Henrietta M. Smith
| Henrietta M. Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Henrietta Mays May 2, 1922 Harlem, New York |
| Alma mater | Hunter College, B.A, 1943; Columbia University, B.S. and M.S. in Library Science; University of Miami, Ph.D., curriculum and supervision |
| Occupation | Scholar of African American children's literature, librarian |
| Employer | New York Public Library, Florida Atlantic University, Broward County, University of South Florida |
| Spouse(s) | Isiah C. Smith |
| Parent(s) | Nettie Johnson, Henry Lucas Mays |
Henrietta M. Smith (born 1922), edited the Coretta Scott King Award Book: From Vision to Reality (Chicago: American Library Association, 1994) and The Coretta Scott King Award Book: 1970-1999 sponsored by the American Library Association. In 2008, she was selected as the recipient of the Association for Library Service to Children's (ALSC) Distinguished Service Award, which honors an individual ALSC member who has made significant contributions to library service to children and ALSC. She is also the recipient of the 2011 Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Practitioner Award for Lifetime Achievement. Dr. Smith was the first African-American professor at the University of South Florida, School of Information. She also taught at Florida Atlantic University.
Henrietta Mays Smith was born on May 2, 1922 in Harlem, New York. She is the daughter of Nettie Johnson, and Henry Lucas Mays. Smith originally wanted to be a Latin instructor, but eventually studied English and history at Hunter College, and received her B.A in 1943. Then she attended Columbia University, and earned her B.S. and M.S. in Library Science in 1946 and 1959. In 1975, she completed her doctorate degree in curriculum and supervision at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
After graduating, Smith began her library career at the Countee Cullen Branch of the New York Public Library as a children's librarian and storyteller under the mentorship of librarian Augusta Braxton Baker, telling stories at locations such as the Hans Christian Anderson Statue in Central Park. After marrying Isaiah Courtney Smith, a young civil rights lawyer, she wanted to come to the South "to see if what they said was true." She applied at libraries in historic black colleges, except for those in Mississippi, and accepted the highest paying offer, that of cataloger at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, a position she held for two years. She then returned briefly to New York City, but moved back to Florida, to reside at Pompano Beach, where she continues to live.
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