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The wounded Smith Reynolds was carried from the porch and driven to the city hospital, where he died later that morning. The death sparked several investigations and extensive national media coverage, in which Smith’s story was presented as a cautionary tale of excess and reckless extravagance during the Great Depression. The sensational nature of the coverage ultimately led Smith’s uncle Will to request that the county solicitor drop charges against Libby Holman and Smith’s friend and employee Albert “Ab” Walker, each of whom had been indicted by a grand jury for first degree murder. The case, whether murder, suicide, or accidental death, remains unsolved.
On July 8-11, 1932, a jury of six white male citizens was convened by coroner W.N. Dalton. The questioning was led by Forsyth County solicitor Carlisle Higgins and his assistant Earl McMichael. The inquest includes testimony from Libby Holman, Ab Walker, post mortem examiner Dr. Frederick Hanes, sheriff Transou Scott, guests of the July 5 party, and Reynolda employees. The hearing was held in the East Bedroom adjoining the sleeping porch where Smith was shot and in the Library.
This copy of the coroner’s inquest was created at an unknown date. Due to its age and condition, several lines of testimony are missing or illegible. Page 169 is missing, and pages 288 and 306 are misnumbered.
ProvenanceGift of Tom Lambeth and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
DepartmentEstate Archives
Coroner's Report in the Matter of the Death of Z. Smith Reynolds
DateJuly 8-11, 1932
Credit LineReynolda House Museum of American Art Archives
CopyrightPublic Domain
Object number7-8-1932
DescriptionIn the early morning hours of July 6, 1932, Zachary Smith Reynolds was found on the East Bedroom sleeping porch with a single bullet wound to the head. He was only 20 years old and newly married to Broadway star Libby Holman. The couple had moved into Reynolda a few weeks earlier, hosting parties at which Smith’s Winston-Salem friends mingled with stars of the New York stage. On this occasion, a raucous party had been held at Reynolda’s Lake Katharine, and the guests had already departed or retired for the night.The wounded Smith Reynolds was carried from the porch and driven to the city hospital, where he died later that morning. The death sparked several investigations and extensive national media coverage, in which Smith’s story was presented as a cautionary tale of excess and reckless extravagance during the Great Depression. The sensational nature of the coverage ultimately led Smith’s uncle Will to request that the county solicitor drop charges against Libby Holman and Smith’s friend and employee Albert “Ab” Walker, each of whom had been indicted by a grand jury for first degree murder. The case, whether murder, suicide, or accidental death, remains unsolved.
On July 8-11, 1932, a jury of six white male citizens was convened by coroner W.N. Dalton. The questioning was led by Forsyth County solicitor Carlisle Higgins and his assistant Earl McMichael. The inquest includes testimony from Libby Holman, Ab Walker, post mortem examiner Dr. Frederick Hanes, sheriff Transou Scott, guests of the July 5 party, and Reynolda employees. The hearing was held in the East Bedroom adjoining the sleeping porch where Smith was shot and in the Library.
This copy of the coroner’s inquest was created at an unknown date. Due to its age and condition, several lines of testimony are missing or illegible. Page 169 is missing, and pages 288 and 306 are misnumbered.
ProvenanceGift of Tom Lambeth and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
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