Barbara Ellen Smith
Barbara Ellen Smith is an American author, activist, and educator. In 2017 she was named professor emerita of Virginia Tech. Smith is known for her involvement and writing about social justice in Appalachia, particularly the Black lung movement and advocacy for coal miners.
Barbara Ellen Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1951 Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Alma mater | Brandeis University |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | Digging our own graves : coal miners and the struggle over black lung disease (1981) |
Education and career
Smith was born in 1951 in Ann Arbor, Michigan and was raised in Indiana.[1] She graduated from Antioch College in 1972 with Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.[1] She began working with the Black Lung Movement and teaching at an elementary school in Anawalt, West Virginia.[1] Smith served as Director of Research and Education at the Southeast Women's Employment Coalition in Lexington, Kentucky, and as a board member for the Highlander Research and Education Center.[1] She returned to academia and acquired both her Master's Degree and Ph.D. (1981) from Brandeis University.[2] She later became the Director of the Women's Studies Program at the University of Memphis, and then transition to Virginia Tech in 2005 where, as of 2022, she is professor emerita.[2]
Work
During Smith's youth she attended schools where most of her classmates were African American, making her conscious of the issues of race at a young age and she attributes her interest in racial justice to the ripple effects of the Civil Rights Movement in her local community.[1] In 1981, Smith was granted a National Science Foundation fellowship that she was able to explore topics such as equal pay, representation in the work force, and other issues for working-class women.[1] When she moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1995, her worked shifted to focus on immigration and working-class wages.[1] She also worked to counteract the wage inequities between male and female professors at the University of Memphis by establishing support groups and networks for women at the university.[3]
In 1989 she also edited a book about economic issues in Appalachia,[4] and her 1999 book Neither separate nor equal addressed conditions for women in the south.[5] While working on what would be come Digging our own graves: coal miners & the struggle over black lung disease[6] Smith traveled to West Virginia to further research the decline of the coal industry in Appalachia, the economic and health crises coal miners face, and what the future looks like in terms of environmental justice in the region.[1]
Selected publications
- Smith, Barbara Ellen (2020). Digging our own graves : coal miners & the struggle over black lung disease. Earl Dotter. Chicago, Illinois. ISBN 978-1-64259-275-7. OCLC 1140366608.
- Smith, Barbara Ellen, ed. (1999). "Neither Separate Nor Equal | Temple University Press". tupress.temple.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-18.
- Smith, Barbara Ellen; Willingham, Alex; Gaventa, John, eds. (1989). "Communities in Economic Crisis | Temple University Press". tupress.temple.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-18.
Awards and honors
Smith's honors include the ASPECT Outstanding Faculty Award, the Department of Sociology Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award, and the Department of Sociology Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award.[2]
Further reading
- COOK, DARE; CRABTREE, ASHLEY; DAVIS, AARON; GRAY, KATIE; TROY, MICHAEL; BEAVER, PATRICIA; Smith, Barbara Ellen (2006). ""You Dig Where You Stand": An Interview with Barbara Ellen Smith". Appalachian Journal. 33 (2): 188–208. ISSN 0090-3779. JSTOR 40934748.
References
- Cook, Dare; Crabtree, Ashley; Gray, Katie; Troy, Michael; Beaver, Patricia (Winter 2006). ""You Dig Where You Stand": An Interview with Barbara Ellen Smith". Appalachian Journal. 33 (2): 188–208. JSTOR 40934748. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
- "Barbara Ellen Smith honored with emerita status". Virginia Tech Daily. Virginia Polytechnic Institute. December 1, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
- Banerji, Ruma (2002-11-13). "Male faculty earn thousands more than women at U of M". The Commercial Appeal. pp. , . Retrieved 2022-06-18.
- Reviews for Communities in Economic Crisis: Appalachia and the South
- DeYoung, Alan J. (1990). "Review of Communities in Economic Crisis: Appalachia and the South". Contemporary Sociology. 19 (6): 857–858. doi:10.2307/2073219. ISSN 0094-3061. JSTOR 2073219.
- Maggard, Sally Ward (1993). "Review of Communities in Economic Crisis: Appalachia and the South". Social Forces. 71 (3): 837–838. doi:10.2307/2579912. ISSN 0037-7732. JSTOR 2579912.
- "Review of Communities in Economic Crisis: Appalachia and the South". Labour / Le Travail. 26: 249. 1990. doi:10.2307/25143483. ISSN 0700-3862. JSTOR 25143483.
- Lewis, Ronald L. (1990). "Review of Communities in Economic Crisis: Appalachia and the South. Labor and Social Change Series". The Georgia Historical Quarterly. 74 (4): 763–765. ISSN 0016-8297. JSTOR 40582260.
- Reviews for Neither separate nor equal
- Eacker, Susan A. (2000). "Review of Neither Separate nor Equal: Women, Race, and Class in the South". Journal of Appalachian Studies. 6 (1/2): 228–230. ISSN 1082-7161. JSTOR 41446469.
- Storrs, Landon (2001). "Review of Neither Separate nor Equal: Women, Race, and Class in the South". The Journal of Southern History. 67 (2): 487–489. doi:10.2307/3069919. ISSN 0022-4642. JSTOR 3069919.
- Greene, Christina (1999). "Review of Neither Separate nor Equal: Women, Race, and Class in the South". The Georgia Historical Quarterly. 83 (4): 786–788. ISSN 0016-8297. JSTOR 40584215.
- Karides, Marina (2000). "Review of Neither Separate nor Equal: Women, Race, and Class in the South". Contemporary Sociology. 29 (6): 824–825. doi:10.2307/2654094. ISSN 0094-3061. JSTOR 2654094.
- Reviews for Digging our own graves
- Fox, Daniel M. (1989). Berkowitz, Edward D.; Smith, Barbara Ellen (eds.). "Historians as Analysts and Advocates: Disability Policy". Reviews in American History. 17 (1): 120–124. doi:10.2307/2703137. ISSN 0048-7511. JSTOR 2703137.
- SELTZER, CURTIS (1988). "Review of Digging Our Own Graves: Coal Miners and the Struggle over Black Lung Disease". Appalachian Journal. 16 (1): 81–87. ISSN 0090-3779. JSTOR 40933403.
- Bindocci, Gay (1989). "Review of Digging Our Own Graves: Coal Miners and the Struggle over Black Lung Disease". Technology and Culture. 30 (3): 700–701. doi:10.2307/3105989. ISSN 0040-165X. JSTOR 3105989.