Edgar Lee Smith moved into the house at 4415 Vandelia with his mother, Ethel Smith, in 1955 when he was 28 years old. He had just received his MA from the University of Texas after graduating from SMU with his BA. Before he could obtain a higher education, he served in the Navy during World War II. The family had just lost their father, Ray V. Smith, and moved out of the family home at 1820 North Pearl St., now the site of the Myerson Symphony Theater. Ray was a shipping manager for Western Union Paper in downtown Dallas. The family had already lost their other son, Ray Jr., who was two years older than Edgar, in France during WWII.
Edgar’s mother had some medical issues and Edgar always made his mother his first priority since it was just down to the two of them. Ethel was very involved in the Gold Star Mother’s Organization and became the Dallas Chapter President. They both enjoyed searching for antiques and spent their days looking for the perfect additions to their collections. Edgar also had a passion for bromeliad plants and began collecting several varieties along with orchids. Edgar would persuade his friends to go on road trips just over the border in Mexico so he could find new plants to add to his collection. After several years, he formed the Dallas-Ft. Worth Bromeliad Society served as President and then was voted into the International Society, serving as Director, Vice President, and President between 1974 and 1987. He also enjoyed hybridizing bromeliads and served as a judge in regional shows into the 1990s. Bromeliads encompass over 3,000 different species, the pineapple being the most recognized.
His friend, Jim Apkin, recalls that Edgar was a bit of a loner, and wasn’t much of a drinker or barhopper, however, he loved going to the movies. Edgar most likely avoided bars in the 1950s and 1960s known to be requested by gay men for fear of being raided, beaten, and outed. Edgar also enjoyed going to parties with his friends who appreciated his very dry sense of humor. He enjoyed being a member of the leather community of Dallas, which at the time was very underground, gathering in private residences and using speakeasy codewords to enter parties. He and his friends were very involved politically in Dallas and fought for better treatment of gays by the city and the police. At that time in the 1960s and 1970s, it was still against the law in conservative Dallas for gay men to drink, dance, dress in non-gender-conforming clothes, and kiss in public. Police raids were carried out frequently to suppress attendance in what was known to be gay establishments. Being arrested meant having your name listed in the crime section of the newspaper and being fired from your job or being turned out by your family.
After his mother passed away, he lived with his collection of antiques and his plants in the Vandelia house. He drove well into his 80s and all of the neighbors knew him by his large green 1970 Chevrolet Impala sedan. Because voting for the candidate that has the best interests of the community is so important, he was at the Oaklawn Library volunteering as an election worker for every election. Several neighbors on Vandelia routinely checked in on him and helped him when needed. When he died in 2014, his collections were actioned off and his house was sold. The house still has the front facade that it did when Edgar lived there and the small oak tree twigs he planted when he first moved there in 1955 are huge and still strain for more room in the parkway in front of the house.
I was raised in the house at 4407 Vandelia. Edgar and his mom lived there then. I threw their newspaper. I didn’t know that he passed in 2014. Amazing! It was common knowledge that he was gay.