In Memoriam: Wilda Maxine Smith, 1924-2020

Wilda Maxine Smith, a longtime faculty member at Fort Hays State University in Kansas, died on October 3 at the Hayes Medical Center. She was 96 years old.

A native of Gove County, Kansas, became a teacher immediately after graduating from high school during World War II. After the end of the war, she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at what is now Fort Hays State University. She later completed a Ph.D. in history at the University of Illinois.

After teaching at Hays High School from 1953 to 1957, Dr. Smith joined the faculty at Fort Hays State University. She taught there for more than a quarter century. Dr. Smith chaired the history department at the university for five years.

Professor Smith was the co-author of The Wars of Peggy Hull: The Life and Times of a War Correspondent (Texas Western Press, 1991). She served on the board of directors of the Kansas Historical Society.