Finding aid for the Dorothy E. Smith Family Papers

Biography of the Dorothy E. Smith Family

Dorothy E. Smith (1905-1995) was a music teacher in Cleveland, Ohio, and the first African American member of the Cleveland Women's Orchestra. A violinist, Smith was a 1922 graduate of Central High School where she was a schoolmate of poet Langston Hughes. She was a 1931 graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and was a music teacher at the Cleveland Music School Settlement, the Phillis Wheatley Association, and the Friendly Inn Settlement. In the 1940s she taught music at Knoxville College in Tennessee. She married attorney George Johnson in 1949 and was divorced in 1956. Smith was a supervisor for the Ohio State Department of Aid for the Aged until her retirement in 1973. Dorothy Smith was the daughter of Joseph Warren Smith and Elizabeth Rayner. Her siblings were Gladys (Kenny), Naomi Smith, Joseph W., Jr., Winifred (Dickerson), and Christina (Jones).

Joseph W. Smith (1863-1931) was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and died in Cleveland in 1931. Smith moved to Cleveland in the late 1880s and worked as a clerk before moving his family in 1890. He established a barbershop on the east side of Cleveland as early as 1893 and which was located on Central Avenue from 1903 to 1925. He managed baseball teams in the 1890s and early 1900s. Smith was a musician and played the mandolin with his barbers, entertaining their patrons. He was a member and Master Mason of Eureka Lodge #52 Free and Accepted Masons of Cleveland, the first African American lodge in Cleveland. Elizabeth Rayner (1870-1924) was born in Baltimore and married Joseph Smith before moving to Cleveland in 1890. She was a founding member of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church of Cleveland in 1891. During World War I she was a member of the Mayor's Advisory War Committee, as chair of one of the neighborhood food committees. Gladys Smith Kenny (1890-1977) was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved to Cleveland with her parents when only a few months old. She performed volunteer work at the Playhouse (Karamu House) and Friendly Inn Settlements, teaching ceramics at both.

Joseph W. Smith, Jr. (1892-1945) was a veteran of World War I, engaging the enemy in France. For twenty years he was the headwaiter at the Lakeside Country Club of Canton, Ohio.

Naomi Smith (1900-1975) was a 1919 graduate of Central High School and a 1921 graduate of Cleveland Normal School. She was a teacher at Mayflower Elementary School for more than forty years. She co-authored a "course of study" guide for first grade teachers. She was a member of the Gilpin Players and performed at Karamu House Theater in the 1920s and 1930s. Winifred Smith Dickerson (1912-1994) was a graduate of Ohio State University and was a member of the women's Swan Club, which consisted of the water ballet and swim team. She was a graduate of East Technical High School and learned to swim at the Central Bathhouse Recreation Center. She taught at Bluefield State College in West Virginia before moving back to Cleveland with her husband, James B., and taught physical education in the Cleveland Schools as well as at the Phillis Wheatley Association. She was a member of the Vaggettes, an auxiliary of the Royal Vagabond Club. Christina Smith Jones (1912-1992), the twin sister of Winifred, was also a graduate of Ohio State University. She worked in the Columbus, Ohio, auditor's office. She married Charles E. Jones, founder of the Livingston Heights community of greater Columbus.

Scope and Content

The Dorothy E. Smith Family Papers, 1865-1995, consist primarily of correspondence, letters, cards, cemetery records, funeral programs, obituaries, legal files, memberships, a deed, certificates, newspaper clippings, student newspapers, playscripts, postcards, programs, reports, receipts, sheet music, yearbooks, and memorabilia.

The collection is of value to researchers interested in biographical information about Dorothy E. Smith and her family, information on African American women musicians, Cleveland Women's Orchestra, African American teachers, African American barbers during the progressive era, and residents of Central Avenue during the early 1930s, as well as Langston Hughes, Central High School, the Gilpin Players, Knoxville College, W.E.B. Dubois, and songs composed by Dorothy Smith (Johnson). Researchers of military history may find interesting original letters signed by African American military personnel from a Civil War battlefield, a Spanish-American War encampment, a World War I training camp, and a World War II United States Navy ship and Army base. Significant correspondents are Frank Gardner, private in the Massachusetts 55th Regiment during the Civil War; William T. Anderson, Army Chaplain of the 10th U.S. Calvary during the Spanish-American War; and Joseph W. Smith, Jr., Company H 372nd Infantry, in camp at Norfolk, Virginia, during World War I. Other correspondents are attorney John P. Green, funeral director J.W. Wills, Sr.; businessman Jacob Reed; Reverend R. W. Bagnall of St. Andrews Episcopal Church; H. Leslie Adams, composer and student of Dorothy Smith; Rayner Smith, nephew of Dorothy Smith and mayor of Woodmere, Ohio; and Rowena Jelliffe, director of Karamu House.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Use

Copyright retained by the donor.

The researcher should also consult PG 519 Dorothy E. Smith Family Photographs.

All photographs have been removed to the photograph and print collection. All artifacts have transferred to the museum collection.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4854 Dorothy E. Smith Family Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Carlissa Tate, 2001

Processing Information

Processed by Samuel W. Black in 2002

Detailed Description of The Collection