Jessie Carney Smith (born September 24, 1930) is an American librarian and educator, formerly Dean of the

Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...

Library and Camille Cosby Distinguished Chair in the Humanities. She was the first African American to earn a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree in

library science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. She is also a scholar and author of research guides and reference books focusing on notable

African-American people African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensla ...

Early years

Jessie Carney Smith was born on September 24, 1930, in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

, to James Ampler and Vesona Bigelow Carney. Smith attended James B. Dudley High School in Greensboro. She graduated from

North Carolina A&T State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

with her B.S. degree in home economics in 1950. Smith received her M.A. degree in child development from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

in 1956, and her M.A.L.S. degree from the George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in 1957.

Career

Smith began working as an instructor and library cataloger at

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

in 1957. She enrolled in a Ph.D. program at the

in 1960, and became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. degree in library science from the University of Illinois in 1964. Smith was hired as a professor of

and the university library of Fisk University in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, in 1965. Smith was appointed dean of the Fisk University library in 2010. She retired in 2020. She has served as consultant to the U.S.

Office for Civil Rights The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Education that is primarily focused on enforcing civil rights laws prohibiting schools from engaging in discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex ...

, the

U.S. Office of Education The Office of Education, at times known as the Department of Education and the Bureau of Education, was a small unit in the Federal Government of the United States within the U.S. Department of the Interior from 1867 to 1972. It is now separated ...

, the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, and the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...

. She was awarded Fisk University's Camille Cosby Distinguished Chair in the Humanities in 1992. Smith has published numerous research guides and reference books, specifically exploring the gaps in scholarship around African-Americans. She has published three separate volumes of ''

Notable Black American Women ''Notable Black American Women'' is a three-volume series by Jessie Carney Smith profiling 1,100 Black American women. The first volume, with 500 profiles, was published in 1992, the second in 1994, and the third in 2003, all by Gale. Smith spent ...

'' (in 1991, 1996, and 2003) and two separate volumes of ''Notable Black American Men'' (in 1999 and 2006). Her other books include ''Black Heroes of the Twentieth Century'', ''Freedom Facts and Firsts: 400 Years of the African American Civil Rights Experience'', and ''Black Firsts: 4000 Groundbreaking and Pioneering Historical Events'', among others.

Legacy

Smith is best known for her work as an African-American studies scholar, and has received a number of awards for her work in libraries and as an author. She was awarded the Martin Luther King Black Authors Award in 1982 and the National Women's Book Association Award in 1992. She received the

Candace Award The Candace Award is an award that was given from 1982 to 1992 by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women (NCBW) to "Black role models of uncommon distinction who have set a standard of excellence for young people of all races". Kandake, Candace ...

for excellence in education in 1992, and distinguished alumni awards from both the Peabody College of Vanderbilt University and the

. Smith was named the Academic/Research Librarian of the Year from the

Association of College and Research Libraries The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association, is a professional association of academic librarians and other interested individuals. It is dedicated to enhancing the ability of academi ...

in 1985, and in 1997 Smith received the key to the city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In 2020, upon her retirement, Smith was granted the title of Librarian Emerita by

References

External links

Biography of Jessie Carney Smith from Contemporary Black Biography, 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jessie Carney People from Greensboro, North Carolina African-American librarians American librarians American women librarians African-American women writers Black studies scholars 1930 births Living people 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women