Daniel B. Smith, 1792-1883
Daniel B. Smith was a Philadelphia-born Quaker who led a diverse career in education, business and finance before moving to Haverford in 1831 to help found the School. An accomplished and liberal scholar with broad interests, Smith was able to teach Latin, Greek, French, and Italian as well as English literature. He also had a strong lifelong interest in natural history. As the first teacher of “Mental and Moral Philosophy,” as well as the founder and first president of the Loganian Society, he played a pivotal role in the ethical upbringing of the very first Haverford boys. He served as Superintendent from 1843 to 1845. Numerous accounts attest to his fairness and generosity as a teacher, and to his indefatigable appetite for learning. In 1827, Smith had been among the founders of the Quaker newspaper, The Friend, which served as the major source of approved non-curricular reading for early students. It would be difficult to overestimate Smith’s influence on the spiritual, intellectual, and humanitarian ethos of Haverford.