Smith was a professional musician from the age of 16 and eventually taught at five different schools including the Tuskegee Institute, Western University, Wendell Phillips High School in Chicago and Sumner High School in St. Louis, as well as the previously mentioned high school. As described by Leonard in an interview with Kansas City jazz scholar Ross Russell, Smith "was short, gruff, military in bearing, wore glasses and was never without his full uniform and decorations. His language was rather rough and occasionally shocking to the few young ladies who were taking music classes, though never offensive." His marching bands were considered some of the best in the country. Smith won a Wanamaker prize in 1930 for the extended composition "Negro Folk Suite." The piece was premiered by the St. Louis Symphony in early 1933. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi