Walter George Smith papers
MC 47
Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center
2.8 Linear feet
; 7 boxes
1836-1933
Walter George Smith (1854-1924) was a prominent Philadelphia attorney. A devout Catholic, Smith worked and lectured extensively for the anti-divorce cause. Among other activities, he was involved in advancing the causes of uniform state laws, was an appointed member of the Board of Indian Commissioners, a Manager of the Drexel Institute, and President of the American Bar Association. The collection contains correspondence, including family correspondence; diaries, journals and travel logs; speeches, addresses, published and unpublished writings. Scrapbooks, memorabilia, and obituaries are also included.
Smith, Walter George, 1854-1924
Biographical/Historical note
Walter George Smith was born in Mac-o-Cheek, Logan County, Ohio on November 24, 1854 to Thomas Kilby Smith, a Civil War general, and Elizabeth Budd McCullough. He moved to the Torresdale section of Philadelphia in the autumn of 1865, and received his primary education at the Protestant Episcopal Academy, which was located at the corner of Juniper and Locust Streets. Smith graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and began practicing law in 1879.
At the onset of his legal career, Smith was often retained as defense counsel in homicide cases, including, for example, the case of Theodore J. McGuirk in 1880. His most notable legal work, however, was toward bringing about uniform divorce laws in various states, lessening the number of grounds for granting divorce, and generally fighting against laws that eased divorce restrictions. Smith also notably represented the widow of General U.S. Grant in a matter concerning the publication of General Grant's memoirs, and shortly thereafter represented Jefferson Davis in a similar matter (see Box 1 Folder 5).
On January 9, 1890, Smith married Elizabeth Langstreth Drexel, sister of St. Katharine Drexel. Elizabeth died just 9 months later on September 26, 1890. Smith did not remarry and did not have any children.
In 1891, Smith was elected as a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania as a representative of the Alumni Association and remained a member for 18 years until 1909, when he resigned over an opposition to the appointment of Dr. J.P. Lichtenberger as an associate professor at Wharton. Smith was vehemently opposed to Lichtenberger's stance on divorce and to his appointment, and the resignation made national headlines. (See Box 1 Folders 1-3).
As a devout Catholic and philanthropist, Smith served on a number of boards and was awarded a number of honors. In 1896, he was elected President of the American Catholic Historical Societies for the state of Pennsylvania, and for 30 years was a Manager of St. Vincent's Foundling Asylum. In 1907, Smith became a member of the Board of Trustees of Catholic University and in 1916 a member of the Board of Public Education of the City of Philadelphia.
In 1917, he was elected President of the American Bar Association, and in 1919 was appointed a Commissioner for Relief in the Near East. Smith sailed for Constantinople at this time, where he organized the distribution of food and clothing in stricken regions of Turkey. In 1923, he was appointed as a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners, and in May of that year embarked on a two-month inspection of Pueblo and Navajo tribes. Journals and travel logs from these trips are part of this collection.
Smith's devotion to Catholicism was affirmed in 1923 when the University of Notre Dame awarded him the Laetare Medal, the highest order accorded to a member of the Roman Catholic laity.
Smith died on April 4, 1924 in Philadelphia.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Preferred citation
Cite as [indicate cited item or folder here], Smith, Walter George papers, 1836-1933 (MC 47). Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center.
Other Finding Aids note
This is a revision of an older finding aid located in hard copy at PAHRC.
Provenance
Accession number 1990.048.
Processing Information note
Some of the scrapbooks and their contained newspaper clippings are brittle.
Scope and Contents
Much of the material in this collection concerns Walter George Smith's career as an attorney in Philadelphia, and specifically his involvement working to maintain stringent divorce laws and to establish uniform state laws. In 1909, Smith made national headlines when he resigned from the University of Pennsylvania because the school appointed James P. Lichtenberger, with whom Smith strongly disagreed on the divorce issue, as an associate professor at Wharton. The correspondence contains communications between Smith and the Board of Trustees, and many letters from those who supported Smith's decision to resign. Other notable items within the correspondence include letters to and from Jefferson Davis regarding a legal matter resulting from the publication of Davis' memoirs, and a letter from Theodore Roosevelt.
As a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners, Smith visited Pueblo and Navajo tribes, and the collection contains reports of those inspections. As a Commissioner for Relief in the Near East, Smith sailed to Istanbul, where he organized the distribution of food and clothing in stricken regions of Turkey. Travel logs and diaries from this trip, as well as from several European trips are included in the collection.
Smith was a prolific public speaker, and made many speeches and addresses during his lifetime. The speeches and addresses covered a myriad of topics, notably divorce and uniform state laws. Other topics include Abraham Lincoln, the role of women in American society, and the Near East. Many of the speeches and addresses in this collection are in original form, as well as in published form. The Speeches, Addresses, and Unpublished Works series also contains an autobiography of Walter George Smith.
The scrapbooks contain original newspaper clippings that detail Smith's work as an attorney, especially with regard to the issue of divorce and his resignation from the University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees. The scrapbooks also include obituaries and biographies of Smith, and memorabilia from various events and banquets that Smith attended.
While W.G. Smith's writings and papers make up the majority of the collection, there is also material relating to other Smith family members, including his sister, Helen Grace Smith and Thomas Kilby Smith.
The Published Writings series contains mostly journals from the late 19th and early 20th centuries that contain Smith's essays and speeches.
Separated Materials
Bryson, Thomas A. The Federal Career of Walter George Smith. Offprint from
Prologue: The Journal of the National Archives. Washington D.C.: The National Archives and Records Service, Fall 1972. Call no. P008.717
Bryson, Thomas A.
An Independent Armenia: The Counsel for the Defense. New York: Armenian General Benevolent Union of America, Inc., Spring 1969. Call no. P008.718
Bryson, Thomas A.
Walter George Smith and General Grant's Memoirs. Offprint from the
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, v. 94, no. 2. Philadelphia: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, April 1970.
Bryson, Thomas A.
Walter George Smith Papers and the Armenian Question at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. Philadelphia: The American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, March 1970.
Bryson, Thomas A.
The Walter George Smith Papers in the Archives of the American Catholic Historical Society. Philadelphia: The American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, December 1969. Call no. P008.714
Hall, William H.
Reconstruction in Turkey: A Series of Reports Compiled for the American Committee of Armenian and Syrian Relief. New York: American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, 1918. Call no. DR 418.A7 1918
Near East Relief.
The New Near East. Vol. 5: No. 6-12 (Jan - Sept 1920) and Vol. 6: No. 1-5 (Oct 1920-Feb 1921). Call no. Per-N
Overview of Arrangement
Series 1. Correspondence (1885-1924)
Series 2. Diaries, Journals, and Travel Logs (1905-1923)
Series 3. Speeches, Addresses, and Unpublished Writings (circa 1899-1918)
Series 4. Scrapbooks, Memorabilia, and Obituaries (1836-1930)
Series 5. Family Correspondence (1857-1933)
Series 6. Published Writings (1890-1930)
Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889
Lichtenberger, James Pendleton, 1870-1953
Smith, Helen Grace, 1865-
Smith, Thomas Kilby, 1820-1887
University of Pennsylvania. Board of Trustees.
Board of Indian Commissioners (U.S.)
Catholic intellectuals
Catholics--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.
Divorce--United States--History
Torresdale (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Uniform state laws--History
Correspondence
1
1-11
1885-1924
Correspondence re: resignation from University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees
1
1-3
1909
Correspondence A-C
1
4
1887-1923
Correspondence with Jefferson Davis
1
5
1889-1890
Correspondence D-E
1
6
1886-1924
Correspondence F-I
1
7
1885-1923
Correspondence J-M
1
8
1896-1924
Correspondence N-P
1
9
1886-1924
Correspondence R-T
1
10
1865-1924
Correspondence U-Z and unknown
1
11
1890-1921
Diaries, Journals, and Travel Logs
1-2
12-17, 1-4
1905-1923
Travel Logs
1
12
1905
Diary of European Tour
1
13
1913 and undated
Travel Journals
1
14
Feb-June 1919
Travel Logs
1
15
July-August 1919
Travel Journal of a Journey to the Near East
1
16
1919-1920
Travel Logs
1
17
1920-1921
Letters of Thomas Kilby Smith
2
1
1920
Journal of Western Tour
2
2
1923
Travel Logs to Family Members
2
3
1923
Report of a Visit to Pueblo and Navajo Indians
2
4
1923
Speeches, Addresses, and Unpublished Writings
2
5-12
circa 1899 - 1918
Speeches and Addresses
2
5-7
circa 1900-1924
Speeches and Addresses A-F
2
8
undated
Speeches and Addresses G-O
2
9
undated
Speeches and Addresses P-Z
2
10
1910 and undated
Speeches and Addresses, undated fragments
2
11
undated
Autobiography of Walter George Smith
2
12
1909
Scrapbooks, Memorabilia, and Obituaries
3-5
1836-1930
Newspaper clippings re divorce issue
3
1
1909-1910
Obituaries and Biographical Materials
3
2
undated
Obituaries and Biographical Materials
3
3
Memorabilia
3
4
Scrapbooks
4
Scrapbooks
5
Family Correspondence
6
1-6
1857-1933
Poems of Helen Grace Smith
6
1
1893-1919
Helen Grace Smith Correspondence
6
2
1888-1926
Helen Grace Smith Correspondence
6
3
1899-1933
Adrian Worthington Smith drawing
6
4
undated
Article by Charles W.A. Smith
6
5
1857
General Thomas Kilby Smith and Thomas Kilby Smith Esq. correspondence
6
6
1866-1887
Published Writings
6-7
7-21, 1-34
1890-1930
The Messenger of the Sacred Heart
6
7
July 1890
The Pilgrim of Our Lady of Martyrs
6
8
January 1890
The Messenger of the Sacred Heart
6
9
July 1891
The Messenger of the Sacred Heart
6
10
August 1891
An Address on Memorial Day
6
11
May 30, 1896
The Irish Monthly
6
12
Feb. 1899
Roger Brooke Taney
6
13
March 10, 1899
The American Law Register
6
14
April 1899
American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia Presidential Address
6
15
1899
Education and Morality in America
6
16
June 15, 1899
Rosary Magazine, Vol. XVI, No. 4
6
17
April 1900
George Allen LL.D: An Address
6
18
June 13, 1900
American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia's President's Address
6
19
1900
Mosher's Monthly Magazine, Vol. XXI, No. 2
6
20
November 1902
The Alumni Register, Vol. VI, No. 8
6
21
May 1902
Mosher's Magazine, Vol. XIX, No. 6
7
1
March 1902
The Alumni Register, Vol. VI, No. 8
7
2
May 1902
The Alumni Register, Vol. X, No. 3
7
3
December 1905
The Messenger, Vol. XLVII, No. 3
7
4
March 1907
Religion and the Scientific Spirit
7
5
June 10, 1908
St. Francis of Assisi
7
6
November 1909
Uniform Marriage and Divorce Laws
7
7
July 7, 1909
Uniform State Laws
7
8
August 29, 1912
Rhode Island Bar Association
7
9
December 2, 1912
Central Law Journal, Vol. 74, No. 1
7
10
July 5, 1912
ABA Chairman's Address
7
11
1913
Uniform Social Laws
7
12
March 10, 1913
Journal of the Society of Comparative Legislation, Vol. XVI, Part 2
7
13
circa 1914
Medical Professional Secrecy in the Courts
7
14
March 19, 1914
Abraham Lincoln
7
15
February 12, 1917
Proceedings of a Meeting to Protest against Deportation of Belgian Citizens into Servitude in Germany
7
16
January 7, 1917
The Judicial Power in the United States
7
17
June 8, 1918
Civil Liberty in America
7
18
August 1918
Democracy under Constitutional Limitations
7
19
May-June 1918
The Proposed Amendments to the National Constitution
7
20
March 30, 1918
Democracy under Constitutional Limitations
7
21
Feb 22, 1918
Abraham Lincoln
7
22
Feb 13, 1918
War Legislation
7
23
January 2, 1918
Victorious Peace
7
24
April 1918
The Catholic World, Vol. CVIII, No. 648
7
25
March 1919
Joseph Percy Keating
7
26
circa 1920
Disarmament Conference in Washington
7
27
circa 1921
A Religious Weekly Review
7
28
Feb 19, 1921
The New Armenia, Vol. XVI, No. 1
7
29
Jan-Feb 1924
The Signet
7
30
October 1930
Correcting the Divorce Evil
7
31
undated
Educational Legislation as it Affects Catholic Interests
7
32
undated
Woman's Responsibility in Modern Life
7
33
undated
Progress
7
34
undated