Nashville's First Public Historian: Jessie Carney Smith At Fisk University

Abstract

In 1965, Smith began her career as head librarian at Fisk, making endless contributions to black history. By the time of her retirement, several contemporaries concluded that her encyclopedias promoted black women’s history and helped public education. Though there has been increasing interest in black librarianship, Smith somehow slips through the cracks. While Arturo Schomburg, and Dorothy Porter were exceptional at both Fisk and Howard libraries, Smith furthered their pursuit of black history. Not guilty of self-adulation, Smith rarely mentions her accomplishments. Instead, she insists that Fisk should commemorate her great mentor and predecessor Arna Bontemps. After all, it was those early years with Bontemps that introduced her to librarianship, and that formed the ethos of her first decade as head librarian.