Edwin Oscar Smith (1871 – October 28, 1960) was a

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

politician who served 28 years in the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

and, from April through September, 1908, was president of the Connecticut Agricultural College, which is now the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

Biography

Smith was born in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

. He attended

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

, graduating in 1893.Rep. E.O. Smith, 89, of Connecticut dies
''

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'', October 29, 1960 He played professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

on teams in Hartford, Connecticut, and the

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...

region of New York and he was a baseball and football coach at

Depauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the ...

. Between 1901 and 1916 he was a member of the faculty of the Connecticut Agricultural College (now the University of Connecticut) in Storrs, teaching English and economics. He served as the school's football and baseball coach for four seasons, from 1902 to 1905, compiling a 14–13–1 record in football and a 13–9–1 record in baseball. From April through September 1908 he held the school's interim presidency. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, Smith was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1932 and served 14 consecutive two-year terms in the House. He was seeking re-election to a fifteenth term when he died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

on October 28, 1960. He also was a member of the Connecticut State Board of Education between 1935 and 1939. As a state legislator, he played a significant role in the enactment of legislation related to education and served as chairman of the Legislative Committee on Education that in 1954 established a formula for state government financial support of public schools.Rep. E.O. Smith, Dean of the House, Taken by Death
''Meriden Journal'', October 28, 1960 At the time of his death at the age of 89, Smith was the oldest and longest-serving member of the

Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Th ...

E. O. Smith High School

E. O. Smith High School, established in 1958 as a regional school to serve the towns of Ashford and Mansfield, is named for him. Originally part of the University of Connecticut campus, owned by the state, and operated by the university, it has been operated as a regional public school since 1987.School / Region History
Edwin O. Smith High School website, accessed August 18, 2011 In 1993 the town of Willington was added to the region served by the school.

Head coaching record

Football

Baseball

The following table depicts Smith's record as head baseball coach at Connecticut.

Biography

E. O. Smith High School

Head coaching record

Football

Baseball

References

Further reading