prepare them for registering and voting in what was known as "Mississippi Freedom Summer". Smith wrote, “One of the most popular misconceptions in Mississippi is the idea that if everyone would just leave us alone we would work out all our problems and everything would be fine. . . . The truth is we have been left pretty much alone for nearly one hundred years – and we have not faced up to our problems as well as we should.” In 1964 Smith was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for her body of work, for editorials opposing the activities of the White Citizens' Council and its support of segregation. Her citation noted her "steadfast adherence to her editorial duty in the face of great pressure and opposition." At the same time, she represented herself as a moderate, perhaps to keep as broad a base as possible in her effort to change people's minds. Smith continued to be affected by the violence of this period. In September 1964, her Northside Reporter, located in the state capital of Jackson, was bombed. In 1967, shortly before the Advertiser was to go to press, her printing plant in Lexington was set on fire by arsonists. Smith managed to publish a "miniature version" of her paper for that edition. The WCC's continued boycott of customers and advertisers of her papers took a severe financial toll. In 1965, the Columbia Journalism Review established a fund for Smith: other journalists and editors raised nearly $2,700 nationally. Her local support was even greater: blacks from across the economic spectrum in Holmes County raised more than $2855 to help her. The latter money was presented to her on Editor's Appreciation Day by Dr. Arenia Mallory at Saints Junior College, an event organized by African Americans in Holmes County to counter the activities of the White Citizens Council. In the 1970s Smith finally sold two of her newspapers because of continued financial problems. She was not able to recover financially from economic boycotts. In 1982 her husband died in a fall at home. In 1985 she filed for bankruptcy, and was forced to close her remaining two newspapers, including the Lexington Advertiser. It was the second oldest newspaper in the state, and its building still stands in Lexington, deteriorating and "open to the elements." None of these small newspapers survived the loss of her leadership and changes to