After experiencing early success, she exhibited her dolls at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, winning a Grand Prize for Innovation and helping establish a nationwide market for her product, and later displayed dolls at the Southeastern Fair in Atlanta, Ga. and at Jamestown Exposition.
The price at the time for an Ella Smith doll ranged from $1.15 to $12.15 depending on size, clothing and hair.
She was likely the first manufacturer to market dolls based on people of African descent in the Southern United States.
At a time when she was planning to expand her operation, a train wreck caused the disastrous loss of many orders.
Mrs. Smith, who suffered from diabetes and kidney disease, died in 1932[3] and is buried in Cedarwood Cemetery (Roanoke, AL).