Edgar Fahs Smith Memorial Collection Booklet

Edgar Fahs Smith was an American scientist best know for his research into electrochemistry, as well as his interest in the history of chemistry. Born on May 23, 1854, in York, Pennsylvania, Smith was educated in the York Country Academy before attending the Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, where he received his degree in chemistry in 1874. Smith then traveled to Germany and attended the University of Göttingen, where he would earn his Ph.D. in 1876. Upon returning to the United States, Smith began teaching analytical chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, though five years later he would accept two shorter-term positions at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania and Wittenberg College in Springfield, Ohio. Smith would return to the University of Pennsylvania as a professor in chemistry in 1888. He would later serve as the Director of the Chemistry Laboratory and the Provost of the University of Pennsylvania from 1911 to 1920.

Smith’s research primarily focused on electrochemistry and tungsten, though he also maintained a lifelong interest in the history of chemistry. Smith collected memorabilia related to the history of chemistry, such as books, manuscripts, furniture, and portraits of well-known chemists. He would incorporate the history of chemistry into his lectures, with the goal of adding a humanistic side to his teachings. Edgar Fahs Smith passed away on May 3, 1928, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His widow, Marjie A. Smith, donated his collection of historic chemical memorabilia to the University of Pennsylvania, and appointed Smith’s secretary, Eva V. Armstrong, as the collection’s curator. The collection opened to researchers on March 1, 1931.