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Committee advances honorary designation of Glenham Street as 'Miss Maddie L. Smith Way'
Summary
The Providence Urban Redevelopment and Renewal Committee voted to advance a resolution, as amended to include the honorific 'Miss,' establishing an honorary designation of Glenham Street as Miss Maddie L. Smith Way; family members and community organizers spoke about Smith’s decades of organizing work and awards.
The Providence City Council Urban Redevelopment and Renewal Committee voted to advance a resolution to designate Glenham Street as Miss Maddie L. Smith Way and asked the Department of Public Works to install and maintain one or more honorary signs along the street.
Speakers described Maddie L. Smith as a longtime community organizer who co-founded Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE) and helped lead campaigns for housing, employment and neighborhood amenities. The resolution read into the record lists Smith's birthdate as June 4, 1933, and her death on June 12, 2023, and cites her Jefferson Award for community service and induction into the Martin Luther King Jr. Hall of Fame.
Sabrina Smith, who identified herself as Smith's granddaughter and as "Chef Brig," thanked the council and said, "My grandmother truly loved her community," and described efforts to preserve Smith's legacy. John Fritz, identifying himself as a community organizer and a DARE board member, told the committee he first met the Smith family in 1969 and described Smith's organizing work on employment and neighborhood projects. Marcus Mitchell, who identified himself as the executive director of Direct Action for Rights and Equality, said he had attended Smith's African American Museum induction and pledged to carry forward her expectations for community work.
Several speakers recounted historical grassroots actions led or joined by Smith, including neighborhood campaigns and direct actions to prevent utility shutoffs in winter months. Committee members discussed whether to include the honorific most commonly used by the family; the family representative requested the amendment. The committee voted in favor of the amendment to include the honorific "Miss" and then voted to advance the resolution out of committee as amended.
The resolution requests that copies be transmitted to Smith's family and to the Department of Public Works so that honorary signs may be manufactured and installed. The item will go before the full Providence City Council in September for final consideration. The committee transcript records affirmative voice votes on the amendment and on the final passage out of committee but does not provide a roll-call tally with individual member votes in the provided text.
