Dorothy Garrett Smith

Dorothy Garrett Smith

Member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
In office January 1988 – August 8, 1990
Succeeded by	Walter C. Lee (permanent successor)
Webster Parish School Board member
In office 1971–1987

Personal details
Born	c. 1932 Bastrop Morehouse Parish Louisiana, USA
Died	August 8, 1990 (aged 58) Shreveport, Caddo Parish
Cause of death	Heart attack
Resting place	Springhill Cemetery in Springhill, Louisiana
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Gerald B. Smith
Children	Michael B. Smith, Gerald Garrett Smith, Timothy Lane Smith
Residence	Springhill, Webster Parish
Alma mater	Southern Arkansas University
Occupation	School board member

Dorothy Garrett Smith (c. 1932 – August 8, 1990) was the first woman to have served as president of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, which establishes and monitors education policy. Smith was the president from December 1989 until her sudden death eight months later during the administration of Governor Buddy Roemer. She represented nine parishes in northwestern Louisiana: Beauregard, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto, Red River, Sabine, Vernon, and her own Webster.

Smith was either a native of Bastrop in Morehouse Parish in northeast Louisiana or Springhill in northernmost Webster Parish near the Arkansas state line. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, she graduated from Springhill High School and attended Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. However, the Minden Press-Herald reported that she did not move to Springhill until 1957, when she was about twenty-five years of age and therefore would not have graduated from Springhill High School.