Kate Smith and North Carolina

The US Postal Service recently released a stamp honoring Kate Smith, “The Song Bird of the South”: Legendary Entertainer Kate Smith Appearing on Stamp.

Though she was a native of Washington, DC, Smith spent the last few years of her life in Raleigh, NC, where she died in 1986. You can read more about her and her time in Raleigh here: U.S. stamp salutes songbird Kate Smith. The image above shows Kate Smith waving to spectators at a UNC football game in 1936.

8 thoughts on “Kate Smith and North Carolina”

  1. Recently, while researching a blog-post for “A View To Hugh,” I ran across this:

    “The Kate Smith Hour” was a leading network radio variety show from 1937-1945, offering comedy, music and drama with appearances by top personalities of films and theater like Ronald Reagan. In November, 1942, Smith did her live broadcast from Memorial Hall on the UNC campus, with Reagan as one of her guests.

  2. I take that back. She is NOT buried in Oakwood. That is where some family members apparently wanted her to be buried with a sister. Instead, after long discussion, she was buried in New York.

  3. Does anyone know which 1936 UNC football game Kate Smith attended? This same photograph is in the 1937 “Yack”, page 232. The yearbook caption is: “Hello Everybody,” which is the title of her 1932 movie.

  4. Jack, the card from which I scanned the image had that it was “probably” the Duke game on November 14, 1936. So…I went to the Daily Tar Heel to confirm. It does appear to be that game.

  5. It was my impression that Kate was buried in Lake Placid, NY. On my wall, over my desk, is a framed greeting card, the last I received from Kate, in response to a gift package I sent during the last months of her life. I treasure that card and the too few instances I had to share some brief moments with her as two long distant friends.

    1. She lived in Brookhaven, a subdivision off Millbrook and Glenwood, not far from Crabtree Valley Mall.

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