J. Russell Smith

Joseph Russell Smith (February 3, 1874 – February 26, 1966) was an American geographer. He worked in the Department of Geography and Industry at the University of Pennsylvania and later the Columbia Business School where he chaired the economic geography program. From 1941 to 1942, he was president of the American Association of Geographers. Quotes thumb|The Corn Belt is a gift of the gods—the rain god, the sun god, the ice god and the gods of geology. The Corn Belt is a gift of the gods—the rain god, the sun god, the ice god and the gods of geology. In the middle of the North American continent the gods of geology made a wide expanse of land where the rock layers are nearly horizontal. The ice gods leveled the surface with their glaciers, making it ready for the plow, and also making it rich. The rain god gives summer showers. The sun god gives summer heat. All this is nature's conspiracy to make man grow corn. Having corn, man feeds it to cattle and hogs, and thereby becomes a producer of meat. North America (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co, 1925) ch. 15, p. 290 External links Category:Geographers from the United States Category:Academics from the United States Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni Category:University of Pennsylvania faculty Category:Columbia University faculty Category:People from Virginia Category:1874 births Category:1966 deaths