Call Number:

MC 47

Repository:

Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center

Extent:

2.8 linear feet (; 7 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Cite as [indicate cited item or folder here], Smith, Walter George papers, 1836-1933 (MC 47). Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center.

Date:

1836-1933 (inclusive)

Creator:

Smith, Walter George, 1854-1924

Abstract:

Walter George Smith (1854-1924) was a prominent Philadelphia attorney. A devout Catholic, Smith worked and lectured extensively for the anti-divorce cause. Among other activities, he was involved in advancing the causes of uniform state laws, was an appointed member of the Board of Indian Commissioners, a Manager of the Drexel Institute, and President of the American Bar Association. The collection contains correspondence, including family correspondence; diaries, journals and travel logs; speeches, addresses, published and unpublished writings. Scrapbooks, memorabilia, and obituaries are also included.

Walter George Smith was born in Mac-o-Cheek, Logan County, Ohio on November 24, 1854 to Thomas Kilby Smith, a Civil War general, and Elizabeth Budd McCullough. He moved to the Torresdale section of Philadelphia in the autumn of 1865, and received his primary education at the Protestant Episcopal Academy, which was located at the corner of Juniper and Locust Streets. Smith graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and began practicing law in 1879.

At the onset of his legal career, Smith was often retained as defense counsel in homicide cases, including, for example, the case of Theodore J. McGuirk in 1880. His most notable legal work, however, was toward bringing about uniform divorce laws in various states, lessening the number of grounds for granting divorce, and generally fighting against laws that eased divorce restrictions. Smith also notably represented the widow of General U.S. Grant in a matter concerning the publication of General Grant's memoirs, and shortly thereafter represented Jefferson Davis in a similar matter (see Box 1 Folder 5).

On January 9, 1890, Smith married Elizabeth Langstreth Drexel, sister of St. Katharine Drexel. Elizabeth died just 9 months later on September 26, 1890. Smith did not remarry and did not have any children.

In 1891, Smith was elected as a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania as a representative of the Alumni Association and remained a member for 18 years until 1909, when he resigned over an opposition to the appointment of Dr. J.P. Lichtenberger as an associate professor at Wharton. Smith was vehemently opposed to Lichtenberger's stance on divorce and to his appointment, and the resignation made national headlines. (See Box 1 Folders 1-3).

As a devout Catholic and philanthropist, Smith served on a number of boards and was awarded a number of honors. In 1896, he was elected President of the American Catholic Historical Societies for the state of Pennsylvania, and for 30 years was a Manager of St. Vincent's Foundling Asylum. In 1907, Smith became a member of the Board of Trustees of Catholic University and in 1916 a member of the Board of Public Education of the City of Philadelphia.

In 1917, he was elected President of the American Bar Association, and in 1919 was appointed a Commissioner for Relief in the Near East. Smith sailed for Constantinople at this time, where he organized the distribution of food and clothing in stricken regions of Turkey. In 1923, he was appointed as a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners, and in May of that year embarked on a two-month inspection of Pueblo and Navajo tribes. Journals and travel logs from these trips are part of this collection.

Smith's devotion to Catholicism was affirmed in 1923 when the University of Notre Dame awarded him the Laetare Medal, the highest order accorded to a member of the Roman Catholic laity.

Smith died on April 4, 1924 in Philadelphia.

Much of the material in this collection concerns Walter George Smith's career as an attorney in Philadelphia, and specifically his involvement working to maintain stringent divorce laws and to establish uniform state laws. In 1909, Smith made national headlines when he resigned from the University of Pennsylvania because the school appointed James P. Lichtenberger, with whom Smith strongly disagreed on the divorce issue, as an associate professor at Wharton. The correspondence contains communications between Smith and the Board of Trustees, and many letters from those who supported Smith's decision to resign. Other notable items within the correspondence include letters to and from Jefferson Davis regarding a legal matter resulting from the publication of Davis' memoirs, and a letter from Theodore Roosevelt.

As a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners, Smith visited Pueblo and Navajo tribes, and the collection contains reports of those inspections. As a Commissioner for Relief in the Near East, Smith sailed to Istanbul, where he organized the distribution of food and clothing in stricken regions of Turkey. Travel logs and diaries from this trip, as well as from several European trips are included in the collection.

Smith was a prolific public speaker, and made many speeches and addresses during his lifetime. The speeches and addresses covered a myriad of topics, notably divorce and uniform state laws. Other topics include Abraham Lincoln, the role of women in American society, and the Near East. Many of the speeches and addresses in this collection are in original form, as well as in published form. The Speeches, Addresses, and Unpublished Works series also contains an autobiography of Walter George Smith.

The scrapbooks contain original newspaper clippings that detail Smith's work as an attorney, especially with regard to the issue of divorce and his resignation from the University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees. The scrapbooks also include obituaries and biographies of Smith, and memorabilia from various events and banquets that Smith attended.

While W.G. Smith's writings and papers make up the majority of the collection, there is also material relating to other Smith family members, including his sister, Helen Grace Smith and Thomas Kilby Smith.

The Published Writings series contains mostly journals from the late 19th and early 20th centuries that contain Smith's essays and speeches.

Series 1. Correspondence (1885-1924)

Series 2. Diaries, Journals, and Travel Logs (1905-1923)

Series 3. Speeches, Addresses, and Unpublished Writings (circa 1899-1918)

Series 4. Scrapbooks, Memorabilia, and Obituaries (1836-1930)

Series 5. Family Correspondence (1857-1933)

Series 6. Published Writings (1890-1930)