>
Skip to main content

Esther Mae Smith collection

 Collection
Identifier: aarl007-001

Scope and Contents

The Esther M. Smith collection documents her contributions to The New Era Baptist Convention of Georgia and the Progressive National Baptist Convention. The collection contains correspondence, photographs, awards, church programs, obituaries and other religious materials.

Dates

  • 1962 - 2005

Biographical / Historical

Esther Mae Smith was born on February 3, 1917, in Thomasville, Georgia, and died in Atlanta on February 13, 2005. After attending Fort Valley State College, she married and gave birth to her first child Eleanor. Esther then migrated to Atlanta in 1939. She was the proprietress of Smith's Music and Appliance Company, a landmark Auburn Avenue business. Esther was also a past president of the Delta Chapter of the Iota Phi Lambda Sorority. She served as Metro Atlanta/Fulton County Heart Association's CEO for twenty-two years. Esther taught at Hamilton High School and served on the board of Directors, where Esther promoted the passage of the referendum to build the downtown library. She was a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church. As a global missionary, she served until she died as Southeastern Director of Foreign Missions for the Progressive National Baptist Convention and founded the New Era Baptist Convention of Georgia. (Taken from Obituary)

Extent

3.75 Linear Feet

Language

English

Processing Information

Processed by Allison Whitted, 2023.

Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African-American Culture and History Repository

Contact:
101 Auburn Avenue NE
Atlanta GA 30303
404-613-4032