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Bio supplied by H.T. Smith:

H.T. Smith’s passion for a cause and effective advocacy skills were evidenced early on when he persuaded the University of Miami School of Law to admit him before even taking the Law School Admission Test. His argument: that it was unfair to punish him for not being able to take a test that was not administered in the jungles of Vietnam, while he fought for his country.

His legal career blazed new trails from the start - - as Miami-Dade County's first African-American assistant public defender, and as the County's first African-American assistant county attorney. He was a partner in the first African American law firm to practice law in downtown Miami.

Born Harold Teliaferro Smith, Jr. to Mary Cope Smith and Harold T. Smith, Sr. He was born in the Christian Hospital – the hospital for colored Miamians. As a child he played on a street called “bucket of blood” – and it earned that nickname. From kindergarten through 12th grade, H. T. was forced by law to attend segregated schools, with second-hand facilities, second-hand equipment and hand me down books. Only historically Black and tradition rich Florida A&M University accepted him. There he earned a major in Mathematics and was commission a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army.

H.T. served 400 days as a leader of men in the jungles of Vietnam and upon returning home he entered the University of Miami School of Law. For the past 49 years, H.T. has practiced as a trial lawyer in Miami, specializing in civil rights, personal injury, and criminal defense. He was voted Top Trial Lawyer of 2017 by the Dade County Bar Association, and the National Law Journal recognized him as one of the top 10 trial lawyers of the year in America. He has been inducted into the “Legal Legends” of Miami-Dade County, and he is listed in The Best Lawyers in America.

H.T. was one of the lead attorneys in the successful legal challenge to Ward Connelly’s effort to pass a Constitutional Amendment in Florida outlawing affirmative action in public education, public employment, and public contracting. In his argument to the Florida Supreme Court, H.T. described Connelly’s so-called “Civil Rights Initiative” as a “cruel hoax” on the people of Florida.

H. T. was the founding President of the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. Bar Association, and a founding member of the Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Association. He also served as President of the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter of the National Bar Association, and the National Bar Association – which is the oldest and largest bar association for people of color.

He led the South Florida Coalition for a Free South Africa (a branch of the international Free South Africa Movement) from 1984 until Nelson Mandela was released from prison on February 11, 1990. This direct-action campaign resulted in governmental agencies and colleges divesting from companies doing business in or with apartheid South Africa, boycotting clothing and food that was imported from South Africa, and stopping the sale of the krugerands by financial institutions in South Florida.

From 1990-1993, H.T. was a co-spokesperson for the highly successful Boycott Miami Campaign which was organized after local politicians snubbed the legendary Nelson Mandela during his historic visit to Miami. The tourism boycott lasted 1,000 days – costing Miami’s tourism industry in excess of $110 million. The boycott settlement resulted in significant economic and educational opportunities for African Americans, including the development of the first Black-owned convention-quality hotel in the United States–on the ocean, in Miami Beach.

H.T.s also served with James K. Batten, CEO of Knight Ridder Newspapers, as co- Chairman of the Coalition for Progress which was an organization established to establish, implement and execute on the programs, policies and goals agreed upon to end the boycott.

In 1995, H.T. along with two partners, led the ambitious effort to raise $5 million dollars to build the 27,000 square foot NFL Youth Education Town (YET) Center at Gwen Cherry Park in the Scott Carver Projects. This NFL YET Center provides computer training, homework assistance, educational programs, arts and crafts, health, nutrition and fitness courses, a nature park with a zip line, a state-of-the-art synthetic athletic field to play football, soccer and lacrosse, and all types of sporting activities for hundreds of kids daily.

In 2003, H.T. was tapped to become the Inaugural Director of Florida International University College of Law’s Trial Advocacy Program. The student body presented him with the “Pioneer Award” for his innovative excellence as a legal educator, and the University honored him with its prestigious “Top Scholar Award”. His trial teams have won state, regional and national Mock Trial competitions involving civil and criminal cases.

H.T. also joined the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami in 2004 where he has served as Vice-Chairman of the Board; and as Chairman of the Student Affairs, Membership and Governance Committees.

H.T. has received numerous honors for almost five decades of service to his community, profession and country. The following have been named in his honor – the Harold Long Jr. and H.T. Smith Student Assessment Building at the University of Miami; the H.T. Smith Black Law Student’s Association, established at FIU College of Law; the H.T. Smith Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest award of the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce; the H.T. Smith Fellowship, established by the Florida State Conference of NAACP Branches; the H. T. Smith Scholarship established by the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. Bar Association; the H.T. Smith Legal Studies Scholarship, established by the law firm of Kluger Kaplan; the H.T. Smith Fellowship, established by Legal Services of Greater Miami; and the H.T. Smith Achievement Award, established by INROADS/Miami.

He has received numerous awards. A few of them include the David W. Dyer Professionalism and Icon Awards from the Dade County Bar Association; the National Bar Association’s Hall of Fame induction; the Charles Whited Spirit of Excellence Award from the Miami Herald; the Silver Medallion Award from the Miami Conference of Christians and Jews.

H.T. has devoted his entire legal career to “agitating for justice”. In a letter to the National Bar Association, South African President Nelson Mandela wrote: “We join your members in paying special tribute to your retiring President, H.T. Smith, whose name became well-known for his consistent and courageous contribution and support for the struggle of our people against apartheid. We wish H.T., well, we are confident that wherever injustice and racism raise their ugly heads, H.T. will be there to raise his powerful voice of protest and resistance.

Smith, Heather

Smith, James Merrick, 1919-2013

Family

Interior designer James Merrick Smith was born in St. Joseph, Louisiana in 1919. He moved to Miami in 1947. From the outset he conceived design tableaus in a pavilion adjacent to his Coconut Grove studio to showcase to the public what modern design was all about. Throughout the years, he helped Miami shed its Spanish Colonial style for a more modern image. Over that time of involvement, he gained the trust of hundreds of clients and high-profile individuals who welcomed him into their homes, corporate establishments and lives.

James Merrick Smith was well-known for his contributions to the restoration and preservation of Vizcaya – a now century old Italian villa on Biscayne Bay created for James Deering by Paul Chalfin, Francis Burrall Hoffman, Jr. and Diego Suarez - which is now open to the public as a decorative arts museum. He was a charter member and past president of the Vizcayans.

James Merrick Smith was also a consultant for The Florida Governor’s mansion and The White House. His contribution to Miami extended beyond just the scope of design. From his passion for the arts and education, to being a founding member of the Vizcayans, the Museum of Science, Grove House and charter member of the Metropolitan Dade County Council of Arts and Sciences, he has had an unforgettable impact on the culture of Miami. Hal Birchfield would share in many of these civic and professional ventures.

On August 28th 1970, James Merrick Smith and Hal Birchfield would meet at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco at the national conference of the American Institute of Interior Designers (A.I.D.). Hal Birchfield had a degree in architecture and was in graduate school working on a degree in design, when asked by the Florida Chapter of the American Institute of Interior Designers (A.I.D.) to serve on the first National Student Council of A.I.D. James Merrick Smith was the past national president of A.I.D. and the founder of the Student Council. And thus would begin a long and poignant relationship both professional and personal for the ensuing forty-four years. James Merrick Smith and Hal Birchfield were married in Rye, Westchester County, New York on October 11th, 2012 by Reverend Donald Whitman Poole.

James Merrick Smith was one of the founders and a Fellow of the American Society of Interior Designers, (A.S.I.D.) and he served as president of the predecessor organization American Institute of Interior Designers (A.I.D.) from 1966 to 1969. In 1987 James Merrick Smith was named “Designer of Distinction” by the A.S.I.D. during the summer conference in Toronto. The firm’s long list of accolades include winning residential and contract design competitions, the AID/V’Soske competition, the ASID/Diller competition, and the ASID/National Association of Mirror Manufacturers competition among many other others.

The profession would bestow fellowship on James Merrick Smith in 1962 and Hal Birchfield would receive fellowship in 1986. Both were in their early 40’s at the time of achieving this highest honor of their profession. Their office was thought to be the only design firm in the country where both principles were fellows of the American Society of Interior Designers.

One spring evening in 1986, after speaking with a friend who had just returned from China, there came the remark “sometime, we have to do that” and then the realization, with the vast difference in our ages (26 years) that “sometime” is now! And now, it would be. We in the ensuing days of our lives would include odysseys that only dreams are made of. We would travel around the world two times. Go to all seven continents and have the exciting experience of visiting over ninety countries. Yes, the time to live life, is now!

The design firm of James Merrick Smith and Hal Birchfield was always located in Coconut Grove for its 60 year history in the residential and commercial sectors of work. Geographic locations for projects would range from Beverly Hills, the Gold Coast of Chicago, New York, Boston, both coasts of Florida, the Caribbean and Costa Rica. The office had a most notable residential client roster and corporate clients that included Chase Manhattan Bank, City National Bank, Bacardi, The Miami Herald and Playboy. It was a company policy to never solicit work. All endeavors walked through the door from endorsement!

Upon the announcement of the closing of the office a longtime friend and professor at the University of Miami stated, “it was one hell of a run”. Yes, in fact “it was one hell of a run” and we are very grateful for that run. We/I certainly hope you find points of interest in our lives, work and accomplishments within the files of this collection here at the University of Miami. And we/I hope you enjoy the “run” as much as we did.

Sincerely,

James Merrick Smith, F.A.S.I.D. Hal F.B. Birchfield, F.A.S.I.D.

1919 – 2013 1945 -

A post script - - And the struggle for a richer life for all would go on. There would be efforts by governmental powers to discriminate against the marriage of James Merrick Smith and Hal Birchfield with regard to Social Security survival benefits, the rights of marriage and homestead of our domicile and even the right of the survivor to be named as “spouse” on the death certificate of the person who has passed away. There will never be a way to properly thank the efforts of our dear friends Elaine and St Julien Rosemond, Ruth Shack, Tara Borelli of Lambda Legal (Atlanta), Karen Loewy of Lambda Legal (New York), and David Draigh of White & Case (Miami) and all the other fine cohorts for their efforts to correct these injustices for not only us, but for all Americans!

A post, post script - - - On October 22, 2015, Miami-Dade County reversed its stand and regranted homestead to Hal Birchfield. A matter that would have been given to any other married couple automatically.

The above remarks scripted by Hal Birchfield.