Viewing Jay W. Smith (1892-1955).

Jay W. Smith (1892-1955).

Shortly after the United States entered World War One, Jay Smith enlisted in the Army and was assigned to an ambulance corps attached to the French army. He performed heroically and was awarded a citation for bravery by Marshall Petain for his evacuation of wounded, under heavy bombardment, during a three day battle. After the war, he returned to Minnesota, graduated the Northwestern College of Law, and was admitted to the bar on January 26, 1920. He practiced law in Minneapolis and was active in veterans' organizations for years.

In 1945, he fearlessly entered battle once more: he sued the Secretary of State to compel the state legislature to reapportion legislative districts according to population as mandated by the state constitution (Article 4, Section 23). But the Minnesota Supreme Court refused the opportunity and dismissed his complaint. Its opinion in Jay W. Smith v. Mike Holm, 220 Minn. 486, 19 N.W.2d 914 (1945), is in the Appendix.

He died on June 12, 1955, at age sixty-two. The following year, a short tribute to him was read at memorial proceedings of the Hennepin County Bar Association.

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