A panel of family members and community leaders will remember the life and work of Dr. Irene Hill-Smith. on Sunday, March 5, 2023, 3 pm, at the historic Richwood Academy Cultural Center.
Dr. Hill-Smith was a national leader in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s whose distinguished career began here in Gloucester County. Born in Mullica Hill, Hill-Smith began her education in the segregated High Street School. She went on to graduate from Glassboro High School, study at Virginia State, and receive a doctorate in humanities from Glassboro State College, now Rowan University. Having served as president of the Gloucester County and New Jersey NAACP, she rose to become the Association’s national vice president from 1967 to 1979. Always at the civil rights forefront, she worked with Dr. Martin Luther King and was one of the community leaders called by President Lyndon Johnson to help craft the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act. She remained a prominent activist until her death in 2011.