Alarmed by his daughter's evident penchant for the stage, her father sent her to the George Washington University School for Nursing where she attended classes for nine months between 1924 and 1925, withdrawing to pursue a career in show business.

An indelicate review in The New York Times on October 31, 1926, under the heading "A Sophie Tucker Rival", said: "A 19-year-old girl, weighing in the immediate neighborhood of 200 pounds, is one of the discoveries of the season for those whose interests run to syncopators and singers of what in the varieties and nightclubs are known as 'hot' songs.

When Honeymoon Lane closed, Smith had difficulty finding work in New York, so she returned to Washington, D.C. where she appeared sporadically in vaudeville.

[6] Smith joined the road company of Vincent Youmans' Hit the Deck, where she won acclaim singing "Hallelujah!"

[11] Her musical career took a huge leap in 1930 when Columbia Records A&R executive Ted Collins took an interest as a result of her Hit the Deck performances.

Smith had become self-conscious regarding her weight, in no small part because of the on- and off-stage mocking she received from co-star Bert Lahr.

In 1932, Smith appeared in Hello, Everybody!, with co-stars Randolph Scott and Sally Blane, and in the 1943 wartime film This Is the Army, she sang "God Bless America", which became her signature song.

[14] The Kate Smith Hour was a leading radio variety show, offering comedy, music, and drama with appearances by top personalities of films and theater for eight years (1937–1945).

Smith continued on the Mutual Broadcasting System, CBS, ABC, and NBC, presenting both music and talk shows on radio until 1960.

[19] James M. Cain recalled that "there was a little trouble caused by this fat girl, Kate Smith, who carried on a propaganda asking people to stay away from the picture.

Smith continued on the Mutual Broadcasting System, CBS, ABC, and NBC, presenting both music and talk shows on radio until 1960.

The Philadelphia Flyers ice hockey team played Smith's rendition of "God Bless America" before their game on December 11, 1969.

The Flyers' public address announcer had noticed that people would not pay attention or would show disdain for the "Star-Spangled Banner" played before games, due to the tensions caused by the Vietnam War, and he decided to use Smith's rendition of "God Bless America" instead.

At the Flyers' home opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 11, 1973, Smith made a surprise appearance to perform the song in person and received a tremendous reception.

She again performed the song at the Spectrum in front of a capacity crowd of 17,007 fans before game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals on May 19, 1974, against the Boston Bruins.

Boston's defenseman Bobby Orr and center Phil Esposito tried to jinx the Flyers' "good luck charm" by shaking her hand after her performance.

The Flyers' record when "God Bless America" was played or sung by Smith in person stood at 100 wins, 29 losses, and five ties as of April 20, 2016[update].

Until that time, the Flyers still showed a video of her singing "God Bless America" in lieu of "The Star-Spangled Banner" for good luck before important games.

Before games whenever "God Bless America" was performed, Lou Nolan, the public address announcer for the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center would say "Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we ask that you please rise and remove your hats and salute our flags and welcome the number-one ranked anthemist in the NHL, Lauren Hart, as she sings 'God Bless America', accompanied by the great Kate Smith.

"[24] Smith's plump figure made her an occasional object of derision; however, late in her career, Philadelphia Flyers hockey fans said about her appearance before games "It ain't BEGUN 'til the fat lady sings!"

[26] Smith's rendition of "God Bless America" was played during the seventh-inning stretch of New York Yankees home games from 2001 until April 2019, when the practice was discontinued amid controversy surrounding her 1931 recordings of "That's Why Darkies Were Born" and "Pickaninny Heaven".

[30] Those against the discontinuation of Smith's recordings have cited the satirical nature of the song "That's Why Darkies Were Born",[31] and the fact that it was also popularized by Paul Robeson.

[citation needed] Smith called for racial tolerance in 1945 in an address on CBS Radio, declaring, "Race hatreds, social prejudices, religious bigotry, they are the diseases that eat away the fibers of peace".

During the time she spent in Lake Placid, she regularly attended Sunday Mass at St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church and could be heard singing the hymns in her contralto voice.

[41] In 2010, the U.S. postal service issued a commemorative stamp featuring a duplication of artwork created for the cover of a CD titled Kate Smith: The Songbird of the South.

[42] On October 26, 1982, Smith received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Those simple but deeply moving words, "God bless America", have taken on added meaning for all of us because of the way Kate Smith sang them.