People Smith, Lillian Eugenia, 1897-1966

Lillian Smith

Lillian Eugenia Smith (December 12, 1897 – September 28, 1966) was a writer and social critic of the Southern United States, known most prominently for her best-selling novel Strange Fruit (1944). A white woman who openly embraced controversial positions on matters of race and gender equality, she was a southern liberal unafraid to criticize segregation and work toward the dismantling of Jim Crow laws, at a time when such actions virtually guaranteed social ostracism. Smith was born on December 12, 1897, to a prominent family in Jasper, Florida, the seventh of nine children. Her life as the daughter of a middle-class civic and business leader took an abrupt turn in 1915 when her father lost his turpentine mills. The family was not without resources, however, and decided to relocate to their summer residence in the mountains of Clayton, Georgia, where her father had previously purchased property and operated the Laurel Falls Camp for Girls since 1920. Read more at Wikipedia...

Born: 1897, Jasper
Died: 1966, Atlanta

Alternate Names: Lillian Eugenia Smith
Occupation(s): novelist, editor, activist, essayist
Field(s) of Work: essay
Associated Place(s): Georgia, United States, Georgia--Clayton, Southern states, Illinois--Chicago
Associated Subject(s):  Drama, African Americans, African Americans--Civil rights, Civil rights, Authors, American

Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC) Record
Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF)
Virtual International Authority File (VIAF)
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