Kate Smith
May 1, 1907 — Greenville, Virginia
Kathryn Elizabeth Smith was an American singer whose powerful contralto voice, warm personality, and decades-long radio and television career made her one of the most beloved entertainers in twentieth-century America — and whose recording of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" became so associated with patriotism that the song was seriously considered as a replacement for the national anthem.
A Voice Like No Other
Born on May 1, 1907 in Greenville, Virginia, Smith was raised in Washington, D.C., where she began performing in musicals as a child. She moved to New York as a young woman and struggled initially against industry dismissiveness about her appearance — she was heavy, and Broadway in the late 1920s was not kind about it. She found her real medium in radio, where the voice alone determined success, debuting on CBS in 1931 with "The Kate Smith Hour" and becoming one of the most popular radio personalities in the country within months.
God Bless America
In 1938, Irving Berlin dusted off a patriotic song he had written in 1918 but never used, revised it for the political climate of a world moving toward war, and offered it to Smith for her Armistice Day broadcast. Her performance of "God Bless America" on November 11, 1938, made it an instant sensation. She sang it thousands of times over the following decades. The song became so associated with her that when a poll in the early 1940s asked Americans which song should replace "The Star-Spangled Banner," "God Bless America" was the overwhelming choice — and Kate Smith was why. She donated all royalties from the song to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America throughout her lifetime.
Did You Know?
The Philadelphia Flyers hockey team played Kate Smith's recording of "God Bless America" before important games beginning in 1973, after discovering that they had a remarkable win rate when the song was played. The Flyers won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975 maintaining the tradition — making "God Bless America" as much a part of Philadelphia sports culture as it was of American patriotism. A statue of Smith was erected outside the Spectrum arena in 1987.
Legacy and Continuing Controversy
Smith was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan in 1982. She died on June 17, 1986. In 2019, her statue outside the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia was removed and her recordings of "God Bless America" were retired by the Flyers and Yankees after old recordings surfaced of songs widely considered to contain racist content. The incidents reflect ongoing reckoning with the complexity of mid-20th century performers and the dissonance between their most celebrated work and other aspects of their careers. Her voice, and "God Bless America," remain part of American cultural memory.