro National Anthem
Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Henrietta Smith reflects upon her legacy
Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Henrietta Smith narrates her photographs, pt. 1
Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Henrietta Smith narrates her photographs, pt. 2
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