Dr. Lydia Averell Hurd Smith, a pioneer in the fields of open education and early childhood education, founder of the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program at Simmons University, and the author of Activity and Experience: Sources of English Informational Education, To Understand and to Help: The Life and Work of Susan Isaacs (1885-1948), and "Open Education" Revisited: Problems in American Educational Reform," a passionate outdoorswoman and Scottish Country Dance teacher, died at her home in Lexington, MA on November 1. Lydia was born in Cambridge, MA, in 1929, and was raised in Belmont, MA. She was the daughter of LTCDR John Coolidge Hurd, USN, and Mary Knap Hough Hurd. She attended Buckingham School in Cambridge and Belmont Public Schools before entering Radcliffe College, as her mother and beloved great-aunt, Marjorie Hurd, had done before her. After graduating from Radcliffe in 1951 with a degree in English, Lydia recalled in a 2008 interview with her daughter, "I wasn't at all sure what to do. You were supposed to graduate with the two Ds: a degree and a diamond." She held several writing jobs, skied, swam, canoed, climbed, and joined her Aunt Marjorie on a hiking trip to the Grand Tetons in 1952. Eventually, Lydia accepted a teaching position at St. Mary's White Mountains School in Bethlehem, NH, where she taught English, psychology, history, and drama, and where, she admitted, "I realized almost immediately that I hadn't the faintest idea of what I was doing. And something bothered me. I was teaching the way I had been taught, and I knew there had to be a better way." Lydia taught at St. Mary's for two years before enrolling in Harvard University's School of Education where, she remembered, "Dr. Robert Ulich changed my life. He taught me that education is the foundation of society and culture, and passing that culture from one generation to the next. It is not just tests." She added, "I fell in with the progressive education folks—open classroom experiments that centered on the child, not the teacher or curriculum. You must teach the child in a way that he or she can learn." At Harvard, Lydia also studied philosophy and the history of education. After earning her Master's from Harvard, Lydia was invited to pursue a doctorate degree. It took her six years, while working part-time, and in Cambridge she met her future husband, "Al" Smith, who was calling square dances. Together, they discovered Scottish Country Dancing (SCD), became Royal certified SCD teachers, and married in 1958. They lived for two years in Hampton Falls, NH, but Lydia took the train to Cambridge every day to finish her thesis, titled, "Early American Children's Readers." She had also been asked to join the board of the Harvard Education Review. Lydia and Alan moved to Concord, MA, in 1960. They started a Scottish Country Dance group, and quickly became known for their love of entertaining and music. Their annual Christmas party was a must-attend. In 1960, Lydia graduated from Harvard with her EdD—a significant achievement for a woman at that time. She was also a new mother. One of her Harvard colleagues, Harold L. (Bud) Hodgkinson, asked Lydia to take on part of his teaching job at Simmons College. She could work part-time by supervising his student teachers. She accepted, and continued to work part-time as she had three more children. Eventually, with significant support at home, Lydia started teaching at Simmons full time and began to establish the MAT program. Why? "Because Simmons needed it. There were slightly older students, people who really wanted to teach, and I set the program up along the lines of Harvard's. But mine was better. We wanted students to learn how to teach by doing it. We had students observing school classrooms in the first semester. In their second year, they started to teach—with supervision. We also emphasized that students really needed to know the subject they wanted to teach." Lydia's first book, Activity and Experience, appeared in 1976 following a sabbatical to England where she studied progressive systems of education. "The effect of British infant school methods had a huge impact on education in this country," she said. One of England's pioneers in early childhood education, Dr. Susan Isaacs, became the subject of Lydia's biography of her, To Understand and To Help. Lydia rose through the academic ranks at Simmons, becoming a college marshall and proudly wearing her Harvard robes at every graduation. She retired in 1989, at age 60, after 28 years of teaching at Simmons. But her legacy lives on in the hundreds of students, now teachers, who benefited from her dedication, wisdom, and support. "Retirement" for Lydia meant taking and teaching classes at the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement. She and Alan continued to teach Scottish dancing, and spent more time in their beloved Chocorua, NH. In 1965, with Lydia's parents and aunt, they had all bought a house in the storied summer community there. The older Hurds and Smiths delighted in sharing their knowledge and love of nature with Lydia and Alan's children. Lydia and Alan helped found two nonprofit organizations created to protect Chocorua Lake and Chocorua Mountain. Today, those organizations exist as the Chocorua Lake Conservancy. In 1998, the two published an oral history titled Chocorua Recalled: Tales of a Summer Community. Lydia and Alan moved to the retirement community of Brookhaven in Lexington, MA, in 2000, where Lydia offered free classes in short stories to residents. In 2003, after Alan died, Lydia continued to be actively involved at Brookhaven and with her children, grandchildren, siblings, and numerous friends. She never stopped being intellectually engaged and generous with her knowledge. Lydia is survived by two sons, J. Andrew Smith and Kenneth H. Smith of Cambridge, MA, two daughters, Marjorie H. "Bonnie" Smith of Peabody, MA and Emilie E. Smith of Framingham, MA, and two stepchildren, Lucinda B. "Cindy" Smith of Cambridge, MA and Duncan E. Smith of Melbourne, Australia. She also leaves behind three brothers, Rev. John C. Hurd of Toronto, Canada, Alfred D. Hurd of Philadelphia, PA, and Samuel S. Hurd of Cambridge, MA, and their families; and two grandchildren, Nicholas A. Caruso and Vincent A. Caruso both of San Francisco, CA, She leaves behind numerous friendships with students, colleagues, classmates, Scottish dancers, neighbors, and outdoor enthusiasts. Visiting Hours: A virtual memorial service will be held Sunday Nov. 15 at 5:00 pm(details below). The date of interment will be announced through the Douglass Funeral Home. Memorial donations may be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Douglass Funeral Home, https://www.douglassfh.com/obituary/dr-lydia-smith

Time: Nov 15, 2020 05:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting (paste the following URL to your browser)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86271382019

Meeting ID: 862 7138 2019
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,86271382019# US (San Jose)
+13462487799,,86271382019# US (Houston)

Dial by your location
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington D.C)
Meeting ID: 862 7138 2019
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kqFEZLo0f