Larry Smith-A Genuine Son of Working Class Roots
Larry Smith was born the son of three generations of coal miners. His father left the mines of rural Appalachia to become a textile mill worker with a 7th grade education and his mother was a waitress with a 9th grade education. In 1936, John Wesley Anderson, Larry's great-grandfather, George F. Smith Larry's grandfather, and the 16 year old John F. Smith, Larry's father entered a coal mine shaft taking 6 year old Jerdy Aleautias Smith, John's brother. That evening, young Jerdy was at the mercy of a company doctor of the coal mine who refused to treat him for a life threatening injury that left him dying in his father's arms on the porch of the company doctor who refused to treat him until he had eaten his dinner. After Jerdy's death on the porch of a doctor that chose to eat his dinner rather than treat a dying 6 year old child, Larry's father's family was torn apart as his grandmother suffered an emotional breakdown over the loss of her son that ultimately ended her life. It was that same year, after losing his younger brother and his mother that Larry's father forced his way out of the coal mines and into the Amecelle-Celeanese Textile Mill where he worked for 38 years, only to lose his job with thousands of American jobs beginning to be sent to the child labor sweat shops overseas. His father, a disabled American Veteran of D-Day, who worked 38 years in this textile mill that then threw him and thousands of his brother and sister union members on the streets, by a corporation that also invaded their pensions, was forced to take a job driving a taxi-cab.
Larry's Working Class Roots Give Birth to lifelong core convictions as a worker, fighter and advocate for others
Although his father could not print his name, and could only marginally read, it was through the love and encouragement of his father he took an interest in working hard in school and cultivating a genuine sense of civic responsibility.
His struggles as a child included not having a phone or a car, and often selling his free lunch ticket to wealthier students without his parents knowing and using the money he received for the free lunch ticket to help support his family. When he was a 7th grade student at Braddock Jr. High School and one of his teachers, Mrs. Irma Dezen had discovered this she made sure that Larry never sold his lunch ticket again and took special effort to help Larry.
At the age of 7 he sat in Mrs. Helen Nelson's 2nd grade class and upon reading a weekly reader discussing the 1972 Presidential Election, he asked his teacher where he could volunteer for US Senator George McGovern, because the young Smith believed McGovern would fight for working families. That second grade teacher, Mrs. Nelson, made a lifelong impact on Smith by telling him that, "Everyone can be involved in America." Smith made it a mission to go to the local Democratic headquarters picking up and distributing literature all over Cumberland. A few days before the election, the young Smith received an envelope in the mail with a photograph containing the words, "For Larry Smith, with regards from his friend, George McGovern." After the election, he began to take a broader interest in activism, writing to Presidents, Congressman, Governors and State Legislators on issues related to education, working families, and the human condition. At the age of 9, he met with then US Representative Goodloe Byron at the Cumberland Civic Center in South Cumberland to speak to him about the loss of school bus service for his brother who had to wear corrective shoe braces causing lengthy walks to be extremely difficult. Shortly thereafter, while sitting in the classroom of Mrs. Darcy DuVall, the principal Mr. David Phillips came into the room and asked to see Larry. Terrified that he was going to the principal's office, Mr. Phillips told Larry that there was a phone call (as Larry did not have a home telephone) from Congressman Byron. As he walked into the principal's office, Mrs. LaVerne May, smiled and said, "Smile Larry, everything is ok." Congressman Byron informed Larry that the Allegany County Board of Education was not going to help his brother but that he had not given up and was personally so upset over the lack of leadership and caring at the board he was calling Governor Marvin Mandel. Within days, the bus situation was remedied. The Allegany County Board of Education backed away from its decision. At the age of 14 years old, on November 1, 1979, he found himself standing directly behind US Senator Howard Baker, at the official announcement of Baker's candidacy for President at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington D.C. Smith had corresponded with Baker, a moderate Republican from Tennessee and had recommended to him that he run for President. He also corresponded with US Senator Sam Ervin, the North Carolina Democrat who worked with Baker in leading the Senate Watergate Hearings. In 1982, he recommended to the US State Department that US foreign policy be revised to accommodate for changes and challenges in the wake of Josef Broz Tito's death in Yugoslavia. To be sure, instability did occur in that region due to the lack of a more aggressive US Policy. At the age of 16 he met with US Senator Paul Sarbanes joining a number of senior citizens to support Sarbanes' efforts to save Social Security.
Always yearning for knowledge, he often spent the first hour after school many days as a youngster visiting Allan Weatherholt, C.E. "Soupy" Lancaster and J. Suter Kegg, of the Cumberland Times-News who befriended Larry Smith for his youthful promise and interest in public affairs.
At the age of 13 he began working cleaning brake lines on school buses, walking the neighborhood of his working class roots in North Cumberland to Cresaptown. At the age of 14 he started his own snow-cone business at his north end Cumberland neighborhood ball field, Stitcher Field and often worked 4-5 different jobs through high school including being hired by then Cumberland WTBO/WKGO Program Director Jim "Speedy " Drake at the age of 15 as a part-time radio broadcaster. Larry was hired upon the recommendation of Gus Knieriem, who penned the famous Goldwater Report examining mistreatment of the entertainment industry and Knieriem's friend Cumberland's legendary broadcaster for WCBC Radio, Jim Robey, both of who befriended Larry as a young man and had an immense impact on his life. He attended Bishop Walsh High School, and spent the first hour after school mopping the cafeteria floor to help pay his tuition. At Bishop Walsh he developed oratorical and debating skills competing regionally and nationally at the US Model Congress in New York City. During this competition, 15 year old Larry Smith, the son of a coal miner and a textile mill worker sponsored legislation with students from all over the nation, only four pieces of legislation passed, Larry's was one of them and ranked second in the nation. Larry also won numerous awards for public speaking and debate at high school with the assistance of his teachers Sister Lynn Stanson, and Mr. Jim Zamagias.
Education, life-long service to others, and using his core values to fight for others
Larry Smith holds undergraduate degrees in Political Science with concentrations in American National Government and State and Local Government and Philosophy with a concentration in Ethics from Frostburg State University. He additionally holds a Masters of Education in Administration and Supervision from FSU. In 1985 he completed the UNIRC, with emphasis in Palestinian-Israeli relations at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, working closely with Meir Litzvak of the University of Jerusalem. He has completed advanced post-graduate studies at West Virginia University.
A Phi Delta Kappan, Larry Smith is a Member of Mensa, where he belongs to an internal group that analyzes international affairs. Mr. Smith is a member of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the Washington County Association of School Administrators, the Washington County Gangs Task Force, the US Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Program for public schools and the American Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. He is also a member of a number of civic organizations helping improve communities.
Recognized Leadership, Advocacy and Service to others
A third generation veteran with military service, an advocate for others, a public school teacher in Allegany County, a public school administrator with service in Frederick and Washington Counties, Larry Smith is the recipient of numerous awards for his service, advocacy and work in public education including the Key to the City of Cumberland, the Maryland Higher Education Chairman's Award for Excellence, a citations from the Maryland State Department of Education, the Maryland State Bar Association, the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education, the Allegany Chamber of Commerce, the Maryland Student Service Alliance, the Maryland House of Delegates, and the Maryland Senate. He is also the recipient of a State Departmental Citation from the Maryland Department Commander of the Disabled American Veterans, and the True American Award from the National Order of Trench Rats, a veteran's organization.
Larry Smith is a fierce advocate for fairness, working families, children and victims of crime
He has testified on numerous occasions before a number of state legislative committees in the Maryland General Assembly on issues related to education , educational funding, and economic opportunity. He has been an aggressive and talented advocate for working families and small businesses in testifying before the Maryland Public Service Commission regarding excessive utility increases by legal public utility monopolies. He has served as a member of the Stephanie Ann Roper Committee where he actively participated in the fight to Annapolis to secure the Victims Rights Amendment to Maryland state constitution.
Larry Smith is an educator who has served children and families
Larry Smith has been an award winning classroom teacher. In 1994 he was named the Allegany County Teacher of the Year in the State of Maryland. In 1997 he was featured with nationally known journalist J.C. Hayward of WUSA, Washington D.C., in a student service program he created that raised over $100,000 for the Human Resources Development Commission.
Larry Smith has developed some of the most creative and innovative learning experiences in public education including development of a mini-course in cooperation with the National Holocaust Memorial Museum examining the Jewish Holocaust, Larry worked with the national campaign to raise funds to make this, what he told his students, "...essential perpetual living memory a reality, so that the world will never forget." He later worked with the now the late Mary Louise Jones to create opportunities for hundreds of students to visit the museum after it opened. He also developed a partnership to allow teachers and students scientific inquiry with NASA space station Atlantis with 2002 commander and current NASA commentator with CNN-Tom Jones. Larry developed the first in the nation partnership with AT&T, his students conducted a live legislative teleconference with former educator and Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Delegate Pete Rawlings.
Larry Smith has worked with "Inside Washington" Host Gordon Peterson in facilitating a post-election analysis by students after the 1996 election. Larry Smith has additionally served as a contributor consultant with the McGraw Hill Publishing Company. He has been featured on Maryland Public Television and in the Baltimore Sun.
After teaching with the Allegany County Public Schools at Braddock Middle School and Mt. Savage School, Smith was named Assistant Principal at Thurmont Middle School in the Frederick County Public Schools where he was credited with significantly reducing violent student offenses and creating an environment that promoted respect for all students, staff, and learning. After his service with the Frederick County Public Schools, Smith joined the Washington County Public Schools where he has served in a variety of Administrative and Supervisory capacities including: Manager of Staff Development, Principal at Hickory Elementary School, Assistant Principal at North Hagerstown High School and is currently the Assistant Principal at Hancock .
A forceful and recognized advocate for those who have no advocacy
In the winter of 2004 year, he was confronted with the challenge of being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and battled back from an exacerbation that impaired his vision and ability to walk. Known for always being positive and inspirational, in an interview with the Hagerstown Herald Mail in 2004, "I have Multiple Sclerosis, but Multiple Sclerosis does not have me." He was cited by a fellow teacher in that article as, "The hardest worker I have ever known." He has been a public advocate for others stating, "It is well past time for us to put politics aside and win the battles our families fight daily to Cancer, Parkinson's, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer's, Diabetes, ALS, and Multiple Sclerosis. We can only win these battles when we fight them with more than just words but action, and investment." In 2005 he was cited in the nationally recognized MS Leaders of Hope, and has worked closely with Wellstone Action, the organization founded by the sons of the late US Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota) who also suffered with Multiple Sclerosis.
He has been invited to address a number of groups including youth, and educator leadership groups in Maryland's Department of Justice facilities, Anchorage, Alaska, various elementary, middle and high schools and the US Naval Academy. He has been a source of endless optimism and inspiration to others believing in the endless capacity of the human spirit to triumph and overcome adversity. Drawing upon his personal experiences of a truly unique story of a young man who grew up in a working family in extreme poverty, he tells his audiences, "In America, the promise of our nation is that our birth certificate does not have written on it what we have to do with our life". He has been active his entire lifetime advocating for investment in education, working class families and expanding the American economy through investment in human capital, fairness, and dignity to workers, publicly opposing NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT and WTO as trade agreements that are undermining our middle class and the economic earning potential of every American, except the very wealthy. He has also met a number of nationally known advocates on a variety of national issues including, former NBC Anchor Edwin Newman, Claus Nobel, the senior member of the Nobel Family, Sid Caesar, Howard Baker, Terri Garr, Montel Williams, former NJ Governor and EPA Secretary Christine Todd Whitman, US Senator Paul Sarbanes, US Representatives Steny Hoyer, Benjamin Cardin, and Wayne Gilchrest, and Elie Wiesel.
Compiled and written by Mrs. Paula Swayne, Larry Smith's 5th Grade Teacher, Columbia Street Elementary School
A follow-up note
For those of us who know Larry Smith, he is a one of a kind, the most unique person I have ever met. He is honest, caring, hardworking, sharp as a tack, and has always been a fighter for the underdog. For those who have not yet met Larry Smith, please make a point to do so. He is just the person we need in Washington. He will fight for us. He has the skill to bring people of different parties, viewpoints, faiths, and beliefs together for the things that we all care about. Those of us teachers, who knew Larry at a young age, knew that this kid was special and was going to do great things. He didn't have any money, but he sure had a heart, a mind, was always a profound thinker, was always so articulate, polite and caring for others and what a worker ...at everything he ever did, at a young age he was involved in trying to make the world a better place for everyone. That was just who he was, and still is. That will always be Larry Smith. We need to send him to Washington, he will be a voice for us unlike Washington has ever seen. Columbia Street School, was a school that the kids who lived in the poorest parts of town attended, those of us teachers that are still around, we love you and are so proud of you kid.
Paula Swayne, Teacher Columbia Street Elementary School, retired with 43 years of service
Larry J. Smith