Mary Carter Smith (1919 – April 24, 2007) was a noted American

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

who helped revive

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pre ...

as an educational tool. She graduated from Coppin State University and was a teacher in the

Baltimore City Public School system Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), also referred to as Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) or City Schools, is a public school district in the city of Baltimore, state of Maryland, United States. It serves the youth of Baltimore Cit ...

for thirty-one years. Additionally, she was a co-founder of Big Brothers-Big Sisters of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, founding member of Big Brothers-Big Sisters of America, the Arena Players theatre company and the Griots' Circle of Maryland. She hosted a Saturday morning

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

program, "Griot for the Young and the Young at Heart" and, in 1983, Mary Smith was named the official Griot of Baltimore City and, in 1991, the official Griot of Maryland.

Awards and notable achievements

* 1982: co-founded The National Association of Black Storytellers * 1985: awarded the

Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and published research on Hoodoo (spirituality), hoodoo. The most ...

Award * 1996: Lifetime Achievement Award and The Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Association * Her image is featured at the

National Great Blacks In Wax Museum The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum is a wax museum in Baltimore, Maryland featuring prominent African-American and other black historical figures. It was established in 1983, in a downtown storefront on Saratoga Street. The museum is currentl ...

in Baltimore, Maryland

References

External links

Biography at Maryland Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Mary Carter 1919 births 2007 deaths Coppin State University alumni Educators from Maryland Educators from Baltimore American storytellers Women storytellers 20th-century American educators 20th-century American women educators 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American educators 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women