SMITH, HENRY IGNATIUS

Orator and educator; b. Newark, NJ, Aug. 25, 1886;d. Washington, DC, March 8, 1957. He was the oldest of the eight children of Michael and Loretta (Gaskins) Smith, four of whom became Dominican priests. After study in New Jersey and Ohio, he entered The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, where he was ordained June 27, 1910, and received his Ph.D. in 1915. After teaching philosophy and sociology from 1913 to 1916 in the Dominican House of Studies, Washington, DC, he was appointed national director of the Holy Name Society and of the Third Order of St. Dominic. He served also as editor of the Holy Name Review and the Torch, which he founded in 1916, and as prior and rector of St. Catherine of Siena Church in New York, NY. In 1920 he returned to Catholic University as an instructor in philosophy, acting also as prior (1922–28) of the Dominican House of Studies. He was promoted to associate professor in 1926 and professor in 1947, and appointed to succeed Msgr. Edward A. Pace as dean of the School of Philosophy in 1936. Smith developed the School of Philosophy and made it a chief center of Thomism in the U.S. He was also responsible for the establishment of the Preachers' Institute. Renowned for his abilities as a speaker, he preached countless sermons, conducted many retreats and missions, and gave numerous talks to lay organizations. His training and interests were not those of the specialized scholar, but in addition to his doctoral dissertation, The Classification of Desires in St. Thomas Aquinas and in Modern Sociology (1915), he produced a number of articles and pamphlets on religious and philosophical subjects. They include "Aquinas and Some American Freedoms," "St. Thomas Aquinas and Human Social Life," "The Militant Christian Virtues," "Justice," "Education for Patriotism," "Benedict XV and the Historical Basis for Thomistic Study," and "The Place of Authority in St. Thomas." For the old Catholic Encyclopedia he wrote the article, "Dominican Rite," and seven biographical articles. Upon his retirement on Aug. 31, 1956, he was awarded the papal medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice and named to the newly established position of dean for religious communities. A bronze bust, presented by friends to the University on his retirement, stands in McMahon Hall.

Bibliography: j. k. ryan, ed., Philosophical Studies in Honor of the Very Reverend Ignatius Smith, O.P. (Westminster, MD 1952). Archives, The Catholic University of America.

[j. k. ryan]