About the Norma Smith papers

The Norma Smith papers

What is it?

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.

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 . 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. 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.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Norma Smith papers, Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT, [Item permalink or DOI]

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