Smith was an experienced educator, having taught in Arkansas for about 10 years. The family had moved to California when Smith heard about a teaching job in Carlsbad with the possibility of a principalship.
He took the opportunity and worked as a science and math teacher at the local all-black school, where he also coached basketball.
According to collected accounts of Eddy County history, Smith then became a principal - first at the black school, then at the larger all-white school where he was the only black staff member.
In "Eddy County History to 1981", Smith states his appreciation for the opportunities he found here to use his talents and training. But finding a black principal at an all-white school was not so unusual in Carlsbad, where racial harmony had been the rule for many years.
Smith's daughter, Bernita Smith-Payne, teaches today in the Carlsbad schools, and she recalls well the account told to her by an older friend who attended school with children of other races.
"In the 1920s, the Carlsbad schools were not segregated," Payne says.
While the student body included both black and white, there were no black teachers for several years, until parents protested and some black teachers were hired.
Society was not ready to have black and white teachers working at the same school, however, and this led to the evolution of an all-black school, called Carver School.
"When we arrived in Carlsbad, the school stood on the old site of Furr's Cafeteria," Payne recalls.
The building was run down, so another school was provided in the area known as New San Jose. It sat on the spot now occupied by the Emmitt Smith School playground.
This school served all the blacks in the city, and it also enrolled many Hispanics who lived near the school.
In 1950, Smith had one student ready to graduate at Carver School, Payne recounts.
Rather than spend extra money on two graduation exercises, the school board decided to let the black student, a young man, go up to the high school for half days, and this plan began in February.
"The student graduated with very little negative fanfare," Payne says.
Over the summer, several school board meetings and town hall meetings were held, and when school started in September, the schools were completely integrated!
Payne is deeply proud of her father and his work in the Carlsbad schools, but she says there is credit due other residents and school officials as well.
"While my dad is given the credit for integrating the schools - and later motels, restaurants and other public places - he was thrust into the position of being the 'front-person,' just like Dr. (Martin Luther) King," Payne says.
She emphasizes that, during that time, there were many local people of other races who worked behind the scenes, but were strong champions for justice, equality and racial harmony.
Payne also points out that both her parents were educators, and her mother had a degree from a college in Atlanta, Georgia.
"But there was a rule here that both husband and wife couldn't teach in the school system at the same time," Payne says.
So her mother, Naomi Smith, did her part to educate children by opening up a day-care center and preparing children for the first grade.
"She did it with a lot of love, patience and encouragement," Payne says.
Emmitt Smith passed away in 2003, so he was quite aware of Dr. King and his works, Payne says.
"My dad was often invited to visit various schools and talk to students about the importance of staying in school," she says. "While there, he would always encourage students to be kind to one another and strive for educational excellence and racial harmony."