About Us

History

Florence L. Smith was a Norfolk, Virginia physician’s daughter. Before her death in 1952 she arranged to create the Florence L. Smith Medical Scholarship to honor her late father, Dr. Hy Smith. Florence Smith was born in New Orleans and lived most of her life in Norfolk. Her 1952 newspaper obituary identifies her as “the last surviving member of a prominent Norfolk family.”

Smith worked with her attorney, the late Barron F. Black, to establish a scholarship fund to benefit long-time Virginia medical students attending medical school in Virginia. Black was first chairman of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation board. Upon Smith’s death in 1952 her estate left $293,000 to the Foundation – the largest gift it had received at the time. Another $167,000 was added to the fund after Smith’s estate was settled. She also created a smaller fund in her father’s name for students at Virginia Theological Seminary.

By 1953 the Florence L. Smith Medical Fund had awarded its first scholarships to 23 medical students at the University of Virginia Medical School and the Medical College of Virginia. Recipients included both males and females. Original students received a total of $23,900 in scholarships. For most recipients that completely paid their medical school expenses.

The Smith Scholarship stipulates that it is for long-time Virginia residents studying at Virginia medical schools. In 1952 there were only two schools in Virginia educating M.D.s – the University of Virginia Medical School and the Medical College of Virginia (now Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.)

In the 1970s after Norfolk gained Eastern Virginia Medical School, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation petitioned the court to allow scholarships to EVMS students. Today the Smith Fund helps support as many as 15 medical students at three Virginia medical schools. The scholarships average $5,474 a year and are renewable for up to four years of medical study.

In 2002 the Hampton Roads Community Foundation celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Smith Scholarships and reconnected with many former recipients. A group of these former scholarship recipients spearheaded the creation of the Society of Smith Scholars in 2006.