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Helen Mable Smith
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“
Kind words can be short and easy to speak,
but their echoes are truly endless.”
MOTH ER T ERESA
Helen Mable
Smith receiving The
Canada Medal from
Ken Atkinson for her
contribution to her
community and country
Helen was born and lived all her life in
St. Catharines, Ontario. She and her
husband raised fourteen children. Helen
was an energetic activist and role model for
family, friends and her community. Helen
passed away in 1994, but her influence in
her community lives on.
Helen Mable Smith
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Many Hats
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elen Mable Smith was born in St. Catharines, Ontario in 1916, and she
lived there all her life. This is a story about her life and how she made the
world a better place.
Helen’s grandfather, a black man, was a slave. A long time ago, many kind
people who believed that slavery was wrong helped her grandfather and
others escape from their owners. Helen grew up knowing that all people
should be free. She decided to do something about that whenever she
could.
Helen had 12 brothers and sisters. She learned early in her life to speak up
for herself if she wanted to be heard. Her mother taught the children right
from wrong, how to share and how to be helpful. Later, when Helen had
children of her own, she remembered what her mother had taught her.
Helen didn’t go to high school, but she was a smart girl. She liked to write
poems. Sometimes, when things made her unhappy or angry, she would
write a poem to help get her feelings out. As she grew older, some of her
poems were written about serious topics such as how people do not
always treat each other nicely, and how lucky we are to live in such a
wonderful country. Sometimes Helen would wake up in the middle of the
night with an idea for a poem. She would jump out of bed and write it
down so that she wouldn’t forget it.
After Helen got married, she and her husband had 14 children. She taught
all of her children the same lessons that her mother had taught her. Be
kind, be generous with whatever you have, and always try to do the right
thing. Helen loved children and it showed. Even though she had many
children of her own, Helen enjoyed having her children’s friends at her
home as well. Everyone was welcome to sit down to dinner with them, but,
like one of the family, they had to help with the dishes afterward.
Helen was busy with her own large family, but she always found time for
others. One day she found out that in another part of town, some white
families didn’t want a black family to live near them. This made her very
unhappy. She wrote about it as she always did when something made her
feel this way. She called her poem Free Men. Here are some of her words:
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You don’t judge a man
By his colour you see
It is by what he has in him
And what good he can be
Excerpts from ‘Free Men’ by Helen Smith, 1959
Then she took the poem downtown to the mayor’s office and read it to the
city council. Listening to her poem, they knew that Helen was right. All
people should be free to live wherever they wanted to. The mayor and city
council made sure the family moved into the new house.
Helen grew up in a religious family. As part of the congregation of the
B.M.E. (British Methodist Episcopalian) Church, Helen knew that this
church and the people who went there had helped many slaves escape
years ago. This was an important part of black history in Canada and
Helen talked about this history to school children whenever she could.
As time passed, both Helen and the church grew older. The church was
beginning to fall apart. The congregation did not have enough money for
the repairs, so Helen got busy. She marched downtown and talked to the
mayor. She asked for $10 000. This was a lot of money. Again, she read
them a poem that she had written called, The Open Door.
Many years ago, ‘twas in the days of yore
That my grandparents, yes, no doubt some of yours
Decided there must be something better on this here earth God made
So they started out to find it...
They started out for Canada, the place they called the Open Door...
Excerpt from ‘The Open Door’ by Helen Smith, 1981
The mayor and city council were still not able to give her the money and
Helen went away feeling sad, but she did not give up.
Whenever Helen was upset and needed to cheer herself up, she would go
downtown and buy a hat. She loved hats, and had many of them. This
time, buying a hat didn’t help. It looked as if she was not going to be able
to save her beloved church.
Around this time, Helen got sick and she had to go the hospital. She
worried the whole time she was there, not about herself, but about her
church roof!
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Sadly, the doctors couldn’t make Helen better, and she died. Many
relatives, friends, and people that she had helped along the way crowded
into the church to say good-bye to this wonderful woman. Important
people from the city spoke kind words at the funeral service. They talked
about all the good deeds that Helen had done and the medal she had been
awarded because of these deeds. In the front row of the church sat all six
of Helen’s daughters, each one wearing one of their mother’s beautiful
hats. What a sight! The family was very sad, but so proud of their mother.
Helen did not stop working her miracles, even from heaven. Six months
after she died, local business people gave the church the money it needed
to fix the church roof. “Praise God!” she would have said.
Helen truly made a difference during her lifetime. She was a tiny black
woman who wore a big hat and had a huge heart. She thought of others
before herself and always tried to do what was right. We are very lucky
to have had such a wonderful citizen.
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Background Information
Resources
Congregation - The name given to the people who attend a
particular church.
Hats Around the World, Liza
Charlesworth
Slave - A person owned by another person. Someone who is not
free to live or work wherever he/she wants. A person who is not
allowed to own anything.
Hats, Debbie Bailey
Mayor - The person at the head of the government of a city, town or
village.
What can you do with a paper
bag?, Metropolitan Museum
of Art
Mrs. Honey’s Hats, Adams, Pam.
New York, Child’s Play
Hello Cat, You need a Hat,
Gelman, Rita Golden, New
York, NY, Scholastic
Mr. Taddle’s Hats, Brian, Janeen.
Vanwell Publishing Ltd., St.
Catharines
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Expectations
Suggested Activities
Language
; Read and discuss the story, clarifying any questions the students
might have.
OC5
ask questions, express
feelings, and share ideas
R1
listen to stories, poems and
non-fiction materials for
enjoyment and information
R5
make connections between
their own experiences and
those of storybook characters
Mathematics
NSN1
sort and classify objects into
sets according to specific
characteristics, and describe
those characteristics (e.g.,
colour, size and shape)
DMP1
place some specific types of
objects (e.g., shoes, favourite
foods) on concrete graphs and
pictographs
P2
create and extend simple
patterns using a variety of
materials or actions (e.g.,
popsicle sticks, pebbles,
stickers, counters)
; Discuss: • How did the story get its title?
• What kind of a person was Helen?
• How did she learn to be like she was?
• What did Helen do when she saw something ‘wrong’?
• How did she ‘make a difference’ during her lifetime?
; Have students relate a time when something made them angry or
sad. Discuss what they did, or could have done, about the situation.
; Make a collection of hats (real or pictures). With the whole group,
sort according to a variety of characteristics.
; Using the blackline master, colour, cut out and glue onto a strip of
construction paper to make a pattern. The strip can then be stapled
and worn as a hat.
Extensions
; Students bring a hat from home. Model and tell about the hat.
Whose is it? What is it used for? The hats could then be used for
role play.
; If possible, collect hats the children recognize and discuss
community workers who wear these hats (e.g., police officer,
firefighter, chef)
; On a simple hat frame, have students decorate a hat. They will
need a plentiful supply of good ‘junk’ (feathers, beads, wool, fabric).
Have a hat parade, or wear the hat during ‘Hat Day’ if your school
has one.
; Brainstorm ideas the students have on what makes a good citizen.
Have them paint a picture of their idea. Print a caption for the
pictures and display them in the hall.
; Investigate hats children wear in other parts of the world.
; Pose a problem for the children to solve during ‘building time’. How
would they repair the roof if it got damaged?
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Activity Sheet
The Power Of Story, ETFO © 2002
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Expectations
Suggested Activities
Language
; Read the story to the students. Students may ask questions for
clarification.
1e1
communicate ideas (thoughts,
feelings, experiences) for
specific purposes (e.g., write a
letter to a friend describing a
new pet)
1e3
write simple sentences using
proper punctuation (i.e.,
periods)
1e55
allow others to speak, and
wait their turn in conversations
or class discussions
Social Studies
1z3
describe the roles and
responsibilities of various
family members, as well as of
other people in their school
and neighbourhood.
1z9
demonstrate an understanding
of the need for rules and
responsibilities (e.g., need for
protection, for respect)
1z13
demonstrate an understanding
of rights and responsibilities in
a way that shows respect for
the rights and property of
other people (e.g., sharing,
being courteous, cooperating,
not littering)
; Brainstorm the concept of ‘rights’ and ‘responsibilities’. List
students’ ideas on the chalkboard.
1
; Discuss how Helen learned to be a responsible member of a family
and society. How did she influence others?
; Chart students’ ideas from their own experiences under the
headings Rights; a) as a child in a family, b) as a child in a
community. Responsibilities; a) as a child in a family, b) as a child
in a community.
; Pair students. Have them choose (they will need guidance) one
corresponding right and responsibility, e.g. I have a right to be safe,
vs. I must not hit my brother. Students record and illustrate their
ideas. Place all corresponding pages opposite each other. Bind or
coil to make a big book. Repetition of ideas may be necessary.
Share with others.
Extensions
; Using a simple base, have students ‘construct’ a hat with recycled
materials collected ahead of time. Model hats, or wear on Hat Day.
; Construct a hat with moveable parts e.g., ear flaps connected by a
brad (butterfly clip). Demonstrate to the class how their hat
‘moves’.
; While studying daily and seasonal weather changes, design different
hats that will keep you warm, dry, shady, etc.
; Students bring hats from home. Sort, classify and graph according
to various characteristics.
; Identify people in the community who wear hats as part of their
uniform. How do these people help make the community a better
place?
; Identify hats worn by children or adults in other cultures.
; Teach ‘hat’ songs and a dance to accompany them e.g., “My Hat, It
Has Three Corners” or the “Mexican Hat Dance”. Create a song or
dance for a hat designed with recycled materials.
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