Douglas County History Research Center | Douglas County Libraries

Guy Watson Smith was the son of Douglas County pioneers Upton Treat and Sarah Elizabeth (Grout) Smith. Guy was born October 7, 1885, the third of four Smith children. He was married in September of 1921 to Linda Purnell, whom he met while he was a mathematics instructor at the University of Kentucky. Guy and Linda had one daughter: Lucy Asbury in 1923.

Career Highlights

Guy earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1908, and Master of Science from the University of Colorado in 1909. Smith was an Instructor in Engineering Mathematics at the University of Colorado from 1909-1913, and moved to become an Assistant in Mathematics at the University of Illinois in the fall of 1913. He earned a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Illinois in 1917, and after one year teaching mathematics in Beloit, Wisconsin and two years at the University of Kentucky, Smith became Professor of Mathematics at the University of Kansas, chairing the department from 1946-1951. Dr. Smith retired from the University in 1956.

About the Photos

The photos in the album date from around 1909, when Smith was an instructor at the University of Colorado, until about 1921, and include his wife Linda. In addition to day trips to the University of Colorado Camp near Boulder, Colorado, and family trips to Wyoming, the album includes an extensive set of photos taken while hiking from Boulder to the top of Long's Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Click on the arrow below to begin looking at the photo album.

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Funding for the scanning and cataloging of the Guy Watson Smith Photo album was made possible in part by a grant from the Colorado Digitization Program's Western Trails Project.

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