Irma Smathers was born in 1910 in Madison County. She began medical practice in Asheville in 1934 and continued until 1954 when she became the city school and later county school physician. She was a member of the Asheville Business and Women’s Professional Club, state President (1945) of the National Federation of Business and Women’s Professional Association and named National Health and Safety Committee Chairman to the National Federation in 1949. She was the first woman elected Chief of Staff at St. Joseph’s Hospital. This photo shows Dr. Smathers, seated, and public health nurse, Mrs. Ruth Martin, giving a child a physical examination
