Smith, Harold T.

Person

Smith, Harold T.

• Smith, H.T.

• Smith, HT

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.

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Original bio was written by Kate Villa UGrow Fellow for the Department of Manuscripts and Archives Management, 2020-2021
H.T. Smith provided a revised bio on 4/14/2022, biographical note was updated to reflect Smith's supplied bio on 4/26/2022