Kira A. Smith is a public historian, creative writer, and activist. Her research examines the lived experiences of children in Canadian asylums, and their intersection with child welfare and the juvenile justice system between 1880 and 1930. Kira combines archival research with arts-based methodology to centre children’s perspectives and challenge how we think about mental health care for children. As part of her postdoctoral research, Kira is tracing the archival threads of a young girl, Lily, who grew up in an orphanage, a convent, an industrial school, a reformatory, and an asylum. Lily’s life history will unfold in a speculative biography to shed light on the importance of the child’s perspective and decision making when it comes to care and wellbeing. Her experience shows how care can result in the dehumanization of the most disadvantaged children, and the broader influence of colonialism and eugenics on the lives of children.

Kira is also on the board for Madness Canada. She is actively involved in the archiving and curation of mad history in Canada. She has curated an exhibit, created lesson plans, and is currently working on an archiving project.

You can find Kira’s work in The Routledge Companion to Gender and Childhood, Rethinking History, and The Canadian Journal for Disability Studies. Her first monograph is under contract with McGill-Queen’s Press (forthcoming 2027).

• History of Children and Youth
• Mad History / Mad Studies
• Disability History
• Public History
• Creative Methodologies

Monograph

Mad Children. Montreal: McGill Queen’s Press (Under contract).

Articles/Book Chapters

“Institutionalized Mad Girls: Pathologizing the Rejection of Gendered Norms in Canadian Youth, 1890-1930.” In The Routledge Companion to Gender and Childhood, 17-30. New York: Routledge, 2025.

“Using Fiction to Tell Mad Stories: A Journey into Historical Imagination and Empathy.” Rethinking History 26, 3 (2022): 392-419.

“Ritualizing Madness: Case Files as Sites of Enforced Performativity, 1894-1950.” Canadian Journal of Disability Studies 10, 1 (2021): 1-22.

“Colonial Archives and Blended Writing: The Experiences of Indigenous Children in British Columbian Asylums, 1880-1930.” Rethinking History. (Under review).

“’Do you believe me or do you think I am lying? Do you think I am crazy?:’ Children’s Experiences of Institutional Violence at the Brandon Asylum, Manitoba.” In Deadly Psychiatry. Vancouver: The University of British Columbia Press. (Under contract).

Book Review

“Not Good Enough for Canada: Canadian Public Discourse around Issues of Inadmissibility for Potential Immigrants with Diseases and/or Disabilities, 1902-2002 (Review).” Canadian Bulletin of Medical History 39, 1 (2022): 193-196.

Other Publications

“‘I’ve never thought of nursing as a position with power.’” AMS Health Care: A Dose of History (February 2026). Co-authored with Holly Reeve.

“Mad Pasts: Reimagining Histories of Madness Through Blended Writing.” Canada Watch (Fall 2023): 4-6.

“Deporting Mad Girls: The Colliding of the Century of the Child and the Century of Canada.” Friends of the CAMH Archives Newsletter 30, 2 (Autumn 2022): 1-4.

“Blurring Boundaries.” Rechtsgeschichte – Legal History. (Accepted). Co-authored with David Dean.

Creative Outputs

“Childhood Madness: Compassionate Portraits of Children in Canadian Insane Asylums, 1880- 1930.” Madness Canada. Digital Exhibit & Lesson Plan for Professionals.

“Death in The Institution: A Performance.” Carleton University, March 2018.

• SSHRC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship , 2026-2028
• AMS Postdoctoral Fellowship in the History of Medicine, 2024
• Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellowship, 2022
• Hewton Archival Research Awar, 2022
• Canada Graduate Scholarship to Honour Nelson Mandela, 2021-2024
• SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canadian Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award, 2021-2024
• Ontario Graduate Scholar (Declined), 2021-2022
• Ontario Graduate Scholar, 2020-2021
• York Graduate Scholar, 2019-2023