Lewis Smith

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Lewis Martin Smith (born September 3, 1894 in Warrior; died March 4, 1958 in Birmingham) was President and vice chair of the Alabama Power Company from 1952 to 1957.

Smith, the son of David Nimrod Smith and the former Julia Bibb, attended Ensley Baptist Church and graduated from Phillips High School in 1912. He was described in his yearbook portrait as "a man of wit and brain." He went on to earn his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at the University of Alabama in 1916. During World War I he served as an engineer for the U.S. Navy. Afterward he took a job in the electrical engineering department of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company. In 1923 he transferred to the Alabama Power Company, gradually working his way up until he was named president of the company in 1952.

Smith married the former Mary Backstrom Moore and had one daughter, Mille.

Smith was also a president of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and the Birmingham Board of Education and a trustee of Howard College. Birmingham's Smith Middle School was dedicated in his memory in 1958. Lewis Smith Dam, which formed Lewis Smith Lake in 1961, was also named for him.

Smith was named "Birmingham Man of the Year" for 1954. He was inducted into the Alabama Men's Hall of Fame in 1995.

Preceded by:
James Barry
President of Alabama Power Company
1952-1957
Succeeded by:
Walter Bouldin
Preceded by:
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President of Birmingham Board of Education
1953-1957
Succeeded by:
-