Kelly Miller Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1920-10-28)October 28, 1920 Mound Bayou, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | June 3, 1984(1984-06-03) (aged 63) |
| Resting place | Greenwood Cemetery |
| Alma mater | Morehouse College Howard University |
| Occupation(s) | Preacher, activist |
| Spouse | Alice Clark Smith |
| Children | 4 |
Kelly Miller Smith Sr. (October 28, 1920 – June 3, 1984) was aBaptist preacher, author, and prominent activist in theCivil Rights Movement, who was based inNashville, Tennessee.
Smith was born and raised in the all-black community ofMound Bayou, Mississippi.[1] He attended Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State College (laterTennessee State University) from 1938 to 1940, but graduated fromMorehouse College in Atlanta in 1942 with a double major in music and religion. He later received a Bachelor of Divinity degree (now known as aMaster of Divinity degree) fromHoward University School of Religion in 1945.[2]
Smith moved toNashville, Tennessee, in 1951 where he became pastor ofFirst Baptist Church, Capitol Hill, a post he would retain until his death in 1984. He also served on the faculty of theAmerican Baptist Theological Seminary. He became president of the NashvilleNAACP in 1956 and founded the Nashville Christian Leadership Council (NCLC) in 1958. Through the NCLC, Smith helped to organize and support theNashville sit-ins—a movement which would successfully end racial segregation at lunch counters in Nashville.[2] In a 1964 interview withRobert Penn Warren for the bookWho Speaks for the Negro?, Smith comments that the end to segregation was achieved through much hardship and many negotiations by the NCLC.[3]
In 1969, Smith became assistant dean of theVanderbilt University Divinity School.[2] He was the first African American to become a faculty member in the school.[4]
Smith was married to Alice Clark Smith and had four children, daughters Joy Ardelia, Adena Modesta, and Valerie Lin, and son Kelly Miller Smith Jr. He and his wife also reared a foster daughter Dorothy Jean Springfield.[4]
Smith died of cancer on June 3, 1984.[4] He was buried inGreenwood Cemetery in Nashville.[4]
The Kelly Miller Smith Center Against Abusive Behavior also bears his name. It is housed in the Ennix Jones Center on the campus of First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill in Nashville, TN. It was started by the widow of Dr. Smith, Dr. Alice Clark Risby and Dr. Ruth E. Dennis. It was started to stem the tide of domestic violence. Thus, it bears the name of this bridge builder, KMSSr.
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