Sybil Laura Smith

For the American collegiate swimmer born in 1966, see Sybil Smith.
Sybil Laura Smith
Sybil Laura Smith, from the 1904 yearbook of Smith College
Born(1882-07-05)July 5, 1882
Gardner, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died1963(1963-00-00) (aged 80–81)
OccupationHome economist

Sybil Laura Smith (July 5, 1882[1] – 1963) was an American home economist at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Early life and education

Smith was born in Gardner, Massachusetts, the daughter of Henry Hill Smith and Florence I. Morse Smith. She graduated from Smith College in 1904.[2] She earned a master's degree at Columbia University in 1908.[3]

Career

Smith was a school teacher after college.[1] She was a home economics specialist and principal experiment station administrator[4] who worked in the USDA's Office of Experimental Stations in the 1930s and 1940s.[5] She spoke and wrote on nutrition,[6] including on the vitamin levels in preserved foods, during the Great Depression and World War II, and published compilations of home economics research.[7] She also spoke on several radio programs about her work,[8][9] and traveled nationally to visit USDA experiment stations.[4] In 1951 she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Massachusetts.[10] She encouraged the work of other women in food science, including Helen Parsons and Abby Marlatt.[11]

Publications

  • The Vitamins (1922, with Henry Clapp Sherman)[12]
  • "Vitamins A, B, and C" (1926)[13]
  • Vitamins in Food Materials (1929)[14]
  • "Betterment of the Rural Home" (1934)
  • "Research on nutrition of young women" (1937, radio presentation)[8]
  • "A Third Shelf of Home Economics Research" (1938)
  • "Human Requirements of Vitamin C" (1938)[15]
  • "Vitamin Needs of Man: Vitamin C" (1939)[16]
  • "Research in Home Economics at the Land Grant Institutions, 1939-40" (1939, compiler)
  • "Consumer and Family Problems" (1939)
  • "Experiment station research on war problems in the home" (1942, with Georgian Adams)[17]
  • Experiment Station Research on the Vitamin Content and the Preservation of Foods (1944, with Georgian Adams)[18]

Personal life

Smith lived in Washington, D.C. with her partner, chemistry teacher Elizabeth I. Gatch, at least from 1920 to 1950.[19] Gatch died in 1957,[20][21] and Smith died in 1962, in her early eighties.

References

  1. ^ a b 1907 United States passport application of Sybil Laura Smith, via Ancestry.
  2. ^ Smith College, Class of 1904 (1904 yearbook): 33; via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ Commencement of Columbia College. The University. 1908. p. 36.
  4. ^ a b "Capital Nutrition Research Woman is Visitor to Campus". The Daily O'Collegian. 1940-05-03. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-10-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Women of Eminence in U.S. Service Typically Past 40; Educators and Librarians Lead". The Washington Herald. 1938-09-04. p. 17. Archived from the original on 2025-12-12. Retrieved 2025-10-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ History of Human Nutrition Research in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service: People, Events, and Accomplishments Archived 2025-11-16 at the Wayback Machine (USDA Agricultural Research Service, November 2017): 28-30.
  7. ^ United States Office of Experiment Stations (1936). Annual Reports of Department of Agriculture. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 14.
  8. ^ a b Smith, Sybil L. (Sybil Laura) (1937). Research on nutrition of young women : a radio talk by Sybil L. Smith, Office of Experiment Stations, broadcast Wednesday, May 5, 1937, in the home demonstration program, National Farm and Home Hour, by NBC and a network of 61 associated radio stations. National Agricultural Library U. S. Department of Agriculture. [Washington, D.C.] : [U.S. Department of Agriculture].
  9. ^ Kadderly, Wallace L. (Wallace Ladue) (1939). A glimpse of home research at state experiment stations : a radio interview among Sybil L. Smith, senior experiment station administrator, Office of Experiment Stations; Helen Crouch Douglass, Radio Service; and Wallace Kadderly, chief of Radio Service, broadcast in the U.S. Department of Agriculture portion of the National Farm and Home Hour, Tuesday, January 24, 1939, by NBC and a network of 100 associated radio stations. National Agricultural Library U. S. Department of Agriculture. [Washington, D.C.] : [U.S. Department of Agriculture].
  10. ^ "Honorary Degrees at UM". The Morning Union. 1951-06-04. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-10-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Pringle, Dorothy J.; Swan, Patricia B. (2001-01-01). "Helen T. Parsons (1886–1977)". The Journal of Nutrition. 131 (1): 6–9. doi:10.1093/jn/131.1.6. ISSN 0022-3166. PMID 11208931.
  12. ^ Sherman, Henry Clapp; Smith, Sybil Laura (1922). The Vitamins. Chemical catalog Company, Incorporated. Archived from the original on 2025-12-11. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
  13. ^ Smith, Sybil L. (Sybil Laura); United States. Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics (1926). Vitamins A, B, and C : a table showing their distribution in food materials and a selected list of references to literature reporting their occurrence and the technique of vitamin studies. National Agricultural Library U. S. Department of Agriculture. Washington : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Home Economics.
  14. ^ Smith, Sybil Laura (1929). Vitamins in Food Materials. U.S. Department of Agriculture.
  15. ^ Smith, Sybil L. (1938-11-05). "Human Requirements of Vitamin C". Journal of the American Medical Association. 111 (19): 1753. doi:10.1001/jama.1938.72790450005011. ISSN 0002-9955.
  16. ^ United States Office of Experiment Stations (1940). Report of the Director of the Office of Experiment Stations. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 25.
  17. ^ Smith, Sybil L.; Adams, Georgian (1942). Experiment station research on war problems in the home. Miscellaneous publication / United States Department of Agriculture; no. 503. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
  18. ^ Adams, Georgian; Smith, Sybil Laura (1944). Experiment Station Research on the Vitamin Content and the Preservation of Foods. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on 2025-12-11. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
  19. ^ In the 1920 United States census, Smith is listed as the household head, and Gatch is listed as "partner". In the 1930 United States census, Smith is listed as the houshold head, and Gatch is listed as her "lodger". In the 1950 United States census, Gatch is listed as the household head, and Smith is listed as her "partner"; via Ancestry.
  20. ^ "Legal Notice". Evening star. 1958-04-04. p. 31. Retrieved 2025-10-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Sibbet, Laing (1984-08-18). "'Old Lady Gatch': Her Lessons Live On". Record Searchlight. p. 16. Retrieved 2025-10-23 – via Newspapers.com.
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