Inventory of the Margaret Taylor Smith Papers, 1918-2010 and undated, bulk 1980-2008

As a highly involved Duke undergraduate, Smith served as president of Woman's College student government while excelling in scholarship (Phi Beta Kappa), athletics (Delta Phi Rho Alpha), and in leadership (Phi Kappa Delta, White Duchy, Pi Beta Phi). After earning a degree in Sociology in 1947, Smith continued her commitment to the university through leadership, volunteering, and philanthropy. Smith served on the Executive Committee for Duke's Capital Campaign Fund drive, on the Board of Directors of the General Alumni Association, as a member and chair of Trinity College's Board of Visitors, and on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Duke's National Council. Particularly interested in women's issues, Smith was a founding member and chair of the Council on Women's Studies and served as president of the Women's Alumnae Association. Smith's generosity enabled the creation of the Sarah W. and George N. Taylor Endowment Fund for women's leadership and the Margaret Taylor Smith Endowed Directorship for Women's Studies. The series also documents the relationship between Smith and Jean O'Barr, who established the Women's Studies Program. Personal correspondence between the two women appears in the Personal Papers Series. The alphabetically arranged Duke University Series comprises materials related to Smith's leadership and professional voluntarism at the university, including correspondence, event planning notes, meeting minutes, endowment information, and speeches. Materials documenting Smith's experiences as an undergraduate at Duke and her social activities related to the university can be found in the Personal Papers Series.

In the early 1980s, Smith worked as a research associate at the Merrill-Palmer Institute of Wayne State University, studying family life and early childhood development. Smith collaborated with writer Jo Brans to publish the book Mother, I Have Something To Tell You in 1987. Based on interviews with mothers in Michigan, the book describes how parents deal with children who display untraditional behavior. Specifically, Smith researched families whose children challenged social and sexual mores during the 1960s and 1970s. The series contains correspondence, drafts, speeches, and Smith's sociological research related to the book, in addition to files on each mother, who appeared in the book under aliases provided by Brans. In keeping with the anonymity provided by the book, file names reflect aliases rather than real names. The mothers' subject files include written transcripts of Smith's interviews with the women, both with and without Smith's notes, questionnaires and sociological data, and audiocassette recordings of the interviews. Arrangement is alphabetical, followed by a large group of research files organized into rough book chapters by Smith.

Contains materials documenting Smith's social and family life, primarily through correspondence with family, friends, and some professional associates, but also through photographs, newspaper clippings, ephemera from Smith's days as an undergraduate at Duke University, and her father's World War I diary. Materials related to Smith's volunteer and philanthropic activities at Duke University are located in the Duke University Series. The Personal Papers Series is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Series houses materials documenting Smith's professional activities, including awards, correspondence, speaking engagements, subject files, voluntarism, and philanthropy. The items give particular emphasis to Smith's work as the chair of the Board of Trustees of the Kresge Foundation, a national organization that awards grants to support non-profit organizations; her volunteer work with the Junior League; and her interest in ethics and ethical dilemmas. Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Acc. (2010-0164) (100 items, 0.2 lin. ft.; dated 1970-2009) includes correspondence regarding the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture; the Duke University Women's Studies department; Smith's Class of 1947 and their reunions; and other miscellaneous materials and notes.

Additional material from Margaret Taylor Smith's interviews, research, and correspondence about Mother, I Have Something to Tell You. Also includes copies of some of Smith's talks.