May Riley Smith (May 27, 1842 – January 14, 1927) was an American poet and clubwoman.

Biography

May (or Mary) Louise Riley was born on May 27, 1842 in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. She attended Brockport Collegiate Institute. She married Albert Smith, of

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

, a bridge engineer, on March 31, 1869, and they had one son. Soon, they removed to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where Smith belonged to several literary and social clubs during her life. She was the president of the

Sorosis Sorosis Club rules in 1869 Sorosis was the first professional women's club in the United States. It was established in March 1868 in New York City. History The club was organized in New York City with 12 members in March 1868, by Jane Cunningham ...

Club from 1911 to 1915 and the club's honorary president from 1919 until her death in 1927. She was also a member of the Poetry Club,

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

, the Meridian Club, the Barnard Club, and the MacDowell Club. Her published books are ''A Gift of Gentians and Other Verses'' (New York, 1882), and ''The Inn of Rest'' (1888). Among the best and most popular of her poems are "Tired Mothers," "If We Knew," "The Easter Moon," " Love is Sweeter than Rest" and "My Prayer." Among those that have been published separately as booklets are "His Name" and "Sometime". Many of her poems were devotional and were reprinted in hymn books. Her poems were also published in magazines such as

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

. Smith died in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

on January 14, 1927.

Notes

References

Attribution

External links

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May Riley Smith
at the Online Books Page {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, May Riley 1842 births 1927 deaths People from Rochester, New York American women poets Clubwomen 19th-century American poets Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century Daughters of the American Revolution people 19th-century American women