HUSBAND w FATHER ​w HIGHER ED LEADER ​w STORYTELLER
Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive,
and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.*
Barbara Schmidt Vance
March 18, 1942 - October 21, 2025
MOTHER | ENTREPRENEUR | SISTER | FRIEND
Barbara Schmidt Vance, the dynamic founder of the D.C.-based Speakers Unlimited (S.U.I.), a speakers bureau that represented a varied array of pioneering Black professionals for more than three decades, died on October 21, 2025, at Bryn Mawr Hospital. She was surrounded by her immediate family, with a violinist playing softly at her side. She was 83.
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Ms. Vance was born Barbara Ann Schmidt on March 18, 1942, at Mercy-Douglass Hospital in Philadelphia, to Harvey and Elaine Schmidt. Her father, who started his career as a postal clerk, would become a trailblazing attorney, co-founding one of the first Black full-service law firms in 1951 and, in the 1970s, becoming a Court of Common Pleas judge. Her mother, Elaine Schmidt, was a devoted nursery school teacher. There was always a premium on education and hard work in the tightly bonded Schmidt household. A firm commitment to the values of a growing Civil Rights Movement, moral clarity, and speaking up for what was right were baked-in family values — attributes Ms. Vance exhibited prominently throughout her life.
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Obituary
Barbara was the oldest of three children and enjoyed the privilege of being an only child for six years before being joined by her sister, Mary, and then her brother, Harvey Edward Schmidt. Barbara’s mother loved recounting stories about her firstborn’s easy affability. A favorite was of Barbara walking down Spring Garden Street in West Philadelphia, warmly greeting everyone she passed: “I like your hat,” “Your flowers are pretty,” “That’s a very nice broom you have.” That sense of geniality never deserted her, and she became known and loved for the warmth and friendliness she exuded. This ease with people would become a cornerstone of her successful speakers bureau.
As a teenager, Barbara was surrounded by friends, whose laughter and playfulness often filled her West Philadelphia home at 4021 Spring Garden Street. She began building a formidable group of what would become lifelong friends, first at Henry Charles Lea Elementary and Middle School and then at West Philadelphia High School, where her father, aunts, and uncles had preceded her. She followed in her father’s footsteps and attended Cheyney University (then Cheyney State Teachers College), where
she met her future husband, Jim Vance, and reconnected with childhood friend Ed Bradley — both of whom would later join her speakers bureau.
Soon after marrying Mr. Vance, Barbara’s life became fast-paced and challenge-packed, not least because her husband would become the most popular and admired TV anchor in the nation’s capital. Barbara and Jimmy’s careers both began as public school teachers in Philadelphia. They married in 1966, as the Civil Rights Movement was reaching its peak, and soon after, Jimmy augmented his teaching with a stint as a local TV newscaster in Philadelphia. After Washington, D.C. erupted in
the wake of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, NBC recruited Mr. Vance in 1969 for a position on the news desk in Washington, D.C. Barbara and Jimmy, both adventurers, quit their teaching jobs that same year and moved to D.C., where Mr. Vance would swiftly ascend to become the most popular and admired TV anchor in the nation’s capital. Over this time, Barbara began building the social network that would eventually power her business.
The couple quickly became a center of D.C. social life, creating an open and welcoming environment wherever they resided. With great delight, they selected their first home on Capitol Hill, one of the genuine “Chocolate City” neighborhoods, as D.C. was then known. In this first of three Capitol Hill homes — none of which had alarm systems and whose front doors were typically unlocked — sat a billiard table behind the bay window, inviting anyone from the neighborhood to come in and play. Neighbors would stop by, call out a hello, and walk right in. Everyone felt at ease at their gatherings, where folks mingled effortlessly over backgammon, albums playing in the background, and conversations steeped in the topics of the day.
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Soon after their arrival in D.C., the couple had a daughter, Amani. Amani, who inherited her mother’s social grace, would grow into a beautiful, French-speaking, cosmopolitan TV and media producer. During the early years of Barbara’s marriage to Jim and Amani’s early childhood, Barbara became a successful real estate agent, primarily in the Capitol Hill area.
Though separated by the early 1980s, the marriage ended amicably in 1987, with Jim signing on as the first client that Barbara represented when Speakers Unlimited Inc. launched in 1989. Barbara leveraged her expansive command of current issues, keen understanding of various markets, and her sharp business acumen to build S.U.I. into a successful small business that lasted for more than 30 years. Barbara’s devotion to her clients was a hallmark of her business.
While Speakers Unlimited represented all races and creeds — including activist Lilly Ledbetter and the Today Show’s legendary Willard Scott — its exclusive and non-exclusive roster featured an array of Black authors, journalists, playwrights, poets, economists, academicians, judges, philosophers, and performers. Ed Bradley, A’Lelia Bundles, Angela Davis, Dorothy Gilliam, Julianne Malveaux, Kojo Nnamdi, Carol Randolph, Ntozake Shange, and her sister, Mary Schmidt Campbell, were among those she booked for speaking engagements. Mr. Nnamdi recalls, “Prior to working with Barbara, I had been giving free speeches. When we met, she promised to change that, and so she did. And Speakers Unlimited became my public speaking home.” In 2019, Ms. Vance relocated the successful Speakers Unlimited agency to her new residence in Wynnewood, Pa., a suburb of her Philadelphia hometown.
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Her brother, Harvey Edward, called Ms. Vance a “super sibling who became a surrogate guardian” for him. Her sister, Mary, recalls that Barbara was her confidante, best friend, advisor, counselor, and always her wise big sister. Barbara gifted both her sister and her brother a subscription to “The Daily Word” as a gesture of faith. At a recent gathering, her nephew, Philadelphia attorney Sekou Campbell, recalled that Barbara could “match wits” with anyone. He went on to say that she reminded him of the first law of thermodynamics: “Energy cannot be created or destroyed, just transformed. Her energy is with us, always.”
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​Until the very end, her home remained a magnet for members of her family. They could always find the embrace of her warm hospitality, sharp wit, and indefatigable energy. Ms. Vance is survived by her daughter, Amani; sister, Mary Schmidt Campbell; brother, Harvey Edward Schmidt; four nieces; four nephews; and several cousins, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews.
