Gail Smith

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

• Gail Smith
• Judith P. Hallett

Non solum hoc ipso die, sed etiam in aeternum posterum tempus, obitum doleamus, celebremus vitam collegae praestantissimae, quae, non sine magno labore,⁹ fecit ut et haec universitas magnanima illustrisque, haec urbs excelsa concorsque¹⁰ multo munificiores praeclarioresque factae sint.¹¹ Est tamen adepta gradum Baccalaureae Artium apud Universitatem voluptatibus diei carpentis faventem,¹² in civitate libertatis rerumque secundarum;¹³ tunc, transgressa flumen Rhenum patriae nostrae,14 gradus Magistrae Artium apud universitatem lumen in divino lumine visituram¹⁵ et Doctorisque Philosophiae apud universitatem exhortantem ut [End Page 446] perstaret et praestaret.¹⁶ Ipsa praestitit laboribus explicandae comoediae Plautinae de asperis aerumnis servorum captivorumque, comediae olim ut optimae omnium fabularum scaenicarum laudatae: laborans ut prima interpres originis Africanae, et prima docta femina, opus eius modi experta.¹⁷ Ipsa praestitit laboribus aestivis docendae linguae Latinae, et, in hac universitate, docendis illustrandisque et litteris antiquitatis Graecae Romanaeque, et feminarum Africanarum in lingua ultimorum Britannorum.¹⁸ Ipsa praestitit laboribus augentibus facultates discipulorum diversorum, in compluribus ramis eruditionis, fulciens, administrans, locupletans, colens aequitatem et iustitiam omnibus. Vixit, et quem dedit cursum fortuna peregit.¹⁹ Honoremus Gail Smith, beatae memoriae.

Not only on this day itself, but also in everlasting time to come, let us mourn the passing, let us celebrate the life of a most distinguished colleague, who, not without great effort, has made both this hospitable and famous university, and a soaring, strong city devoted to unity, become much more bountiful and renowned. She received her BA degree, however, in New Jersey, at Montclair State University; she then earned an MA from Columbia University and a PhD from New York University, both across the Hudson. She herself has excelled by publishing a commentary on Plautus’ Captivi, as the first scholar and first woman scholar of African ancestry, to illuminate this second century BCE Roman play, which treats the painful sufferings of slaves and military captives. She herself has excelled by her efforts teaching for the City University of New York Summer Latin Institute, and for the Brooklyn College Classics and Africana Studies Departments. And she herself has excelled as founding director of the CUNY Pipeline program, and director of the Office of Educational Opportunity at the CUNY Graduate Center, winning external [End Page 447] grants for more than $11.5 million to empower students in all arts and science fields to further their education and win a more equitable and just future for all. She has lived, and accomplished the course fortune granted.

Judith P. Hallett University of Maryland, College Park

Footnotes

9. Nil sine magno labore, “Nothing without great effort, “ Latin motto of Brooklyn College.

10. The Dutch motto of Brooklyn, Eendraght Maeckt Maght, “Unity makes strength,” has been translated intoLatin as Concordia roborat. The banner for the city of New York shows the state motto, Excelsior, “eveupward” as well as the [Vergilian] Latin phrase appearing on the Great Seal of the United States, E Pluribus Unum, “One out of many/more.”

11. Vergil, Aeneid 4. 655, from Dido’s final speech: Urbem praeclaram statui, “I have made a city [Carthage in North Africa] very renowned.”

12. Carpe diem, “Seize the day,” from Horace, Odes 1.11.8, is the Latin motto of Montclair State University.

13. “Liberty and Prosperity” is the (English) state motto of New Jersey.

14. In 1939 Life magazine described the Hudson River as “America’s Rhine (Rhenum flumen).”

15. In lumine tuo videbimus lumen, Latin translation of Hebrew, Psalms 36.9, “In your light we will see the light”, Latin motto of Columbia University.

16. Perstare et praestare, “to persevere and to excel”, Latin motto of New York University.

17. The 18^th century German writer Lessing hailed Plautus’ Captivi as the finest play ever staged, because of its affecting portrayal of slavery and the harsh reality of war.

18. Catullus 11. 11–12 Gallicum Rhenum . . . ultimosque Britannos. The topics of her research and teaching range from the texts of authors in ancient languages such as Plutarch to classically-inspired writing in English by Black women such as Wheatley and Hurston.

19. Vergil, Aeneid 4. 653, Dido’s words: Vixi et quem dederat cursum fortuna peregi, “I have lived and completed the course...