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Norma Smith papers, 1895-2002

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Smith, Norma, 1913-2001
Title
Norma Smith papers
Dates
1895-2002 (inclusive)
Quantity
3.2 linear feet, (8 boxes)
Collection Number
2329, Collection 2329, MtBC, us (collection)
Summary
Norma Longeteig Smith was published poet, historian, and writer whose biography of Jeannette Rankin, Jeannette Rankin, America's Conscience, was published posthumously in 2002. The Norma Smith papers contain academic research materials, including biographical research on Jeannette Rankin, as well as personal papers and family history research.The Rankin research materials include correspondence with Jeannette Rankin and her personal secretary, Reita Rivers; notes from Smith's interviews with Rankin; and photographs of Jeannette Rankin and her home in Georgia. There is also bibliographic research and notes as well as manuscript copies of the Rankin biography. The collection also contains personal correspondence, Smith's creative writings, and family history research and photographs.
Repository
Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections
Montana State University-Bozeman Library
Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT
59717-3320
Telephone: 4069944242
Fax: 4069942851
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Languages
Collection materials are in English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
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Biographical Note

Norma Violet Longeteig Smith was born on March 1, 1913, in Mohler, Idaho. She graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in journalism in 1933. Smith lived in Bozeman, Montana, from 1950 until 1967. During that time, she completed her Master's degree in history, graduating in 1961 from Montana State College. She worked as a secretary, social worker, newspaper reporter, editor, and freelance writer, publishing poetry in the Saturday Evening Post. She married Louis De Spain Smith and they had three children. Smith first met Jeannette Rankin at the Montana State College graduation ceremony in 1961, where Rankin was awarded an honorary doctorate. Over the next decade, Smith visited and interviewed Rankin in both Montana and Georgia. After living in Wenatchee, Washington, from 1976 until 1997, Smith returned to Bozeman, Montana. She died on May 11, 2001, in Bozeman, Montana. Her biography of Rankin, Jeannette Rankin: America's Conscience, was published posthumously by the Montana Historical Society Press in 2002.

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Content Description

The Norma Smith papers contain academic research materials, including biographical research on Jeannette Rankin, as well as personal papers and family history research. A key component of the collection is Smith's manuscript on Jeannette Rankin, which bore the working title of "Fighting Pacifist," although it was eventually published as Jeannette Rankin, America's Conscience. Additional Rankin research materials include correspondence with Jeannette Rankin and her personal secretary, Reita Rivers; notes from Norma's interviews with Rankin; and copies of other interviews conducted with Rankin. There are also photocopies of Jeannette Rankin's correspondence throughout her career, Smith's research notes and bibliographic material, research correspondence, and news clippings. In addition to her research on Jeannette Rankin, the collection also includes Smith research on topics ranging from peace studies to quilting as well as her poestry and other creative writings. Family materials include correspondence and genealogical research into the Guthrie, Longeteig, and Marrs families. Photographs depict Jeannette Rankin and her home in Georgia and historical images of Smith's family, including her parents, Iver Longeteig and Francis Millard Mason Longeteig.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Creator Name], [Date of Creation], [Brief Description of Object], Folder [#], Box [#], [Collection Name], [Collection #], Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Series 1 "Fighting Pacifist: Jeannette Rankin and her Times" Manuscript, 1974-2000

Series 2 Jeannette Rankin Research, 1898-2002

Series 3 Norma Smith papers, 1910-1990

Subseries 1: Personal Papers, 1971-1996

Subseries 2: Academic Research, 1973-1991

Subseries 3: Family Histories/Genealogy, 1910-1990

Series 4 Photographs, circa 1895-1984

Acquisition Information

Norma Smith of Bozeman, Montana, donated her papers to Special Collections in 1995 and 2000. Additional manuscripts and clippings collected or created by Smith were donated by her daughter, Celia O'Connor, of Bozeman, Montana, on March 4, 2011 and incorporated into this collection.

Processing Note

This collection was processed 2011 March 10.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Biographers--United States
  • Women
  • Women biographers--United States

Personal Names

  • Rankin, Jeannette, 1880-1973--Biography
  • Rankin, Jeannette, 1880-1973--Correspondence
  • Rankin, Jeannette, 1880-1973--Photographs
  • Rivers, Reita--Correspondence

Corporate Names

  • Montana State University--Bozeman--Alumni and alumnae

Geographical Names

  • Montana

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photographs
  • Photographs

Kim Allen Scott, 2011. Updated by Heather Mulliner, 2022, and Anne Foster
2025

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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