He secured a position with the state Department of Taxation, and in 1939 Democratic Mayor Maurice Tobin appointed him "legislative agent" for the City of Boston.
The Quaker Harvard Professor of Religion, Henry Cadbury, rejected the teacher's oath in the 1930s, for reasons of conscience, telling the truth, and as a form of social activism.
Smith had spoken out against the legislation during the hearings, but nevertheless strictly enforced the law despite a compromise worked out with leading educators and the Attorney General, Paul Dever.
In 1936, several well-respected educators, including Morison and Mather, joined together to form the Massachusetts Society for Freedom in Teaching (MSFT) to coordinate efforts to repeal the oath legislation.
Opponents of the oath in the House were unable to muster the two-thirds majority required to override Hurley's veto, which was sustained by a vote of 101–100.
Although newly elected Republican Governor Leverett Saltonstall indicated that he would sign a repeal bill in early 1939, it failed to pass the state legislature.