Call Number:

Smith

Repository:

Bryn Mawr College

Extent:

1 boxes

Language:

English

Date:

1916-1960s (inclusive)

Abstract:

Hilda Worthington Smith, a pioneering force in labor education, was born in 1888. She attended Bryn Mawr College with the class of 1910, and later earned her M.A. in Ethics and Psychology in 1911 from the same institution. She then earned a degree in social work from the New York School of Philanthropy.

Worthington Smith was hired as a warden at Bryn Mawr College in 1913, and then began working as the Acting Dean of the College. From 1921-1933, she served as the director of the Bryn Mawr School for Women Workers in Industry, Bryn Mawr College's summer school for working women, one of the first labor colleges in the country.

After her career at Bryn Mawr, she worked for the government as a Specialist in Workers Education for the Federal Relief Administration, from 1933-1943. From 1945-50, she was the registered lobbyist for the National Committee for the Extension of Labor Education. From 1952-1954, she was a writer for the Fund for Adult Education (Ford Foundation). She then served as a staff member on the Adult Education Bureau in the New York State Department of Education from 1957-1959. She was a consultant for the Connecticut State Commission on Services to the Elderly from 1959-1961, and part of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Training and Technical Assistance Division from 1965-1972. She retired at the age of 1972.

Worthington Smith passed away in March of 1984.

Bibliographical note:

http://greenfield.brynmawr.edu/exhibits/show/the-summer-school-for-women-wo/introduction/hilda-worthington-smith

https://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/14/obituaries/hilda-w-smith-95-educator.html

The Hilda Worthington Smith faculty papers contains materials related to Hilda Smith, a worker's rights and education activist (Bryn Mawr College class of 1910). The collection, which contains materials from 1916-1960s, largely consists of Xeroxed biographical materials pertaining to Smith.

The collection consists of one box and several books.

The box contains 11 folders. Folder 1 contains correspondence, primarily letters written from Smith to her aunt in the 1930s. However, there are also letters to Bryn Mawr Presidents Park and Thomas. Folder 2 contains correspondence with Elizabeth Freund. Folder 3 contains poetry on various topics. Folder 4 contains comments on "The Remembered Way." Folder 5 contains materials related to the Bryn Mawr Community Center (1916-1919). Folder 5 contains a worker's education outline from 1952. Folders 7-10 contain autobiography draft materials. Folder 11 contains miscellaneous materials, including a family tree, obituaries, and a talk by Eleanor Roosevelt. The box also contains two books on the Summer School for Women Workers in Industry.

Additionally, there are several books in the collection on the Summer School for Women Workers in Industry and worker's rights.

Smith was an instrumental figure in the Bryn Mawr community, as well as a long-term employee for the federal government. This collection gives an excellent overview of her life, with a special focus on her work with the Bryn Mawr Community Center. It would be of use to anyone interested in Smith, the SSWWI, or the Bryn Mawr Community Center.