“S” is for Smith, Nell Whitley (1929-2011)

“S” is for Smith, Nell Whitley (1929-2011). Legislator, educator, businesswoman. Born in North Carolina, Nell married Harris Paige Smith and moved to Easley, South Carolina. Harris Smith, a state senator from Pickens County, died in July 1981. The following November voters in Senate District No.1 (Abbeville, Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens) elected Nell Smith to serve out his unexpired term. As a result of redistricting, Smith's district was changed to District No. 2 (Pickens) and voters from that district elected her to full terms in 1984 and 1988. Smith chaired the Rules Committee, the first woman to serve as chair of a standing Senate committee. As chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Children and Families, Nell Whitley Smith worked on issues such as licensing daycare centers.