Born in Grinnell, Iowa, Edith Renfrow Smith graduated from Grinnell College in 1937 and was the only Black student on campus during the 4.5 years that she attended the small, private liberal arts college. At 110 years old, she is the college’s first Black alumna and the oldest living graduate of the institution.
This week, Grinnell will dedicate and name its newest residence hall in honor of Renfrow Smith, recognizing her legacy, life, and commitment to community, education, and equity.
Mrs. Edith Renfrow SmithJustin Hayworth, Grinnell College
“The residence hall, which extends the campus into the town, was imagined to be a dual-purpose space where the Grinnell community could come together with campus members and work on things of shared interests on equal ground,” said Dr. Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant, who holds the Louise R. Noun ’29 Chair in Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies at Grinnell and serves as the faculty lead of Team Renfrow.
Team Renfrow is the research and recognition group that spearheaded the naming and dedication campaign for Renfrow Smith and includes faculty, students, alumni, and townspeople committed to bringing visibility to Renfrow Smith and other African Americans who have called Grinnell home since 1854.
“We made the argument to say, ‘Who else but a person who was born and raised in the town of Grinnell, who has had a lifelong relationship with this space,” said Beauboeuf-Lafontant in an interview with Diverse. “She embodies the two Grinnells, and they’ve always been one Grinnell in her life and in her heart.”
A second-generation Iowan and proud Grinnellian, Renfrow Smith is an educator who taught for over twenty years in the Chicago Public School System and spent four decades volunteering in her community. The residence hall will prominently display and honor Renfrow Smith’s contributions, with the hope of encouraging current and future Grinnell students to reflect on her impact, resilience, and life of service.
“Part of the importance of this week and the dedication, is that this project says you have a history here, it says somebody softened the ground for you to be here,” said Beauboeuf-Lafontant. “People who feel that their biography intersects with [ Renfrow Smith’s], that they are low-income, that they are Black women, that they are women, that they are people of color, that they are from the town, that they’re from Iowa, will start to say, ‘wow, this is our campus.’”
Renfrow Smith will attend the Renfrow Hall Dedication Weekend Events, which will begin on Friday morning and run through the weekend. The planned events will include a reception, parade, and a mural installation, all reflecting on the life and experiences of Black students and alumni of Grinnell. The college will also debut a photo art gallery titled, “Rooted in Resilience: Celebrating the Legacy of Mrs. Edith Renfrow Smith.”
One event in particular, the “Guided Walk of Edith Renfrow Smith”, will invite community members to walk a mile in the honoree’s shoes. Valeriya Woodard, a fourth-year Grinnell student and member of Team Renfrow, walked to Renfrow Smith’s childhood home in Grinnell this summer and immediately reconnected with her story. She organized the community walk.
Dr. Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant (faculty lead of Team Renfrow), with Mrs. Edith Renfrow Smith and Feven Getachew (first student member of Team Renfrow).Justin Hayworth, Grinnell College
“Mrs. Renfrow Smith walked a mile to and from campus during her time as a student at Grinnell,” said Woodard. “Walking that path just really put things into perspective.”
The community walk will begin on campus and make stops at pivotal places during Renfrow Smith’s time while living in the town of Grinnell, including her high school, her family’s church, and the local library.
There have been two other spaces on Grinnell’s campus named for Renfrow Smith, including the Edith Renfrow Smith Black Women’s Library in the Black Cultural Center and The Edith Renfrow Smith Gallery, located in the campus center.
“By 2021, people didn’t know [the Student Art Gallery] was named for her,” said Beauboeuf-Lafontant, who added that former student, Feven Getachew, committed herself to rededicating the space and getting a new plaque erected.
Getachew, a 2024 graduate of Grinnell, was the first student member of Team Renfrow.
“My idea is that nobody, no Grinnellian, should go through their time at Grinnell without knowing her and her story,” said Getachew. Even after Getachew successfully planned the rededication event in 2021, she asked herself, “What is next?”
“Not everyone has an equal understanding of who she is and what she has done,” said Getachew. “And sometimes it feels late because she is 110, right? But it is still a very big milestone in Grinnell taking accountability for its history and making sure that it honors all the pioneers that have come.”
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