Henry Lee Smith papers

Collection — Box: 1-15

Identifier: 22-8F-232

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Papers of Henry Lee Smith include information, articles, pamphlets, notes regarding linguistics; speeches, publicity information, correspondence. Correspondents include Bernard J. Weiss, Norman A. McQuown, Richard D. Runyon, John C. Rose, Alan Lomax, David Thompson, Edward A. Kennard, Richard Huber, Frank S. Hopkins, Richard Heindel, Edward T. Hall, Michael Halbert, Julian Granberry, Hans Gottschalk, Robert Austerlitz, Irven D.J. Bross, William C. Stokoe, Raven I. McDavid, George P. Faust, Elizabeth K. Hewitt, William Fenton, Anthony C. D'Agostino, Robert Stockwell, Clara E. Stratemeyer, Benjamin Scheifer, Charles F. Hockett, Hooshang Mosallai, as well as general correspondence to publishers (Harper and Row, Grolier, Doubleday and Co., M. Evans and Co., Scott-Forstman, et al.) and linguistic associations. Additional material includes information from the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), including executive committee meeting data, correspondence, grants, brochures, directories, and general information. Includes information regarding television and radio work. Also includes U.S. Army language manuals as well as information on education of and correspondence with German POW.

Dates

circa 1935-1972
Majority of material found within 1956-1972

Creator

Smith, Henry Lee (Person)

Language of Materials

Collection material in English.

Terms of Access

The Henry Lee Smith papers are open for research.
Please note: This collection is stored off-site. Access to collection requires 3 business days’ notice. Contact University Archives at (716) 645-2916 or lib-archives@buffalo.edu to schedule an appointment.

Copyright

Copyright of papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain the written permission of the holder(s) of copyright and the University Archives before publishing quotations from materials in th collection. Most papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures unless otherwise specified.

Biographical Note

Dr. Henry Lee Smith, Jr. (1913-1972), born Morristown, New Jersey, graduated from Princeton University, lectured and instructed in English at Barnard College (1938-1940) and Brown University (1940-1942); served as a major in the U.S. Army, officer in charge, Language Section, Information and Education Division, ASF (1942-1945), foreign language instructional and reference materials for U.S. troops; charged with orientation and teaching English to selected German prisoners at Ft. Getty, Rhode Island, and Ft. Eustis, Virginia (1945-1946); assistant chief, Division of Training Services (1946-1947) and assistant director of Foreign Service Institute (1946-1956) for U.S. Department of State; founder (1946) and first director of the School of Language and Linguistics, FSI (later the School of Language Studies), under U.S. Department of State; professor of linguistics (1951-1956) and Dean of the School of Languages, FSI (1955-1956), under the U.S. Department of State; chairman, Department of Anthropology and Linguistics (later Department of Anthropology), State University of New York at Buffalo (1956-1965); acting director, Program in Linguistics, University of Buffalo (1967-1968); professor of linguistics and English, Department of Linguistics, UB; postdoctoral fellow, University of Edinburgh (1970