Smith, Genevieve Thompson, 1883-1974

Attorney Genevieve Thompson Smith was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1883. Her father, David P. Thompson (1834-1901), was a successful Portland businessman and political figure who served twice as the city’s mayor and was appointed in 1892 to a diplomatic post in Istanbul. In 1861 he married Mary R. Meldrum, daughter of Oregon pioneers, and the couple had three children: Ralph, Bessie, and Genevieve. Genevieve Thompson was educated at the Portland Academy and Bryn Mawr College. She studied law at the University of Oregon Law School and received her degree in 1913. In Washington, D.C., she worked in the Russian section of U.S. Army Intelligence during World War I and later headed an organization called “Fatherless Children in France.” She was married to naval officer Norman Murray Smith in 1921 and lived for a time in San Diego, California. She was also a published author of plays and stories.

From the guide to the Genevieve Thompson Smith papers, 1892-1954, (Oregon Historical Society)