https://omeka.jmu.edu/simms/files/original/Celebrating Simms Collection The Story of the Lucy F. Simms School/simms00343-exhibit-highlights-black-history-at-simms-school.pdf c316e91a7a9bb004fafc8d1b90651842 PDF Text Text EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS BLACK HISTORY AT SIMMS SCHOOL Posted: April 21, 2016 By ERIN FLYNN Kailyn Gilliam (right), a junior at James Madison University, speaks Wednesday during a preview of an exhibit on prominent black residents of Harrisonburg at Roop Hall. The upcoming permanent exhibit will be at the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center in Harrisonburg. (Photo by Austin Bachand / DN-R) HARRISONBURG — History is anything but lacking throughout the halls of the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center. Since it opened as a school for black students in 1938, hundreds of students and community members have left their mark on the building, located at 620 Simms Ave. Now, much of that history is coming to life with an exhibit that illustrates 150 years of black history, beginning soon after the Civil War. The exhibit is a yearlong project created by several James Madison University students and their two advisers, Sean McCarthy and Mollie Godfrey. It wraps around both sides of the center’s main hallway and will officially open on Monday. Remembering Lucy F. Simms The center, formerly known as the Lucy F. Simms School, was named after a longtime Valley educator who was born into slavery in 1855. In 1877, Simms �graduated from the Hampton Institute and began teaching in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Throughout her teaching career, which spanned 56 years, she taught more than 1,800 students. The Lucy F. Simms School served black children until desegregation in 1965. The school’s building came under city control on Aug. 31, 2001. It then underwent a two-year, $5.5 million renovation project and reopened on May 20, 2005. Now, the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center serves as a community center. It is also the home of the Arc of Harrisonburg and Rockingham, which supports those with disabilities, and the headquarters of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Exhibit’s Features The exhibit tells more than Simms’ story. Its 59 panels and 100 photos also honor others who contributed to the school’s history, said Robin Lyttle of the Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project. “What’s so great about this exhibition is that it’s not just about Lucy F. Simms, who we adore and love,” Lyttle said. The exhibit, which is more than 100 feet long, is divided into six sections: early education in Harrisonburg; Simms and her legacy; community life; the school’s extracurricular activities; school life; and after the school became inactive. “It really hits it all,” Lyttle said. The exhibit, along with interactive features and videos, will be on a website, which McCarthy said will launch next week. Going Beyond A Textbook With the exhibit’s creation were some challenges, one being the amount of research required. Much history was lost after the school closed in 1964. “It’s like going to the bottom of the ocean to find a new species, because much of this information hasn’t been discovered,” Lyttle said. Juniors Brett Seekford and Hannah Jones spent hours poring over information at the Massanutten Regional Library Central Branch for the project. �Seekford said some of the information uncovered conflicted with what community members said happened. “We often went with the community’s word,” he said. “It was tricky to find the real history.” McCarthy said the team also collected pictures from members of the community. With that came another set of difficulties. “There was a lot of work trying to figure out what these photographs are,” said McCarthy, who added that the team also needed to verify each photo’s subjects. Seekford said the project was different from anything he had done before. “It was just a culture shock. The stuff you learn in high school I got first world experience through this project,” Seekford said. “[Speaking with community members] is so much different from reading a textbook.” Contact Erin Flynn at 574-6293 or eflynn@dnronline.com � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Celebrating Simms Collection: The Story of the Lucy F. Simms School Description An account of the resource The first series in the Celebrating Simms Collection consists of approximately 450 items that were digitized to support the development and design of the 2016 Celebrating Simms exhibit. The series consists primarily of photographs and some historical documents related to the Effinger St. School (1882–1938); the Lucy F. Simms School (1938-1966); the Simms Reunion Committee (1982–Present); private family photographs documenting life in the Northeast Neighborhood of Harrisonburg, Virginia (1882–1966); and official photographs documenting Harrisonburg’s R4 Urban Renewal Project (1955–1964). The Celebrating Simms Collection consists entirely of digitized materials. It is a post-custodial collection, meaning that all original materials were returned to the custody of their original owners immediately after being digitized. The individuals who shared their private collections with this project for digitization include: Doris Harper Allen, Howard Curry, Dorothy Dickerson, Twyla French, Billo Harper, Greg Johnson, Wilhelmina Johnson, Dale MacAllister, Edna Mitchell, Deanna Reed, Jennifer Vickers, and Betty Lou Winkey. Some items were also digitized for Celebrating Simms with permission from JMU Special Collections, the Massanutten Regional Library, the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society (now Rocktown History), and the Daily News-Record. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Celebrating Simms Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available JMU Libraries Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1867-2016 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Exhibit Highlights Black History at Simms School Subject The topic of the resource Lucy F. Simms School Exhibitions Description An account of the resource An article discussing the history of the Lucy F. Simms School and the Celebrating Simms project and exhibit. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Erin Flynn Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Daily News Record Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available James Madison University Libraries Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 21-Apr-16 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Daily News Record Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CC By-NC 4.0</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource articles Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context simms00343 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Harrisonburg (Va.) Brett Seekford Hannah Jones James Madison University Kailyn Gilliam Lucy F. Simms Robin Lyttle Sean McCarthy