CHICO — A world traveler, anthropologist, trailblazer and Chico State professor — these are only a few of the titles used to describe the late Valene L. Smith.
Born in Spokane, Washington on Valentines Day 1926 — hence the name “Valene” — Smith fell in love with travel at an early age. By the age of 21, Valene had seen 48 states while traveling with her parents, or often just her mother.
Education and Career
Smith received her undergraduate and masters degrees from UCLA, both in geography. These were her “passport to a better understanding of the countries that (she) hoped to visit,” her obituary from Chico State reads.
After graduating she began teaching at Los Angeles City College. A 1981 article published in The Orion by Carol Blethen, details Smith’s first class she ever taught, consisting of all male-WWII veterans who were attending college on the GI bill.
The article quotes Smith: “These men had seen more than I had.”
This inspired Smith to travel extensively to places such as Alaska and France, always with an anthropological eye. She later got her doctorate degree from the University of Utah in 1966, before taking a teaching position at Chico State.
From her travels she developed the life motto “Learn by Doing; Teach by Being.” Smith traveled to over 125 countries in her life, according to the 1981 article.
Smith helped pioneer the study of tourism anthropology. In 1989 Smith wrote “Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism,” detailing the cultural, economic and theoretical implications of tourism.
“Smith saw how tourism was becoming more of a party culture than an educational one and wondered how she could restore tourism to enlightenment. If people experience the world away from their comfort zones and learn from other cultures, maybe people will learn to be more understanding of one another,” wrote Dana Muensterman in a 2015 profile on Smith published in The Orion.
Her accolades are numerous. She was notably awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to teach in Pakistan for a year and was recognized as one of two outstanding California State University professors in 1981.
Chico impact
Today, a piece of her legacy lives on in the Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology, located in the Meriam Library complex on the Chico State campus.
Smith’s spirit of determination still inspires students today, said grad student Emily Jenkins-Moses who works at the museum. Though Jenkins-Moses never met Smith, she said she’s heard many “wild and crazy” stories about Smith, who always “found a reason to look at things anthropologically.”
Smith left her mark on Chico by serving multiple organizations: Soroptimists International, Enloe Hospital, Chico Museum and the University Foundation’s board of governors.
The Chico History Museum was founded in large part due to Smith’s influence with the Soroptimists, an international volunteer organization that focuses on human rights and gender inequality.
“She just was one of the great people of Chico,” Dave Nopel, Chico historian, said.
Nopel recounted how Smith and other Soroptimists stood before the Chico City Council and made the case for turning the then Carnegie Public Library into what is today the Chico History Museum.
“Oh my golly, I would not know the scope of her contribution to Chico over some 50 years” Nopel said.
Valene Lucy Smith passed peacefully on Jan. 16, 2024, just a month shy of her 98th birthday.
Since Smith’s death, Nopel reread parts of her autobiography “Stereopticon: Entry to a Life of Travel and Tourism Research.”
Nopel said the book highlights, “her commitment to diversity, and to getting along in the world, and to learning and expanding our understanding and tolerance and acceptance of each other through our different cultures. It’s a beautiful story.”
A celebration of life will be held in honor of Smith at the Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology on Wednesday, Feb. 14 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The event will honor the life and work of Valene L. Smith and is open to the public.