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Saturday October 11th 2008 |
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Saturday October 11th 2008 |
a non-profit education organization | |
December 5
From Columbia, South Carolina Modjeska Monteith (as she was popularly known) lived for over ninety years. She was the first of eight children (named after a favorite polish actress of her parents Helena Modjeska) born to Henry and Rachel Monteith. They were a prosperous couple that made academic structures for Modjeska and her brothers and sisters in the home. She was placed in the second grade upon enrollment at Benedict College (a private Black school designed to give quality education not available in segregated school at the time). She excelled in mathematics and decided to teach the subject after graduation. In 1921, after receiving her A. B. degree, Simkins began teaching at the elementary division of the Booker T. Washington School in Columbia; moving to her favorite subject there two years later. In 1929, she married Andrew W. Simkins and had to resign because married women were not allowed to teach in Columbia’s city schools. Two years later she found work at the South Carolina Tuberculosis Association as its Director of Negro Work; a position that lasted until 1942, when she was released due to her participation in civil rights activities. Before retiring, Simkins worked at Victory Savings Bank in Columbia heading a branch and serving on their board of directors. Because of the numerous Black colleges in the area: she completed her graduate studies. Simkins attended Columbia University in New York, the University of Michigan, and Michigan State Normal School (now Eastern Michigan University). Possibly her greatest work during the 1940s and 1950s was as branch secretary with the South Carolina NAACP (1942-1957). They launched a number of court cases establishing equality for Black American’s Elmore v. Rice 1947 and Brown v. Baskins (1948) dismantled the states long running all-White primary. Briggs v. Elliot was filed in federal district court in May, 1950; setting a tone with five other cases leading to Brown v. B.O.E. four years later. Simkins also supported two predominantly Black third-party platforms, the Progressive Democratic Party in 1940, and the United Citizens party in the 1970s. Her work spanned more than six decades, she was a major figure in South Carolina history. She received many honors in her lifetime including the highest commendation given by her home state, the Order of Palmetto. Mary Modjeska Simkins died in 1992. Reference: African Americans and South Carolina: History, Politics and Culture Dr. Phebe Davidson University of South Carolina-Aiken The Modjeska Monteith Simkins Center for Justice, Ethics and Human Rights
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The African American Registry®, The African American Registry® Copyright 2005, 2006
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