 Hoke Smith Papers
Collection DescriptionBiographical NoteMichael Hoke Smith was born on September 2, 1855 in Newton, North Carolina to parents Hildreth and Mary Brent Smith. The Smith family moved to Georgia in 1872. Hoke Smith passed the Georgia bar the following year and began practicing as a personal injury lawyer for railroad accidents. He married his first wife, Marion "Birdie" Cobb in 1883; the couple had five children before Birdie's death in 1919. Smith married his second wife, Mazie Crawford in 1924. The desire to restrain the power and influence of the railroad monopolies would become a focus of Smith's political career. In 1887, Smith purchased the Atlanta Evening Journal. Under Smith's leadership, the Journal would become one of the state's largest newspapers, as well as a tool to serve his political ambitions. After Smith and the Journal supported Grover Cleveland in the 1892 presidential election, Smith was rewarded with an appointment to become Secretary of the Interior. In this role, Smith continued federal enforcement of the Dawes Act, disestablishing tribal government and re-allotting tribal land in order to assimilate Indigenous peoples. When the Democratic Party endorsed the populist William Jennings Bryan for president in 1896, the more conservative Smith retired from his position in Cleveland's Cabinet, returning to his Atlanta law practice. In 1906 Smith sought the Democratic party's nomination for Governor of Georgia, allying himself with Populist and notorious white supremacist Thomas E. Watson. Smith portrayed himself as an anti-corporate, anti-railroad candidate, but he adopted Watson's Jim Crow platform in pursuit of those goals, repudiating his previous stances on, for instance, the funding of schools for Black children. The 1906 primary contest between Smith and State Senator Clark Howell (who also owned the Atlanta Constitution) was notable for the tenor of explicit race-baiting from both candidates. Both Smith and Howell called for the constitutional disenfranchisement of Black voters through a poll tax and literacy test, the imposition of vagrancy laws, and the division of school funds so that taxes paid by white citizens would not be used to fund schools for Black children. Smith won the election handily, but the rhetoric from both campaigns had been so incendiary that it was a primary factor leading to the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot. As governor, Smith sought to break the state's machine politics and regulate railroad monopolies that operated inside Georgia. He also fulfilled his campaign promise by signing an amendment to the state constitution that fully disenfranchising Black voters, while creating a grandfather clause to protect white voters. Smith tried to distance himself from Watson before the 1908 gubernatorial campaign. Losing Watson's support cost him the election, losing to Joseph M. Brown. He was elected for a second term as governor in 1910 but would serve less than a year of that term, as the General Assembly chose him to fulfill the unexpired term of US Senator Alexander Clay, who had died in November 1910. Smith won reelection to the US Senate in 1914 but was defeated by his former ally, Tom Watson, in 1920. After his career in public service, Smith returned to the practice of law in both Atlanta and Washington, D.C. In this role he rendered assistance to Jonathan B. Frost of Tennessee to incorporate an organization known as The Great Aryan Movement, Knights of the Mask in Washington. The Great Aryan Movement was intended to be a benevolent organization founded on white supremacy, which would provide pensions to the widows of its membership. Hoke Smith died in 1931. Scope and ContentThe papers of Hoke Smith mainly document his legal career, as well as some of his political activities. Documentation of the gubernatorial election of 1926, the Tacna Arica Dispute, War Risk insurance, his senate campaign in 1920, concerns regarding the Cherokee, railroads, and African American appointments are represented. Originally the collection was donated to Special Collections, University of Georgia Libraries, in 1937 and again in 1958. In 1982, the collection was transferred to the Richard B. Russell Library. Materials cover Smith's last years in the Senate and ten years following his retirement from politics in 1921. Unfortunately, the bulk of Smith's papers were destroyed soon after his death. However, there is a broad documentation of his life outside the Senate. Of particular note are letter and clipping books from 1870-1928 that document legal cases, political appointments, and the Presidential Primary of 1920. Types of materials in these papers include correspondence, speeches, letter books, newspaper clippings, printed materials, legal documents, scrapbooks, and maps. Organization and ArrangementThe papers are organized into six series: I. Subject Files, II. Chronological Files, III. Printed Materials, IV. Letter Books, V. Clippings, VI. Administrative, and VII. Photographs. Arrangement is chronological and alphabetical. Administrative InformationPreferred CitationHoke Smith Papers, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641. Processing NotesNewspaper clippings and thermofax papers have been copied onto bond paper for preservation. Fragile documents have been placed in a mylar sleeves. Photographs have been separated from the rest of the collection. User RestrictionsLibrary acts as "fair use" reproduction agent. Copyright InformationBefore material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permission. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original. Finding Aid PublicationFinding aid prepared on: 2000. Revised biographical note; added contextual descriptions to select folders., 2022-01. Related Materials and SubjectsSubject TermsRelated Collections in this Repository
Richard B. Russell, Sr. Papers Related Collections in Other RepositoriesHoke Smith Letters Received, 1893-1895 (microfilm), Brigham Young University Archives Thomas E. Watson Papers, Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina | ||||||||||||||||||||