Distinguished in the library profession and recognized educator, author and scholar Jessie Carney Smith is dean of the library and holds the Camille Cosby Distinguished Chair in the Humanities at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She completed her undergraduate work at North Carolina A&T State University and holds master's degrees from Michigan State University and Vanderbilt University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Among Dr. Smith's numerous awards are the National Women's Book Association's Award, the Candace Award for excellence in education, Sage magazine's Anna J. Cooper Award for research on African American women, and the Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award from the Association of College and Research Libraries. Her work includes Black Firsts, Black Heroes, The Handy African American History Answer Book, and with co-author Linda T. Wynn, Freedom Facts and Firsts all published by Visible Ink Press. She resides in Nashville, Tennessee.