Dr. Laverne Byrd Smith graduated from Virginia Union in 1948 with a Bachelor of Science degree in History/Education, and went on to earn her Master of Science in Reading/Educational Psychology from Virginia State University; Ph.D. in Education/Human Learning from University of Maryland at College Park; and has taken credits for further studies from Harvard University, Emory University and Virginia Commonwealth University. From 1948-1990, Dr. Smith was an active educator: becoming Reading and Language Arts Supervisor for the Virginia State Department of Education – a post she held for fourteen years. Like many of our alumni, she gave back in service to her Alma Mater as head of the Reading Center and professor of Teacher Education at VUU. Dr. Smith also taught in the Richmond Public Schools for sixteen years; at Virginia State University; and at graduate level at Howard University; University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University.

During the Richmond Sit-in of February 1960, Dr. Smith and the chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha of which she was a prominent member cancelled their annual cotillion to use the money to bail out the “Richmond 34”: Virginia Union students who were arrested for attempting to desegregate the Thalhimer’s Department store restaurant. Thereafter, Dr. Smith participated in the Campaign for Human Dignity which had succeeded in dismantling legalized segregation in Richmond by the end of the 1960’s.

The term “Renaissance individual” applies most appropriately in her case. An accomplished writer/scholar, Dr. Smith has published books on history and poetry. Traveling On, a history of the First Baptist Church of South Richmond from 1821-1998, was published in two volumes; and Poetry for Growing: Kindergarten through “Kollege” was published in 2003. A prolific freelance writer, Dr. Smith has contributed to, among others, such publications as: Ebony; Sepia; The Richmond Free Press; The Richmond Afro-American; The Richmond Times-Dispatch; The Pittsburgh Courier; Popcorn Magazine; and the Good News Herald. Last April, Dr. Smith presented an historical paper at the Conference marking the Fiftieth Anniversary of Brown vs. the Board of Education that was held at VUU.



Dr. Raymond P. Hylton,Author
VUU Assistant Professor, History