Eliza Kennedy Smith
American suffragist, civic activist, and government reformer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Eliza Kennedy Smith (December 11, 1889 – October 23, 1964), also known as Mrs. R. Templeton Smith, was a 20th-century American suffragist, civic activist, and government reformer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Upon her death in 1964, The Pittsburgh Press described her as "a relentless, tenacious watchdog of the City's purse strings" who "probably attended more budget sessions over the years than anyone else in Pittsburgh either in or out of government".[1][2]
Eliza Kennedy Smith | |
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Born | Eliza Jane Kennedy (1889-12-11)December 11, 1889 Latrobe, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Died | October 23, 1964(1964-10-23) (aged 74) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Other names | Eliza Kennedy, Mrs. R. Templeton Smith |
Occupation(s) | Suffragist, women's rights activist, and government reformer |
Spouse | R. Templeton Smith |
Parent(s) | Julian Kennedy and Jennie E. Kennedy |
Partnering with her sister, Lucy Kennedy Miller (1880–1962), and Jennie Bradley Roessing, Mary E. Bakewell, Hannah J. Patterson, and Mary Flinn Lawrence during the early 1900s, she helped to found the Allegheny County Equal Rights Association (later renamed as the Equal Franchise Federation of Western Pennsylvania and then the Allegheny County League of Women Voters).[3] Named president of the Allegheny County League of Women Voters, she held that position from the early 1920s until the time of her death in 1964.[4]
In addition, she collaborated with her sister, Lucy Kennedy Miller, to uncover Pittsburgh city government corruption.[5] Their investigation led to Mayor Charles H. Kline's indictment by a grand jury on forty-eight counts of malfeasance and his subsequent conviction in 1932, which resulted in a six-month prison sentence.[6]