Emily Smith was

Mayor of Coventry The title Lord Mayor of Coventry was created on 3 June 1953 when the dignity was conferred on the city of Coventry, England by Letters Patent as part of the Coronation celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II. Prior to that Coventry had had a Mayor sin ...

between 1942 and 1943, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the latter part of the

Coventry Blitz The Coventry Blitz ( blitz: from the German word ''Blitzkrieg'' meaning "lightning war" ) or Coventration of the city was a series of bombing raids that took place on the British city of Coventry. The city was bombed many times during the Sec ...

. She served as a Poor Law Guardian, Labour Councillor, magistrate and

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

Life and early career

Emily Smith was born Emily Parker in Dudley Hill and Tong,

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

. In 1915 she moved from Bradford to Coventry. After her husband's death four years later, she brought up their children by herself. Smith served as a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

councillor in Coventry from 1928. In 1933 Smith argued against the requirement for women officers in

Coventry City Council Coventry City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Coventry in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. The city is divided up into 18 Wards each with three councillors. Coventry ...

to resign upon marriage. She became an

in 1937.

Mayor of Coventry

On 9 November 1942 Smith was elected Mayor of Coventry, the second woman ever to hold the post. She said that:

“for it to be possible for a working woman to become mayor of this ancient city ..speaks highly for our democracy.”

On 23 February 1943 Smith formally opened Canley Garden Cemetery and Crematorium. In 1943, following the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

, Smith led a project with women of Coventry to send an embroidered tablecloth as a message of sympathy to women in Stalingrad. More than 800 women signed their names on the cloth, which was later embroidered by Mrs May Adams. People paid six pence each to sign and the donations were sent to Stalingrad along with the cloth. In 1944 a "bond of friendship" was created between Coventry and

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

in one of the earliest recorded examples of

city twinning A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

. Reflecting on her mayoral year in 1943, Smith said that “All I wanted to be asa good mother to the citizens”

References

External links

Page with images of Smith
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Emily Year of birth missing Year of death missing Mayors of Coventry People from Bradford Women mayors of places in England Women councillors in England