University of Wyoming
Blackwell Smith (b. Richard Blackwell Smith) was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on April 4, 1904. He received his Bachelor of Law at Columbia in 1929, and was admitted to the New York bar the same year. From 1933-1935, Smith worked as General Counsel and Assistant Administrator for Policy for the National Recovery Administration (NRA). The NRA was established by the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) in 1933, and was FDR’s primary New Deal agency. Its goal was to create “codes of fair competition.” In 1935, the Supreme Court declared the NRA unconstitutional. After the NRA, Smith did anti-trust work for GE, RCA, Union Carbide, and Goodyear (among others) until WWII, at which point he was Assistant Director of Priorities for Policy established by the War Production Board. Smith devised all the priority and allocation systems used in WWII, dealing with supply distribution. He died in Wilmington, North Carolina on September 9, 2000.
Collection contains notes, memorandums, notices, minutes, and speeches related to Smith's work as legal counsel for the National Recovery Administration (1933-1935) and the National Industrial Recovery Board. Also included is a manuscript of an unpublished autobiography detailing, among other things, his work with the NRA and anti-trust work, as well as family and personal stories.
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
A Blackwell Smith oral history interview can be found at Columbia University.
This material was received from Blackwell Smith in 1962 and 1986.
The collection was processed by Emily Christopherson in May 2011.
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Digital reproductions of this entire collection are available at