MTSU faculty members and alumni shared their memories and appreciation for Kevin E. Smith, an MTSU anthropology professor, following his March 14 death.
Smith started his career full-time at MTSU in 1994 and began the anthropology department with encouragement from the late Marilyn Wells, a professor emeritus of anthropology.
“When [Wells] retired, he really carried on her legacy, and he thought of it all along as her legacy that he was carrying on,” said Shannon Hodge, a professor of anthropology at MTSU. “This wasn’t anything he was doing for himself. He was doing it for MTSU anthropology and doing it for the students.”
In the 1990s, Smith shared an office in a building known as “The Black House” with Carroll Van West, the director of MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation. There wasn’t much of an archaeology department at MTSU then, but the first lab was in the garage of The Black House, said West.
“For years, some of the storage they needed for their archaeology work was in the basement of The Black House because … they didn’t have a lab … they didn’t have these things that they did today,” West said. “So when I say he literally built the program, he really sort of did.”
MTSU alums Amy Goldstein, 2012 graduate, and Kathryn Miller, 2019 graduate, credit Smith for feeding their love for archaeology.
Miller met Smith around 2008-09 at an archaeological society meeting in Donelson, Tennessee. She picked MTSU’s anthropology program because of Smith, and she eventually chose archaeology as her minor.
Smith was quiet but methodical and a no-nonsense kind of guy, but he was good at pointing students in the right direction and keeping them interested, Miller said.
Although many described Smith as more reserved with dry humor, they also believe people might have missed that he could be outgoing and made classes memorable.
“It was nice to have somebody who was a little more in the field to be a mentor,” Miller said. “He didn’t know it, but I picked him. I think he realized when I got to class.”
Miller remembers moments of laughter during their seven-minute skit of a made-up language for her 8 a.m. linguistics class with Smith. She took as many of his courses as possible before graduation, even classes surrounding Native American studies, which she didn’t realize she would enjoy as much.
“He taught a Native American foodways class, and he cooked every Friday,” Shannon Hodge said. “He took great delight in sourcing ingredients from Alaskan salmon, bison and acorns, and I think they ate crickets at some point.”
Smith was creative with his classes and tried making them exciting and unique, Hodge said. He encouraged students to be involved and attempted to include everyone.
“I think that he didn’t just want to teach to the best students,” Goldstein said. “He also wanted to get through to those who maybe were seen as more sort of on the fringes of academia, or who maybe didn’t always get the best grades in the class, but regardless, he was still interested in teaching them and trying to reach them if they wanted to learn anthropology.”
This passion for inclusion didn’t stop at his students. He strived to include the broader community, like nonprofessional archaeologists and collectors who were previously frowned upon.
“I think he was really big on collaborating with the communities in which he worked, and that’s something that I really respect, and I’ve tried to carry forward in my own career,” Goldstein said.
For West and many others, the legacy that Smith left behind was tremendous. Smith’s work at Castalian Springs was especially important to him, said West. The mound site showed Smith’s passion for his work while connecting MTSU students and anyone else with an interest.
Goldstein describes the field school there as transformative years of her life, ultimately leading to her becoming an archaeologist.
“I think one thing to tell students that knew him and really loved him is that he loved them too, that it was absolutely mutual,” Hodge said. “And that was really what he did with his life … served them and served MTSU anthropology.”
A celebration of life will be held in the MT Center in the Ingram Building on June 21 from 2-5 p.m.
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