Series 3: Personal Files, Subseries 4: Corinna Lindon Smith (1932-1965) consists largely of correspondence from the files of this long-standing member and sometime vice president of the AAIA. Smith (1875-1965) could take pride in a connection with the Association reaching back to its beginnings, -- she was elected to the Board of Directors of the Eastern Association on Indian Affairs in 1925 -- but the material in this subseries corresponds almost wholly with her latter-day tenure on this body, a period framed by her re-election in 1953 and her death.

Smith was comfortably circumstanced in life and travelled widely overseas in the company of her husband, the artist and archaeologist, Joseph Lindon Smith. Her active interest in Native Americans began with a recuperative holiday in Florida in 1923, which introduced her to the Seminole and Miccosukee peoples. She and her party, which included a nurse, were soon ministering to their needs, and, in the course of this visit and subsequent sojourns in states such as New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Montana, Smith committed herself to promoting the welfare and, in particular, the health of Indians throughout the United States. She carried out this mission not only on behalf of the AAIA and its affiliates but as head of the General Federation of Women's Clubs' Division of Indian Welfare. The lone prewar document in this subseries bears witness to her work under the latter's aegis in the field of home improvement. Smith also served as an advisor to organizations ranging from the National Congress of American Indians to the State and Provincial Health Authorities of North America.

The most voluminous file in this subseries relates to Native American health, reflecting Smith's long-standing interest in this area. Unfortunately, comparatively little of her own correspondence has been preserved. The bulk of material in her files was penned by others, and while these include letters directed specifically to Smith, there are also a profusion of carbon copies and other duplicated items sent to her in her capacity as Second Vice President of the AAIA between 1958 and 1965. Though impersonal, the latter shed a succinct light on issues of organizational concern, from the defense of Alaska's natives to the inclusion of Indians in the Johnson administration's anti-poverty crusade to the establishment of a National Service Corps. This subseries is more broad than deep, but it offers an easily compassed picture of the AAIA through the medium of one its most dedicated members. Smith's presence is not an obtrusive one, but here and there her redoubtable personality reveals itself. "My premise," she wrote in her ninetieth year, "is never stop being useful. To do this, set up a scale of priorities to determine what not to delegate to young associates."