THIS CENTENARY MOMENT FORCED “FRESHISTORY”
TO LAUNCH ITS WEBSITE AND CONCEPT AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

In many ways, we were forced to launch the new FreshHistory website and concept before we were really, really ready--but the September 5, 1922 date kept swirling in our minds and in many ways kept us focused. But you know how it goes with deadlines…..it is better to force them on others than to have one for yourself. So, we are diving into the swirl in our minds about September 5 and we hope it is not a belly flop.

We knew a long time ago that we had to salute Montgomery C. Smith on this day, 100 years later, on the dot. To miss the exact date sort of misses the point. We knew it was part of our DNA to be the “celebrators-in-chief.”

And given that we are about to release a book about Smith, the school he built, the campus he landscaped and the massive fight that raged in Hudson about all of this during the Depression, we just didn’t think it would be very “Fresh” if we missed this moment.

(Stay tuned for our book about the Livingston/Smith school, the gigantic political fight over it and many details on all the players involved. It will tell the entire story of what we call “Hudson’s Best Deal from the New Deal.” We’ll give plenty of advance notice as we get closer to release.)

CELEBRATING SEPTEMBER 5, 1922

On Monday, September 4, 1922, Montgomery C. Smith summoned all his teachers and staff and had them prepare and clean the schools (and present their teaching plans.). That Monday was a national holiday but Smith was anxious. So, he brought his team in. Though Smith had been “on board,” with the Hudson District since March, (just shortly after the passing of his family-friend Charles Williams) he was using his “superpower”--his planning powers-- to make sure that the 1922 school year started without a hitch on September 5, 1922 ……bright and early, 100 years ago. Like the greats we know in Hudson, Charles Williams and Dr. John L. Edwards……..their greatest moments and achievements are worth celebrating. In fact, at this crucial moment in America, education and educators need to be celebrated for what they do; especially those who stick with it through the hardest of times.

In the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by author Robert E. Sherwood entitled, “Roosevelt and Hopkins—An Intimate History,” Sherwood delves deeply into the extremely close relationship between the Depression “relief-chief” Harry Hopkins and FDR (both would play a role in the building of the new high school, hence the reference here.) In his book, Sherwood says this about Hopkins, “Hopkins had displayed...a “piercing understanding” in the handling the war details for FDR…. indicating the penetrating sharpness of his mind and the relentless, tireless drive that was behind it.”Sherwood writes. After seeing this description of Hopkins, we could not help but apply it to Smith. In fact, we could not get it out of our minds as we pored over the many facts and stories about Smith.

FreshHistory’s book won’t win a prize but it will deal with Smith’s local version of “piercing understanding.” Whenever FreshHistory thinks about Smith we just envision a man with a blueprint in one hand and a Rolodex in the other, an ambidextrous planner. He always knew who to call and what he wanted to get from the conversation. Of course, this didn’t always earn him friends, but it helped his students achieve great things. (Calling in those teachers on a holiday was likely not a popular move, for example.) But from that day forward, till his death, Hudson’s education record was stellar.

THE RED BRICK MONUMENT AND OLYMPIC-LIKE CAMPUS

Even with the passing of the 100 years, amazingly, Smith’s name is still known to all or most Hudsonians. You can see him in the form of that large and historically-recognized red brick school building out on Harry Howard Avenue or you can go to the back of that 28-acre campus and run an “MC Smith mile” (or two or three). Or better yet, get out on those amazing tennis courts. Or walk through those iconic red brick pillars on the North side of the campus that Smith personally planned with landscape architect Dr. Laurie D. Cox and it can seem as though he might just greet you there. He loved those gates. In fact, the gates just in front of the Barrett stone were always meant to be the main entrance to the school. Smith insisted his kids see the whole campus, every morning. Perhaps it was those many snowy days that ended that ritual.

Believe it or not, Smith began planning the new school and campus in October 1922 (something he told only 2 or 3 people.) And then in the disastrous and debilitating Depression years (for Smith that was 1929-1938) Smith used his greatly needed “piercing understanding” to see through that collapse of America and to ensure that he got that field and school built, against the odds.

Till his death in 1938, Smith called the campus “Hudson’s Civic Center.” Smith would be happy to know that all that he built has been historically acknowledged by the State of New York but mostly he would just be happy to know how many civic events have been held there and that many brilliant and talented kids and great athletes have emerged from that “Civic Center.” Happy 100th anniversary Hudson and Montgomery C. Smith. Your Civic Center is our best deal ever and remains so today.

FRESHHISTORY OFFERS TWO IMAGES OF MC SMITH ON THIS SPECIAL DAY

Firstly, it is a photograph of Smith from 1922 when he was the head of the schools in Goshen, New York. It is the clearest photo of him that we possess from that time. It appears below: