Voices of Simms Exhibit

In February 2025, a touchscreen oral history kiosk opened in the Mary Awkard Fairfax conference room at the Lucy Simms Center, offering visitors "a deeper look" into the history of the former segregated Lucy F. Simms School. Titled, "Voices of Simms: Memories of the Lucy F. Simms School," this interactive exhibit functions as an extension of the Celebrating Simms exhibit and is the work of students from Spotswood and Turner Ashby High Schools, who embarked on a year-long oral history project to celebrate and preserve the memories of students who attended Simms before it closed its doors. Visitors to the Simms Center can use kiosk to listen to highlights from the oral histories or a  provided QR Code to listen to the full interviews preserved on this website. Use the left and right arrows below to preview the kiosk's interface.

Sponsored by the JMU President's Office Madison Vision Fund, the exhibit was designed and created by Grover Saunders, with video editing support from Mariam Ismail and Kirsten Mlodynia, and editorial support from Mollie Godfrey and Seán McCarthy.