Therrell Camille Smith

Therrell Camille Smith of Washington, D.C. transitioned to her eternal home on Monday, December 15, 2025, at the age of 108. Therrell was born on November 5, 1917, to Dr. Thomas and Birdie C. Smith. She was the second of five sisters.

From an early age, Therrell knew she wanted to open her own ballet studio. At eight-years-old, she began formal ballet lessons with Mabel Jones Freeman. Later, she volunteered as the choreographer for school and community productions while attending Garnet Patterson Junior High and Dunbar High School. Shortly after graduating from Fisk University in 1939 with a major in sociology and a minor in history, Therrell began her career as a dance instructor at the Abraham Lincoln Centre Camp in Tower Hill, Wisconsin. The camp’s purpose was to provide opportunities for inner city children of all races to play and learn. Therrell also began helping teach at LeDroit Park Nursery School, which was founded by her older sister, Mathilde. As a result, dance lessons were included as part of the school’s curriculum. Additionally, for several years, Therrell served as head counselor and dance and drama instructor for girls at Camp Atwater located in North Brookfield, Massachusetts. Therrell’s desire to study classical ballet also led to a combined five years of study at the Ballet Arts School at Carnegie Hall in New York City and private lessons with Russian ballerina Madame Mathilde Kzchesinska in Paris. 

Therrell opened her first ballet studio with three students and their very supportive parents in 1948. She touched the lives of thousands of students over the course of her long career and instilled a love of the arts and the importance of physical activity. She was well known for her annual recitals in Cramton Auditorium at Howard University where both girls and boys performed admirably in costumes designed by Therrell. Several of her students have had careers in dance, including Virginia Johnson, formerly a prima ballerina and later artistic director with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Therrell is credited with being one of the pioneers in introducing and growing the love of classical ballet in the Washington D.C.’s black community.

Therrell’s desire to share the gift of an arts education with even more students compelled her to start a foundation in her parents’ names to offer dance and movement classes to students in the District of Columbia Public School system. For roughly 25 years, Therrell worked with several principals across the district to provide free ballet lessons to students. Indeed, during the height of its existence, the Thomas and Birdie C. Smith Arts Foundation offered after-school classes in 12 schools and funded scholarships for talented youth. The Foundation also recently donated over $100,000 to the Dance Theatre of Harlem to create a scholarship in Therrell’s honor for students from the District of Columbia to participate in the Theatre’s summer program.

Over the course of her life, Therrell was inspired by the arts and nature, deeply connected to family and friends, and engaged in work she found fulfilling. In addition, she never stopped learning and never stopped using her gifts to instill the love of dance in children.

Therrell was also blessed to receive numerous awards and accolades during her lifetime. Over the years, she received recognition from the Mayor and the City Council, was inducted in 2019 to the Washington Performing Arts Hall of Fame, received the Washington D.C. Hall of Fame Society’s 2019 Legacy Award, and was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Atlanta Fisk Club, among others. Therrell was also a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, initiated in Fisk University’s Pi Chapter. Prior to her death, Therrell was the oldest Fisk alumna in the greater Washington D.C. area. Additionally, Therrell was a member of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in her earlier years and Unity Church of Washington DC in her later years.

Therrell is survived by her sister, Johanna Smith Wood, Ph.D., several of her nephews and nieces, William Donald Brown III, Michelle Brown, M.D., Barbara J. Brown, Ph.D., Gregory Kent Haynes, Stephanie (Ollie) Matson, Gina Haynes-Sanders, and David Keith Morris, as well as great-nieces and nephews, great-grandnieces and a great-grandnephew, many other relatives, special friends, and a host of former students who mourn her passing while also celebrating her life. 

Therrell was preceded in death by her sisters, Mathilde (James) Gray, Marion Smith (Robert) Haynes, and Jusouida Melva (Donald) Brown, brother-in-law, John Roland Wood, her nephews, James C. Gray, Jr. and Thomas Brown, and her niece, Lynda Morris Thomas. 

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made to the Dance Theatre of Harlem in Therrell’s honor 

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