The first and second accession (1983-5 and 1987-9) of the Elizabeth Smart fonds contains twelve series: Personal Documentation, Journals, Diaries, Notebooks and Address Books, Family, Correspondence, Personal Finance, Published Works, Writing, Gardening, George Barker, Other Writers, Critical Reception, Publicity and Promotional Activity, and Memorabilia and MIscellaneous Materials. The third accession (2008-0528) consists of six series: Return to Canada: Correspondence and Engagements, Professional Management, Family Correspondence, Memorial Service for Elizabeth Smart, Writing: Manuscripts, Typescripts and Notebooks, and Writing: Diaries and Address Book. This is a unique collection of material because it illustrates the shift in records after Smart's death. Sebastian Barker, Smart's youngest son, is the literary executor of Smart's estate. The Professional Management series bridges the gap between Smart's and Barker's management of her affairs. The Family Correspondence and Memorial Service for Elizabeth Smart are interesting series because they were created by the family as a memorial to their mother.
Smart, Elizabeth, 1913- : Born in Ottawa, Ontario on December 27, 1913, Elizabeth Smart was born into the upper class of Canadian society. Smart's childhood was charmed, attending private school and summering at Kingsmere. At the age of eighteen she travelled to England to study piano. On her return to Canada in 1933 she temporarily wrote for the women's page of the Ottawa Journal. In 1937 Smart travelled the world with Mrs. Alfred Watts, the president of the Associated Country Women of the World, as her private secretary. She briefly returned to Ottawa before moving to New York City and then California. In 1940, while staying at a writer's colony in Big Sur, California, Smart made contact with poet George Barker whom she greatly admired. Barker was then living in Tokyo with his wife. Smart helped raise funds in order to secure Barker and his wife's journey to the United States. This was the beginning of their love affair. In 1941 Smart moved to Pender Harbour, British Columbia to give birth to her and Barker's first daughter and to write her masterpiece 'By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept', a poetic prose detailing their affair. Smart then took a job as a file clerk for the British Army in Washington, D.C. She soon transferred to London, England. Her affair with George Barker continued and they had four children together. She supported herself and her children by copy writing for fashion magazines. Three decades after publishing 'By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept' Smart published a collection of poetry called 'A Bonus' (1977). In 1978 she returned to poetic prose with the publication of 'The Assumption of Rogues and Rascals'. Smart returned to Canada from 1982-1984 and lived in Edmonton and Toronto during this time. She was the University of Alberta's writer-in-residence for the 1982-1983 academic year. She also participated in readings across Canada. In 1984 she published 'In the Meantime', a collection of previously unpublished work. In 1985 'Necessary Secrets', a collection of excerpts from Smart's journals from 1933-1941, was published. This collection was edited by Alice Van Wart, who also edited the second volume of Smart's journals called 'On the Side of Angels' (1994) as well as 'Juvenilia' (1987), a collection of Smart's writing during her adolescence. Smart died on March 4, 1986 in England.
