Avenger of the Week | Lena O. Smith, Minnesota's First Black Lawyer

In the early 1900s, Lena O. Smith worked in a coal mine’s company store, as a hairdresser, and as a real estate agent to support her widowed mother and four young siblings in Minneapolis. Working in real estate, she saw the housing discrimination against African Americans and was determined to do something about it. She enrolled in what became the William Mitchell School of Law, and between classes worked against discriminatory practices with the local NAACP. In 1921, she graduated and was admitted to the bar as the first Black woman lawyer in Minnesota and was likely one of only a few in the country at the time.

Smith began filing housing and employment discrimination lawsuits on behalf of African Americans and became well known as an aggressive and successful negotiator. Once asked about her approach to segregation and inequality, she noted that some are less confrontational but explained, “I’m from the West and fearless. I’m used to doing the right thing without regard for myself.  Of course battles leave their scars but I’m willing to make the sacrifice. I think it is my duty."

Lena O. Smith’s long-time home in South Minneapolis. Photo credit: McGhiever [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The civil rights advocate helped start a branch of the National Urban League, became the first woman to serve as President of the local NAACP, and worked as a lawyer into the 1960s. She died in 1966 at 81 years old.

Her long-time home in South Minneapolis was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places  in 1991 as the Lena O. Smith House. We look forward to the upcoming biopic from Minneapolis-based production company, Winterstate Entertainment based on her life.

Lena O. Smith, the @GenderAvenger #AvengerOfTheWeek, was the 1st Black woman lawyer in Minnesota in 1921, fought housing and job discrimination against African Americans, and was the 1st woman president of her local NAACP. #GenderAvenger https://www.genderavenger.com/blog/avenger-of-the-week-lena-o-smith