620 Simms Avenue
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Last updated: March 25, 2024
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Direction from Lucy F. Simms' Home to site 22:
- Continue east on E Johnson St
- E Johnson St ends at Simms Ave
- Make a left onto Simms Ave
- Then make right into the Lucy F. Simms Center parking lot
In September 1939, blacks students in Harrisonburg would begin a new era in education at the Lucy F. Simms School. Located on the grounds of the former Hilltop Farm, the new brick two-story building housed elementary through high school grade levels for African American children in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, and Page County. Students traveled multiple miles from Elkton, Grottoes, Bridgewater, New Market, and Mount Jackson. Each long route had its dedicated African American “bus driver” who obtained any vehicle available to transfer students from around the county to school at Simms and back home.
Located at 620 Simms Avenue, the new Simms School differed from Effinger Street School by offering high school, vocational, and college preparatory courses. The Lucy F. Simms School operated from 1938 to 1965. Through the years it was a social hub and community center for special events, gatherings and more for the Newtown neighborhood. Although desegregation began in 1954 following the ruling of the US Supreme Court in Brown v. Broad of Education of Tokope, Harrisonburg was hesitant to proceed until receiving instruction from the Virginia Department of Education almost ten years later. The city gradually integrated the remaining students at Lucy F. Simms into the white schools in the area. After 33 years of operating as a black school, Lucy F. Simms School was closed. The Newtown lost an important center of the community.
Following its closing, Simms next to the school remained open with a basketball court, an athletic field, shelter, and playground. The Harrisonburg department of parks and recreation also used the former school for the Simms Recreation Center that held recreational events and facilities for the community. In the summer of 1996, Boys and Girls Club of America opened an after school and summer program for teenagers and youngsters at Simms. In 2004, Lucy F. Simms School was recognized on the National Register of Historic Places. The building became the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center a year later, which opened a space for after-school programs and offices. The structure has been added on, too, but the original part of the building still faces Simms Avenue. The original lockers, stage, and several classrooms remain as a reminder of the school’s significant past.
In 2005, Billo Harper, a former student of Lucy F. Simms School, released a documentary film titled, “The Legacy of Lucy F. Simms School, Education during Segregated Times in Virginia.” An exhibit titled Celebrating Simms opened in 2016 to showcase the history of African American education in Harrisonburg and the legacy of educator Lucy Frances Simms.
Located at 620 Simms Avenue, the new Simms School differed from Effinger Street School by offering high school, vocational, and college preparatory courses. The Lucy F. Simms School operated from 1938 to 1965. Through the years it was a social hub and community center for special events, gatherings and more for the Newtown neighborhood. Although desegregation began in 1954 following the ruling of the US Supreme Court in Brown v. Broad of Education of Tokope, Harrisonburg was hesitant to proceed until receiving instruction from the Virginia Department of Education almost ten years later. The city gradually integrated the remaining students at Lucy F. Simms into the white schools in the area. After 33 years of operating as a black school, Lucy F. Simms School was closed. The Newtown lost an important center of the community.
Following its closing, Simms next to the school remained open with a basketball court, an athletic field, shelter, and playground. The Harrisonburg department of parks and recreation also used the former school for the Simms Recreation Center that held recreational events and facilities for the community. In the summer of 1996, Boys and Girls Club of America opened an after school and summer program for teenagers and youngsters at Simms. In 2004, Lucy F. Simms School was recognized on the National Register of Historic Places. The building became the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center a year later, which opened a space for after-school programs and offices. The structure has been added on, too, but the original part of the building still faces Simms Avenue. The original lockers, stage, and several classrooms remain as a reminder of the school’s significant past.
In 2005, Billo Harper, a former student of Lucy F. Simms School, released a documentary film titled, “The Legacy of Lucy F. Simms School, Education during Segregated Times in Virginia.” An exhibit titled Celebrating Simms opened in 2016 to showcase the history of African American education in Harrisonburg and the legacy of educator Lucy Frances Simms.
