Today, you’ll find LaWanda Smith enjoying retirement at her home in East Moline. Her time in the workforce included a first for our area.
“I am the first female black union contractor in this community,” Smith said.
Smith put together a nearly 30-year career, finishing drywall and painting for homes and business all around the Quad Cities area. But the road to get there wasn’t a clear one.
“When I applied to Black Hawk College, I was into my first few months,” Smith said. “And, my instructor there said, ‘Why don’t you go into the trades?’ So, I asked him more about it, and he said construction. They put you on a list as far as the tests are concerned, and I was actually number one. So, I got into the trades in 1982.”
At that time, she was the second female to do it. And the first black female. Smith says that title came with some scrutiny.
“It was a hard time because there was a lot of areas throughout the Quad Cities, and outside of the Quad Cities, that I had to go to work at, but I wasn’t welcomed… because of me being black, and a woman at the same time,” Smith said.
Smith says through the hard times her job afforded her the opportunity to do what she enjoys most.
“The part that always grasped me, was that I am an artist,” Smith said. “So, I liked seeing something go from the very beginning to the end.”
Smith retired in 2012, but says her job is far from over.
“The young people are a big thing for me… is getting more young kids,” Smith said. “And, it doesn’t matter to me what color, what status, whatever. Just getting them to know about the trades here in this community, is really making a good living. And, you can take this living that you have, and go anywhere with it. And, do amazing things with it. I know we’re getting older. And, infrastructure is going to have to be addressed, whether it’s this community, or wherever… “
