Christina Lea Smith holds a master's degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also completed her master's degree in history from Illinois State University in 2015. Her thesis, titled "Joseph Addison Turner: The Countryman and Confederate Nationalism," won the 2015 James C. Bonner Award for the best master's thesis. Christina has published an article titled "Elizabeth Parsons Wade Packard's Challenge of True Womanhood" in the peer-reviewed Journal of Illinois History.

Christina has been teaching for over twenty years at various colleges in Illinois. Her areas of focus include nineteenth-century American history and Civil War seminars. She is also a volunteer instructor for Bradley University's Osher for Lifelong Learning Institute. Christina often speaks at historical societies, women's groups, and other associations.