Papers of Julia Hamilton Smith, 1942-1991 (inclusive), 1964-1981 (bulk)
Overview
Memoir, biographical information, correspondence, photographs, etc., of teacher Julia Hamilton Smith.
Dates
- 1942-1991
- Majority of material found within 1964-1981
Creator
- Smith, Julia Hamilton, 1885-1980 (Person)
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Julia Hamilton Smith is held by the President and Fellows of Harvard College for the Schlesinger Library. Copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.
Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.
Extent
1.04 linear feet ((2+1/2 file boxes) plus 1 folio photograph folder)The collection includes a memoir by Julia Hamilton Smith with notes and revisions. In addition, there is biographical and family information; correspondence; wills and financial information; photographs; and awards. Smith donated her father's photographs to the Museum of African American History, and the collection contains correspondence and clippings about exhibiting his work. Smith's support of numerous religious and civic organizations is also documented. Most of the photographs in this collection are or will be digitized and available online.
BIOGRAPHY
Julia Hamilton Smith was born in 1885 in Washington, DC, to Hamilton Smith and Julia Luke Brooks Smith. Smith's grandfather, John J. Smith, was an abolitionist and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Her father, Hamilton Smith, was the first Black man to graduate from the Boston University Law School in 1879. He practiced dentistry and was a professor at Howard University School of Dentistry. He was also an amateur photographer. Smith's mother, Julia Luke Brooks Smith, was a teacher in the Washington, DC, public schools. Julia Hamilton Smith graduated high school in Washington, DC, and trained as a teacher; eventually she received a BA in education from Howard University. She taught public school in Washington, DC. In 1947, she retired and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to care for her brother, a physician. Smith was active in religious and civic organizations in Washington and Cambridge, including the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and the Young Women's Christian Association. She donated her father's photographs to the Museum of African American history in Boston, Massachusetts, and gave lectures on the collection. Smith died in 1980 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession numbers: 1550, 78-M239, 2016-M135
The papers of Julia Hamilton Smith were given to the Schlesinger Library by Julia Hamilton Smith in 1969 and 1978, and by Edith Walker in 2016.
Processing Information
Processed: May 2023
By: Paula Aloisio and Johanna Carll
Folder #2.12 was previously cataloged as A/S651.
The Schlesinger Library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit. Finding aids may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
Creator
- Smith, Julia Hamilton, 1885-1980 (Person)
- Title
- Smith, Julia Hamilton, 1885-1980. Papers of Julia Hamilton Smith, 1942-1991 (inclusive), 1964-1981 (bulk)): A Finding Aid
- Author
- Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
- Language of description
- eng
- Sponsor
- Processing of this collection was made possible by gifts from the Pforzheimer Fund for the Schlesinger Library and Class of 1957 Schlesinger Library Fund.
- EAD ID
- sch02052
Repository Details
Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository
The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.