David Bruce Smith's Grateful American™ Series
Author and publisher David Bruce Smith is the creator of The Grateful American™ Series, an interactive multimedia program that is focused on restoring enthusiasm for American history in children — and adults, too.
A graduate of The George Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in American Literature, and a master’s in journalism from New York University, Smith has spent decades as a real estate executive and the Editor-in-Chief/ Publisher of Crystal City magazine.
He is also the author of 11 books, including his most recent, American Hero: John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States.
The Grateful American™ Series includes:
- The Grateful American™ Radio Show on the Inkandescent Radio Network features interviews about historical figures (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, etc.) with the chief executives of the nation’s presidential homes, historians, and other experts: InkandescentRadio.com.
- A TV series on YouTube, public access, and national TV stations.
- The Grateful American™ Guidebooks: Features insights from the leaders of the presidential homes, and interactive exercises that explore, engage, and help readers develop an interest in American history.
- The Grateful American™ Events: Dovetails with and promoting the events-in-progress currently going on at each of the nation’s top presidential homes.
- An interactive website: Students post art, photos, writing, music, and other creative works about what excites them about American history.
Smith’s other books include:
- In Many Arenas: Writings by Robert H. Smith. This book was a posthumous gift from a son to his father. Jeffersonian in style and detail, it is a compendium of the wise words of Robert H. Smith, 1966-2009.
- 13 Young Men: How Charles E. Smith Influenced a Community. Charles E. Smith, a builder and philanthropist, believed the District of Columbia Jewish Community Center of the mid-1960s was obsolete. Racial tensions were repelling Jews from going there, and large populations of Jews had already moved to the Maryland suburbs. Smith thought the Center should be relocated to the Maryland suburbs—alongside a Hebrew Home and Jewish Social Service Agency in a unified campus-like setting. Although much of the community did not think the millions of dollars needed to construct such a complex could be raised, Smith did. He taught a community without a philanthropic profile how to raise money, to give generously, and to pass that philosophy onto the succeeding generations.
- Three Miles From Providence: A Tale of Abraham Lincoln and the Soldier’s Home. In this unique book about Abraham Lincoln the author has created a fictitious veteran of the Mexican-American War who is subsequently asked to guard Lincoln at the White House, and the Soldiers’ Home—the “Camp David” of the times where Lincoln spent one quarter of his presidency, and is believed to have written a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. Told in diary form, “Three Miles from Providence” starts at Lincoln’s inaugural in 1861 and concludes seven generations later in 2008. During the intervening 137 years, the reader learns what happens—and what doesn’t—at the Soldiers’ Cottage. Smith has deftly distinguished each generation by a switch of font.
- Conversations with Papa Charlie: A Memory of Charles E. Smith. David Bruce Smith offers us this charming memory of his remarkable grandfather—a Russian Jew who immigrated to America in 1911 and built the Charles E. Smith real estate empire. In these pages, you too will feel you are listening to stories about the amazing life of this kindly but business-savvy entrepreneur, and to gentle advice for succeeding in your own life.
- Afternoon Tea with Mom: with illustrations by Clarice Smith. A gift from a son to his mother, this coffee table sized book, illuminates the art—portraiture, florals and equestrian—of Clarice Smith.
- Letters to My Children: by Charles E. Smith and David Bruce Smith. These letters are a compendium of a father’s memories and occasional advice to his children. This work also incorporates a genealogy.
- Building the Community: Memorable event in my life, by Charles E. Smith. This finely bound volume is a partial compilation of Charles E. Smith’s speeches between 1965 and 1987—with editorial by David Bruce Smith. It is a souvenir of remembrance for his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and beyond.
- Continuum: The first collaboration between David Bruce Smith and artist Clarice Smith. Her series of Venetian paintings provided the context for him to write about his mother’s repeatedly enchanted journeys to the “City of Light.”
- Tennessee: A limited edition, four-color letterpress three-volume collection that contains the first publication—and printing—of Tennessee Williams’s recently discovered play, “These Are the Stairs You Got to Watch.” It is accompanied by “The Glass Menagerie” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
In February 2014, David Bruce Smith launched The Grateful American™ Series. Since then, he has created podcasts and videos at the homes of the nation’s founding fathers, including George Washington’s Mt. Vernon, Lincoln Cottage at Soldier’s Home, and Alexander Hamilton’s The Grange. Learn more about the series here.
- To listen to the The Grateful American™ Radio Show, click here.
- Watch all of his videos here.
Smithsonian magazine, May 28, 2015 — In today’s issue of Smithsonian.com, reporter Saba Naseem wrote: “Last year, PoliTech, a student group at Texas Tech University went around campus and asked three questions: “Who won the Civil War?”, “Who is our vice president?” and “Who did we gain our independence from?” Students’ answers ranged from “the South?” for the first question to “I have no idea” for all three of them. However, when asked about the show Snookie starred in (“Jersey Shore”) or Brad Pitt’s marriage history, they answered correctly.”
“This lack of knowledge in American history is not limited to college students,” she says, adding that studies over the years show Americans of all ages fail to answer the most simple of questions. A 2008 study by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, which surveyed more than 2,500 Americans, found that only half of adults in the country could name the three branches of government.
In addition, the 2014 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report found that only 18 percent of 8th graders were proficient or above in U.S. History and only 23 percent in Civics.
To help address this problem, David Bruce Smith, an American author and editor, founded the Grateful American Foundation in 2014. The interactive educational series aims to restore a passion for history in kids and adults. We interviewed Smith over e-mail about his program and his thoughts on how teachers can make American history enjoyable to learn.
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Contact: Hope Katz Gibbs, founder
Inkandescent Public Relations, www.inkandescentpr.com
email: hope@inkandescentpr.com
cell: 703-346–6975
Washington, DC, April 17, 2015 — What grabs your interest in the National Museum of American History? Is it Dorothy’s ruby slippers, an actual 199-ton locomotive, Julia Child’s kitchen, or the first ladies’ gowns? John Gray presides over it all, and seeks even more ways to connect Americans with their history.
This month, David Bruce Smith, founder of Grateful American™ TV, and co-host Hope Katz Gibbs had a stimulating conversation with John Gray in his corner office atop the museum.
“When you walk through the doors of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, you need to make a decision. Where should I look first?” says Gray.
The museum has in its collection more than three million artifacts, including Dorothy’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz,” sheet music written by local legend Duke Ellington, and an authentic 199-ton, 92-foot-long Southern Railway locomotive.
In this episode Gray also explains:
- What he hopes people learn by the time they leave the museum.
- How he determines what people, especially kids, want to see in the Smithsonian.
- And, why he thinks it is important to mix the past with the present when it comes to history education.
What is the Smithsonian doing to help people, especially kids, become more interested in American history? Watch here, then read all about it at GratefulAmericanFoundation.com.
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Contact: Hope Katz Gibbs, founder
Inkandescent Public Relations, www.inkandescentpr.com
Email: hope@inkandescentpr.com
Cell: 703-346–6975
Washington, DC, March 6, 2015 — When the sun would set along the Potomac River, George and Martha Washington could sometimes be found sipping cocktails on the veranda of their Virginia home.
What would it have been like to sit there with them, considering the politics, challenges, and issues of the day?
This month, David Bruce Smith, founder of Grateful American™ TV, and co-host Hope Katz Gibbs sit out on the porch where the Washingtons spent so many evenings — thanks to Curt Viebranz, president and CEO of George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
“When the home was originally built in the early 1730s, it was called Little Huntington Creek,” Viebranz explains. “Washington’s half-brother, Lawrence, renamed the estate Mount Vernon, in recognition of the incredible view here by the promontory, and also in tribute to Admiral Vernon, whom he served under in the US Navy.”
Did you know that Lawrence died in his early 30s of tuberculosis? “And because none of his and his wife’s four children survived childhood, when his widow died, George Washington ultimately inherited the house from her. It was Washington who built the home we see here now.”
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Contact: Hope Katz Gibbs, founder
Inkandescent Public Relations, www.inkandescentpr.com
email: hope@inkandescentpr.com
cell: 703-346–6975
Washington, DC, February 10, 2015 — Have you had the pleasure of visiting the New-York Historical Society Museum & Library? This month, David Bruce Smith, founder of Grateful American™ TV and co-host Hope Katz Gibbs traveled to New York City to interview Louise Mirrer, the president and CEO of the museum, which is the oldest in New York City and predates the founding of the Metropolitan Museum of Art by nearly 70 years. Its art holdings comprise more than 1.6 million works.
In this episode, Mirrer tells us about:
- The genesis of the New-York Historical Society: The New-York Historical Society Museum & Library (NYHS) was founded at a time when artifacts were considered to be treasures, and the public was considered to consist of people who would ruin them if allowed to come near them. Built in 1904 by architects who built banks all over New York, it was designed as a vault, with the goal of keeping the treasures locked inside where they would be safe from the public.
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Contact: Hope Katz Gibbs, Founder
Inkandescent Public Relations, www.inkandescentpr.com
email: hope@inkandescentpr.com
cell: 703-346–6975
Washington, DC, January 19, 2015 — “George Washington has been the subject of thousands of books and articles, and yet he still remains a distant figure to many of us,” knows Douglas Bradburn, PhD, Founding Director of Mount Vernon’s Fred W. Smith National Library, located adjacent to Washington’s Mount Vernon estate.
So, how can he help demystify the mythology around this Founding Father?
That was the focus of a recent interview with Dr. Bradburn on Grateful American™ TV. Co-hosts David Bruce Smith and Hope Katz Gibbs visited Dr. Bradburn at the Library to talk about the man who led the nation in its earliest days and whose image graces the $1 bill.
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Washington, DC, December 5, 2014 — Cate Magennis Wyatt is on a mission. Since 2005, the founder and president of The Journey Through Hallowed Ground has been shining a spotlight on the National Heritage Area, which runs from Gettysburg, PA, through Maryland and West Virginia, to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, VA.
Why is honoring and preserving this area so important?
“It’s not just teaching more people about the lives and accomplishments of the Founding Fathers and Mothers that I am interested in,” Wyatt insists. “My goal is to have millions of people visit the historical swath that stretches 180 miles long and 75 miles wide — and includes nine presidential homes and birthplaces, more than 10,000 sites on the National Register of Historic Places, and sites from the Revolutionary War, French and Indian War, War of 1812, and the Civil War.”
That’s why Grateful American™ Foundation founder David Bruce Smith wanted to interview Wyatt about her project in the newest episode of the Grateful American™ TV Show.
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Washington, DC, October 8, 2014 — Do opposites really attract? The life-long love story of our nation’s fourth president, James Madison, and his wife, Dolley, just may prove that theory.
The new issue of the newsletter from the Grateful American™ Foundation profiles the private and public partnership of this intriguing couple and takes viewers inside Montpelier, Madison’s Virginia plantation home, where the couple spent many happy years after retiring from public life in 1817.
Kat Imhoff, Montpelier Foundation president and CEO, shares her insights into the Madisons’ relationship in this issue of the newsletter. (You can also watch the interview with Imhoff on the Grateful American™ TV Show.)
“People tend to think that Dolley was the ultimate party girl and fashion plate, but there was method to her merriment,” explains Imhoff. “Using her adept social savvy, Dolley was able to forge connections and loyalties with important and influential people. In many ways, she complemented Madison’s reserved nature.”
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Washington, DC, July 3, 2014 — In what ways do you consider yourself to be a Grateful American?
That’s the question that author and publisher David Bruce Smith is investigating in his new Foundation through The Grateful American™ Series.
With the goal of restoring enthusiasm for American history in kids and adults, Smith’s new website, which launched on July 3, is a portal for parents to learn more about the nation’s Founding Fathers, its presidential and historic homes, and its ideals.
“Quite simply, our goal is to make it fun to learn about American history,” says Smith, who borrowed the title for The Grateful American™ Series from his father, developer and philanthropist Robert H. Smith. “My father always referred to himself as a grateful American. He realized that the community and this country have been good to our family, and he wanted to give back. The Grateful American™ Foundation is my way of doing the same.”
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Contact: Hope Katz Gibbs
Inkandescent Public Relations, www.InkandescentPR.com
hope@inkandescentpr.com / 703.346.6975
THE GRATEFUL AMERICAN™ SERIES INTERVIEWS HISTORIAN THOMAS FLEMING, AUTHOR OF, “The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers”
Washington, DC, May 16, 2014 — “Novelists focus on the intimate side of life,” insists best-selling author Thomas Fleming, who has penned dozens of historic books including his recent novel, The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers.
“This is the first time anyone has looked at the intimate side of the lives of these famous Americans with an historian’s eyes,” Fleming told David Bruce Smith and Hope Katz Gibbs, co-hosts of the The Grateful American™ TV Show.
The video interview with Fleming was shot in the beautiful formal dining room of Alexander Hamilton’s home, The Grange, in New York City, where Fleming shared anecdotes about the men and women who shaped the founding of the United States.
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THE GRATEFUL AMERICAN™ SERIES INTERVIEWS ERIN CARLSON MAST, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF LINCOLN’s COTTAGE AT THE SOLDIERS’ HOME
Washington, DC, April 1, 2014 — For American history buffs, there’s nothing quite like visiting the home of a former president. And when that president is one of the nation’s most revered and beloved, as is Abraham Lincoln, it’s both stimulating and enjoyable to meander through his summer home in Washington, DC.
David Bruce Smith and Hope Katz Gibbs were thrilled to sit down for an interview with Erin Carlson Mast, executive director of President Lincoln’s Cottage at The Soldiers’ Home, which stands just 3.5 miles from the White House.
In this interview, you’ll learn how Lincoln travelled to and from the Cottage, why he once met visitors in his bed slippers, and how Mary Todd Lincoln recovered from the loss of her son inside the walls of this special summer home.
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THE GRATEFUL AMERICAN™ SERIES INTERVIEWS CIVIL WAR EXPERT, “1861” AUTHOR ADAM GOODHEART
Washington, DC, April 1, 2014 — Civil War expert Adam Goodheart brings the history of the civil war to life this latest interview on David Bruce Smith’s Grateful American™ Radio Show on the Inkandescent Radio Network.
Tthe author of “1861” and the upcoming “1865,” Goodheart has penned two books that capture the essence of the battles and the time. A historian, essayist and journalist, Goodheart’s articles have appeared in National Geographic, Outside, Smithsonian, The Atlantic, and he is a regular columnist for The New York Times’ acclaimed Civil War series, “Disunion.”
Goodheart is also the director of Washington College’s C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. He splits his time living there, and in Washington, DC.
Co-hosts David Bruce Smith and Hope Katz Gibbs were thrilled to sit down with the popular author to talk about 1861: The Civil War Awakening.
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March 26, 2014, History News Network — In today’s issue of Rick Shenkman’s History News Network, he features an interview by David Bruce Smith, creator of the Grateful American™ Series, with Doug Bradburn, founding director of the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington. Click inside to read their Q&A.
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Contact: Hope Katz Gibbs
Inkandescent Public Relations, www.InkandescentPR.com
hope@inkandescentpr.com / 703.346.6975
THE GRATEFUL AMERICAN™ SERIES VISITS MOUNT VERNON, GEORGE WASHINGTON’S HOME
Washington, DC, March 27, 2014 — What made George Washington the icon that he became? That’s the question that David Bruce Smith, creator of the Grateful American™ Series, asked this month of Doug Bradburg, PhD, executive director of the new presidential library at Mount Vernon, Washington’s home, in Alexandria, VA.
“The nation’s first president wasn’t perfect,” Bradburn shares. “In fact, Washington had adversity and failures; what makes him stand out is that “he just overcomes them.”
Knowing about Washington’s successes and his failures are part of what make him admirable, and what makes learning about him interesting. And learning about him, and history in general, is a mission of publisher David Bruce Smith.
“You have to know where you came from to know where you are going,” Smith says. That philosophy explains why he launched the The Grateful American™ Series in January 2014.
The interactive, multi-media program is designed to restore enthusiasm in American history in children—and grown-ups, too. Throughout the year, Smith will be recording interviews for the Inkandescent Radio Network with the executives who run the nation’s presidential homes, as well as historians, authors, and educators who know the importance of keeping our nation’s history alive.
Smith visited Mount Vernon to interview Bradburn, founding director of the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington. Their conversation took place in the new presidential library, which includes Martha Washington’s papers and books owned by George Washington himself.
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February 18, 2014, History News Network — In this article by History News Network Publisher Rick Shenkman, he interviews David Bruce Smith, creator of The Grateful American™ Series about his inspiration, plans, and long-term goals for his project to restore enthusiasm in history for kids.
Shenkman asked: What inspired you to launch the series? Smith said: “My father. He always said how grateful he was to be an American, and that really stuck with me. Most of my family are Jewish immigrants, and they knew how lucky they were to be in this country. I have always felt that way, too, and I passed that on to my children. I hope to inspire others to do the same.”
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Contact: Hope Katz Gibbs
Inkandescent Public Relations, www.InkandescentPR.com
hope@inkandescentpr.com / 703.346.6975
IN CELEBRATION OF PRESIDENTS’ DAY (Feb. 17), DAVID BRUCE SMITH PUBLICATONS LAUNCHES THE GRATEFUL AMERICAN™ SERIES
This interactive multimedia program is focused on restoring enthusiasm for American history in children — and grown-ups, too!
Washington, DC, February 17, 2014 — In celebration of Presidents’ Day, David Bruce Smith launched today his new interactive multimedia program, designed to restore enthusiasm for American history in children—and grown-ups, too.
“You have to know where you came from to know where you are going,” insists Smith, a Washington, DC-based author and publisher who recently penned, “American Hero: John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States.”
“Kids are often asked to memorize a bunch of dates that don’t mean anything to them, so history seems boring,” he says. “Then they are given standardized tests, which don’t measure what they don’t know—they measure what they haven’t been taught. It’s not the teachers’ fault. The system is dysfunctional.”
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January 30, 2014, History News Network — “David Bruce Smith has a mission: to get young people more interested in American history,” writes Rick Shenkman, publisher of History News Network.
“Smith, the scion of a wealthy and prominent family in northern Virginia (his father, Robert H. Smith, was the president of the National Gallery of Art) founded David Bruce Smith Publications LLC in 2003,” he explains. “The company specializes in the production of specialized, limited edition books on historic figures. Smith’s most recent is American Hero: John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States.”
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By Kathleen McCarthy
Managing Editor
Be Inkandescent magazine
Kids today don’t know history like they used to, but it’s not their fault, insists The John Marshall Foundation.
“The modern emphasis on standardized testing and teaching that favors skills over knowledge is to blame,” according to the organization, which sponsors educational and public interest programs or other activities in the fields of law, government, history and public affairs to promote a greater public understanding of Chief Justice John Marshall and his contributions. “As a result, history has fallen by the wayside in US classrooms.”
Consider this: A 2011 nationwide test, US history is now American students’ worst subject, many 4th graders are unable to say why Abraham Lincoln was important.
“If even Lincoln isn’t memorable to American students, what will happen to equally important but less regaled pioneers of our past?” asks David Bruce Smith, author of a new children’s book on Marshall entitled, American Hero: John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States.
This concern is a driving force behind the Richmond, VA-based Foundation, and the inspiration behind the children’s picture book that it commissioned.
Illustrated by world-renowned artist Clarice Smith, David Smith’s mother, the book is dedicated to his father, Robert — the benefactor behind the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business “who was convinced that John Marshall, the ‘forgotten’ Founding Father, composed a life worthy of study and remembrance by every American,” David says.
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Internationally renowned artist Clarice Smith is described by critics as enigmatic and prolific. Her portraits, florals, landscapes, and still-lifes are painted with convincing reality.
For decades, collectors around the world have gobbled up her artwork after attending her numerous solo exhibitions throughout the United States, Europe, and Israel.
Artist Clarice Smith is also the wife of developer and philanthropist Robert H. Smith, whose father founded Charles E. Smith Co. in 1946. Robert and his brother-in-law, Robert P. Kogod, took over the company in 1967. Under their tutelage, it grew to become one of the largest commercial and residential landlords in the Washington, D.C., area, managing 24 million square feet of office space and more than 30,000 residential units.
The Smiths gave generously to the University of Maryland, College Park, which was Robert Smith’s alma mater. The Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park, was named in his honor in 1998 to recognize his gift of $15 million, the largest gift the school had ever received. The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, completed in 2001, is named for his wife, Clarice.
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JANUARY 7, 2013
Our radio show spotlight today is on: David Bruce Smith and Faye Moskowitz, creators of the George Washington University class, Jewish Literature Live
Our hot topic: What inspired Smith and Moskowitz to create a program for undergrads that brings famous Jewish authors to George Washington University’s campus? And what makes them, as authors, tick?
Your host: Hope Katz Gibbs, publisher of Be Inkandescent magazine, and founder & president of The Inkandescent Group
Click here to LISTEN to our podcast interview.
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By Hope Katz Gibbs, Author
Truly Amazing Women Who Are Changing the World
Jewish Literature Live is a popular class at the George Washington University, and the brainchild of world-renowned author Faye Moskowitz (pictured above)—and DC entrepreneur David Bruce Smith (pictured below), a GW alumni who is the author of 11 books and the former editor of Crystal City Magazine.
What inspired the two writers to create a class for Moskowitz’s students at GWU, where she teaches and is a former chairman of the English Department?
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Mission: The Grateful American™ Series is an interactive, multimedia program focused on restoring enthusiasm in American history for children — and adults.
Vision: To work with directors of the Presidential/Founding Father homes, educators, historians, writers, and successful Americans to find out: what makes them “Grateful”, and how they keep history stimulating for their kids, their colleagues, and themselves.
The Grateful American™ Series includes:
- The Grateful American™ Radio Show on the Inkandescent Radio Network, featuring interviews about historical figures (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, etc.) with the chief executives of the nation’s presidential homes, historians, and other experts.
- A TV series on YouTube, public access, and national TV stations.
- The Grateful American™ Guidebooks: Featuring insights from the leaders of the presidential homes, and interactive exercises that explore, engage, and help readers develop an interest in American history.
- The Grateful American™ Events: Dovetailing with and promoting the events-in-progress currently going on at each of the nation’s top presidential homes.
- An interactive website: Here, students will post art, photos, writing, music, and other creative works that share their ideas about what excites them about American history.
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