The collection is divided into two series: papers and audio recordings. Papers are arranged in the
order they were donated, except for the biographical data folder, which contains material
compiled from other folders. Original folder titles were also maintained in processing, with
the addition of dates, types of documents, and occasional title clarification. Audio recordings
materials are arranged by topic.
The folder and audio titles use the term "African American" for consistency and to follow
archival convention, although multiple terms including some outdated language exists in the
audio and papers.
The papers contain material from the late 1960s to 2021, and predominantly consist of
writing, notes, correspondence, reports, and proposals related to the radio series Seeds of Discontent, which explored discontented social groups and
organizations attempting to improve their conditions in the United States. The papers also
involve an organization called Seeds of Discontent Inc., which was established after the
success of the series, with the intention of creating meaningful programs communicating the
realities of life in American society. In addition to the series and the organization Seeds
of Discontent, the papers document Smith's career as an educator and related projects
through correspondence, press releases, clippings, reports, teaching evaluations, and course
materials, and the papers include press clippings about race in the United States, with an
emphasis on events in Detroit, collected by Smith.
The audio recordings contain episodes 1-26 of Seeds of Discontent and the raw interviews captured during its
production. Also includes, recordings from radio stations WDET and WJZZ, a
class guest lecture by an African American Vietnam veteran, two recordings of albums, a
report on children's view of the juvenile court system from the Children's Charter of the
Courts of Michigan Inc., and four professionalization sessions for social workers and public
servants. When available, the titles for audio
materials are based on descriptions provided by Smith through labels, the raw audio itself,
or the completed episodes.
The audio and paper documents in this collection have been digitized. Researchers can
access the digital files of most of the audio and paper documents on the WCFTR's Internet
Archive page.
This collection also includes photographs in the WCFTR Name File.
