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Leslie with Grandpa, Walter Hager |
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Political . . .
Leslie Hager-Smith has lived in Blacksburg since 1982; she was elected to Town Council as Vice Mayor in 2008. She served formerly as the Director of the Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg; and also as Director of Community Programs for the YMCA at Virginia Tech. Her service on council has focused on community and economic development through participation in the Blacksburg Partnership; the MBC Development Corporation; and the Downtown Revitalization Committee. Leslie currently serves on:
· Blacksburg Broadband Task Force · Blacksburg Middle School Transition Committee · Blacksburg Housing and Community Development Advisory Board · Metropolitan Planning Organization Board · Recreation Advisory Board · VML Transportation Policy Commitee
Professional . . .
Leslie holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, awarded magna cum laude by the University of Georgia in 1977; she majored in public relations and American history. From 1996 – 2002, she worked variously as a stringer, staff writer, editorial assistant, and columnist for the Roanoke Times.
A native Cincinnatian, Leslie has also lived in Athens, GA; Seattle, WA; Oak Ridge, TN; Canterbury, England; and Heidelberg, Germany. Wherever she’s made her home, Hager-Smith has been a devoted church, school, and civic volunteer. She founded the Epilepsy Parent Network for the New River Valley, in association with the Epilepsy Foundation of Virginia; she has also served on the Special Education Advisory Board of the Montgomery County Public Schools. She is married to Eric Peter Smith of Manyunk, Pennsylvania and they have three grown children: Elliot, Byron, and Virginia.
Memberships include: · Blacksburg Museum & Cultural Foundation · Downtown Blacksburg, Inc. · Friends of the Farmers Market · League of Women Voters of Montgomery County · The Lyric Theater · PRAYS (Presbyterians at Your Service) · Sustainable Blacksburg · YMCA at Virginia Tech
Personal . . .
I grew up in a household filled with music – everything from Baez to Buxtehude, Bizet to Bechet. My father and mother met through the church choir: He was a passionate amateur musician and she was a coloratura soprano who’d been hired by the church as a soloist. When we were young, my mother taught private voice lessons at our home, as well as on the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music faculty. My three siblings also played instruments of various kinds. . [Today, big brother Terry plays trumpet for Galen Jeter in Dallas’ Original Jazz Orchestra.] The neighbors used to remark at the sinfonia that drifted from our windows on summer evenings . . . it was something like the Conservatory annex at our house!
Though surrounded by virtuosity, I developed scant little musical talent myself. It was probably my paternal grandfather with whom I most identified and who became my biggest early influence.
Walter E. Hager was the son of a Nebraska carpenter of very little means. He went to college at age 15, graduated at 20, then served as a 2nd Lieutenant during World War I. The experience of commanding a regiment of African American troops during the close of the war would change the course of his life. Many of his men were lost to the 1918 flu pandemic while en route to France; they were buried at sea. Very soon after arriving in France, the Armistice was signed, bringing an end to hostilities between the Central and Allied Powers.
Walter Hager, at age 23 younger and less experienced than most of his soldiers, was a newly-minted teacher and had at least youthful idealism to his credit. Until such time as they could return to the States, he determined to establish classrooms for his troops, many of whom were only marginally literate. Thus began a lifelong dedication to education and service.
My grandfather went on to receive graduate degrees from Teachers College of Columbia University, where he joined the administrative faculty. He became the first executive secretary of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), and also served as an officer of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and the American Council of Education. From his office on Dupont Circle, he collaborated with many of the country’s best and brightest talents. For most of the 20th century, he was listed in Who’s Who in America. He lived to 94 years of age, continuing to attract accolades and distinctions. But at the end of his long life, it was his work to end segregation in public education of which he was most proud.
In 1955, he declared his intentions to integrate the teachers colleges of the District of Columbia. At the time, he was president of Wilson Teachers College, and his colleague Dr. Matthew Whitehead was president of the historically black Miner Teachers College. Together, they forged a partnership that would evolve into the present-day University of the District of Columbia (UDC).
For his efforts, he and my grandmother were subjected to threats of death and worse; they asked for and received federal police protection. He also received a request to testify before the U.S. Congress on the controversial subject of race relations. In subsequent years, he redoubled his devotion to service as a member of the board of the Columbia Heights Boys Club; a supporter of Koinonia Partners; the UNCF, NAACP, and myriad other organizations concerned for civil rights and social justice.
Gentlemanly, thrifty, and possessed of a characteristic Midwestern humility, my grandfather was little changed by the travels, titles, and other public tributes that came his way. The transformative moments of his life put this fundamentally mild and accommodating farm boy in the path of mortal harm and devastating personal loss. When his moment came, he – like so many hundreds of kindred spirits – rose to the occasion with bravery as well as integrity. This has made all the difference, to his family as well as his country. It is a lesson I have been centrally affected by. |
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About Leslie |
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Blacksburg & You |
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Town Council |
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Copyright 2010 Leslie Hager-Smith |
