US EditionOBITUARY Edith Renfrow Smith, Who Witnessed More than a Century of ...
Edith Renfrow Smith was a pioneering educator and subject of cognitive aging studies known as SuperAgers, honored with a dormitory and doctorate at Grinnell College.
- Edith Renfrow Smith died on Jan. 2, 2026, of natural causes at the Breakers assisted living facility, Edgewater, Chicago, at age 111, her daughter said.
- Born in Grinnell, Iowa, Edith Renfrow Smith was the fifth of six children and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology at Grinnell College, becoming its first Black woman graduate.
- She taught in Chicago schools, working at Ludwig Van Beethoven Elementary School on the South Side before retiring, then volunteered for decades at Goodwill and the Art Institute of Chicago while studied as a Northwestern University `SuperAgers` subject appearing on NBC's `Today` and PBS.
- The college awarded her an honorary degree and named a library in the Black Cultural Center and a student art gallery in her honor, and college leaders praised her example.
- Peers called Edith Renfrow Smith a memory keeper as she recounted two centuries of family history, helping researchers trace Grinnell and Iowa roots predating the Civil War and influencing Herbie Hancock.
45 Articles
45 Articles
Edith Renfrow Smith: A Century of Change
Edith Renfrow Smith: A Century of Change Edith Renfrow Smith, an emblem of resilience and witness to over a century of world-altering events, passed away on January 2 at the age of 111 in Chicago. Born in Grinnell, Iowa, in 1914, she was a direct link to America's slavery history and its subsequent societal changes.From enduring racial segregation to contributing to societal advancements, Smith's life was a tapestry woven with personal and histo…
Chicago Tribune
Edith Renfrow Smith, part of Northwestern’s ‘SuperAgers’ study, dies at 111
Edith Renfrow Smith, the first Black woman to graduate from Grinnell College in Iowa and a longtime Chicago schoolteacher, remained mentally sharp well past 100, becoming the subject for medical researchers studying what they called “SuperAgers.” Smith, 111, died Friday in Chicago. Vintage Chicago Tribune: The city’s centenarians — notable Chicagoans who lived to be 100 or older Edith Renfrow was born in Grinnell, Iowa, on July 14, 1914, the fif…
Edith Renfrow Smith, a 'memory keeper' and living link to history, dies at 111
Edith Renfrow Smith was born in Iowa two weeks before the start of World War I. Her earliest memories involve the end of the war in 1918 and a neighbor who came home having lost both legs. She met aviator Amelia Earhart while an undergraduate at Grinnell College, where she became the first Black female graduate, class of 1937. After graduation, she came to Chicago to work at the YMCA and was living in the city Friday when her long, extraordinary…
Edith Renfrow Smith received the Physicology Bachelor by Grinnell College in 1937: she was the first black woman to be formed in the institution.
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