Joseph Scott Smith (October 21, 1948 — February 4, 1995) was a gay rights activist best known for his romantic relationship with

Harvey Milk Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised in ...

, for whom he was a campaign manager.

Biography

Smith was born in Key West, Florida, and grew up in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

. He then attended

Memphis State University } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

for three years before moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1969, where he met Harvey Milk, moving with him to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

three years later, where the couple founded

Castro Camera Castro Camera was a camera store in the Castro District of San Francisco, California, operated by Harvey Milk from 1972 until his assassination in 1978. During the 1970s the store became the center of the neighborhood's growing gay community, as ...

. Harvey Milk and Scott Smith were engaged in a romantic relationship for 7 years. Scott Smith at 575 Castro Street

Smith was instrumental to Milk's career as an activist and politician. He organized and managed Milk's campaigns for public office from 1974 to 1977 and his influence was widely in evidence after Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Smith was well known for orchestrating the Coors boycott and putting Milk at the forefront of the issue, creating one of the first public displays of power by the gay community. Milk was responsible for uniting gay establishments against Coors by refusing to sell Coors products. There are hundreds of images of Smith, taken by Milk and others, in the Harvey Milk Archives/Scott Smith Collection at the

San Francisco Public Library The San Francisco Public Library is the public library system of the city and county of San Francisco. The Main Library is located at Civic Center, at 100 Larkin Street. The library system has won several awards, such as '' Library Journals ...

. After being discharged from the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, Milk spent many hours taking pictures. Smith was his favorite model; sometimes Milk spent entire rolls of film just taking pictures of Smith. Smith's friends and family nicknamed him "The Widow Milk" because of the dedication he had to archiving Harvey Milk's photos and belongings. Smith fell into a very deep depression after Milk was killed. With

Frank M. Robinson Frank Malcolm Robinson (August 9, 1926 – June 30, 2014) was an American science fiction and techno-thriller writer. He was a speechwriter for gay politician Harvey Milk and Milk's designated successor in the event of his death but decline ...

, he was the executor of Milk's last

will and testament A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person ( executor) is to manage the property until its final distributi ...

. Smith died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

, resulting from

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

on February 4, 1995, at the age of 46. Family and friends of Scott Smith want his life to be honored by donating to his favorite charities; the Salvation Army, San Franciscos AIDS Foundation and the Women's Cancer Resource Center in Oakland.

Portrayal in popular culture

In the 2008 feature film ''

Milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...

'', the role of Scott Smith was played by

James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-M ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Scott 1948 births 1995 deaths People from Key West, Florida People from Jackson, Mississippi LGBT people from Florida LGBT people from Mississippi LGBT people from California American LGBT rights activists Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area Harvey Milk Deaths from pneumonia in California AIDS-related deaths in California