What is William Jay Smith?
{{Infobox writer | imagesize = 180px | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1918|04|22}} | birth_place = [[Winnfield, Louisiana]], [[United States|USA]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2015|8|18|1918|4|22}} | death_place = [[Lenox, Massachusetts]], USA | occupation = [[Poet]] | nationality = United States | alma_mater = [[Washington University in St. Louis]]<br />[[Columbia University]]<br />[[Oxford University]] | spouse = | subject = | period = | genre = | movement = | notableworks = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | signature = }} '''William Jay Smith''' (22 April 1918 &ndash; 18 August 2015) was an [[Americans|American]] [[poet]]. He was the 19th [[Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress]] from 1968 to 1970.<ref>{{cite web | author= | title=Poet Laureate Timeline: 1961–1970 | url=https://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate-1961-1970.html | publisher=Library of Congress | year=2008 | accessdate=2008-12-19}}</ref> William Jay Smith was born in [[Winnfield, Louisiana|Winnfield]], [[Louisiana]]. He was raised in [[Jackson Barracks, Missouri|Jackson Barracks]], [[Missouri]]. Smith studied at [[Washington University in St. Louis]]. He was of Choctaw tribal descent and penned poetry reflecting that heritage making him the first Native American to become the U.S. poet laureate.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mall|first=© Stanford University 450 Serra|last2=Stanford|last3=Complaints|first3=California 94305 723-2300 Terms of Use {{!}} Copyright|title=William Jay Smith was the first Native American poet laureate – and we’re still waiting for the Library of Congress to acknowledge it.|url=https://bookhaven.stanford.edu/2019/12|access-date=2025-02-18|website=The Book Haven|language=en}}</ref> Smith married [[Barbara Howes]] in 1947. They had two children. Howes and Smith divorced during the mid-1960s. As of 2008, he lived in two houses, one in [[Cummington, Massachusetts|Cummington]], [[Massachusetts]] and the other in [[Paris]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amherst.edu/aboutamherst/news/new