Catherine A. Smith

Catherine Ann "Katie" Smith (née Dunn; November 6, 1875 – May 4, 1944) was the wife of Governor of New York and 1928 presidential nominee Al Smith, serving as the First Lady of New York from 1919 to 1920, and again from 1923 to 1928. During her husband's rise to national prominence in the 1920s, Smith became one of the most closely watched political spouses in America.

Early life and family

Catherine Ann Dunn was born in New York City into a middle-class Irish Catholic family, the daughter of Christopher Dunn, a ship chandler, and Emily J. Dunn. She attended convent schools including the St. Joseph's Academy for Young Ladies, and was an accomplished pianist.^[1][2]

Public life

Smith supported her husband's political career as an informal advisor and constant supporter.^[1] Smith was quiet, fiercely private, deeply religious, and closely tied to her Lower East Side roots.^[2][3][4]

First Lady of New York

Upon becoming first lady, Smith served as the hostess of the New York State Executive Mansion in Albany.^[1] As first lady, Smith took a special interest in children's charities, regularly visiting orphanages of all denominations and bringing gifts and books.^[5] She made additional appearances at political and charitable functions throughout the state.^[6]

Upon moving into the executive mansion, Smith lightened its heavy Victorian décor with rose-colored hangings and powder-blue furnishings, filled it with signed family photographs (including one of Al Smith's mother, Catherine Mulvihill Smith), stitched some of its needlepoint upholstery herself, and installed a private altar.^[7]

Smith explained her philosophy of the home in a column in the Woman's Home Companion magazine in 1925. "I did all my own work when my five children were little. It never occurred to me, and I know it never occurred to my husband, that there was anything in the world that we wanted more than our children."^[2]

Smith served as an honorary president of the Women's Civic Organization in New York.^[8] In 1927, she took part in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Arnold Constable & Company department store.^[9]

Presidential campaigns

During her husband's campaign for the presidency, Smith frequently accompanied him on his various campaign stops.^[10][2] In 1928, Smith was the subject of a profile in Time magazine when her husband successfully became the Democratic nominee.^[1]

Throughout the 1928 campaign, Smith was the target of wide national press scrutiny, personal slurs, and nativist attacks, with subjects ranging from her weight, Catholicism, class, physical appearance, accent, drinking habits, and fashion choices.^[11][12][13] Smith was frequently compared to Lou Henry Hoover throughout the campaign, with explicit press comparisons to the Stanford-educated, well-traveled Hoover.^[14][11]

Democratic women, led by Frances Perkins and Eleanor Roosevelt organized a Southern speaking tour, radio campaign, and newspaper editorial campaign to defend her.^[15][16] Perkins later recalled that the personal attacks on his wife wounded Al Smith more than any political attack against him directly. Smith was the subject of a supportive pamphlet authored by Roosevelt titled "Mrs. Alfred E. Smith As I Know Her," which was published by the Democratic National Committee.^[17][18][19] The significant attacks against Smith led to Al Smith's outburst of "Leave Katie Alone!"^[20]

At the 1928 Democratic National Convention in Houston, Smith arrived by private railroad car and issued a brief statement insisting she was not a politician and had devoted her life to home and family. She watched the proceedings from a convention box surrounded by relatives, and was visibly moved as speakers praised her husband and invoked the religious tolerance question hanging over his candidacy.^[21][22] When the nomination was confirmed, she waved a green silk handkerchief, accepted a Hawaiian lei, held up the New York delegation's standard, and told reporters through tears that it was the happiest moment of her life to see others value her husband as she did; when someone attempted to hand her a baby donkey as a Democratic mascot, she laughingly suggested it be sent home to Albany instead.^[23][24]

In August 1928, Smith was the guest of honor at a reception at the Hotel Astor which was attended by over 3,000 supporters and included Eleanor Roosevelt and Annie Mathews as keynote speakers. During the event, Smith made her first public address before a movietone camera.^[25]

An October Associated Press dispatch from Boston captured Smith near the end of her husband's 1928 campaign, describing her as worn out by the enthusiastic crowds that had greeted her there yet already wondering aloud how she would adjust to life without them once the campaign ended. With no secretary or personal maid traveling with her, she was left to sort through a steady stream of invitations from women's organizations in each city on her husband's remaining schedule, deciding for herself how to divide her time.^[26]

Catholic charity work

Smith was active for many years in various Catholic charities. She was received by Pope Pius XI on her visits to Rome in 1925 and 1937.^[27] In 1933, she received the Via Veritatis Medal presented annually to a laywoman in the Catholic Church.^[2][28]

Personal life

She met Al Smith while they were young. Her husband once considered pursuing a career as an actor, but Smith encouraged him toward a more practical path, a decision that ultimately led him into politics. They married on May 6, 1900 and built a close partnership that endured throughout her husband's long political career.^[1][29] Mrs. Smith was affectionately referred to as "the chairman" within their family circles.^[30] Together, they had five children, including:^[31]

• Alfred E. Smith II (1901–1968); served one term as a New York City Council member
• Emily Josephine Smith (1901–1980); married John Adams Warner, superintendent of the New York State Police
• Catherine Alice Smith (1904–1982)
• Arthur William Smith (1907–1955)
• Walter Joseph Smith (1909–1993)

Death

Smith died on May 4, 1944,^[32] with her death being announced on the national newswire.^[5]