Muriel Simms
I was born and raised in Madison. After living near campus. I moved to the Eastside, Southside, and then the Northside in 1997. The Northside was quiet, had access to shops and services, and was close to Black Hawk Middle School where I was assigned Assistant Principal. A few neighbors and I co-founded the Friends of Cherokee Marsh. A neighbor and I sought a petition from others in the Cherokee neighborhood asking the city to purchase the vacant land on the corner of Wheeler Road and Comanche Way. The city bought this open space so that people and animals can play.
I think my degree in English and social studies lead me to enter the world of writing about educational and social issues. I wrote articles about student math engagement, developing cultural curriculums, and Native American leadership. I wrote the book Settlin: Madison’s Early African American Families for the wider community because Madison’s early African Americans were passing away. Their stories would never be told. However, I knew that their descendants had memories. Their interviews became my oral histories.
I wrote a brief history of African American settlement in Madison circa the 1800s. I told a few race-related incidents, such as the Ku Klux Klan’s march through the Greenbush neighborhood in 1924, and that musicians Duke Ellington and Bobby Strayhorn and other Blacks were forbidden to stay at hotels, so Black people hosted them. However, the contents of the book became less about race and more about family, a robust Black community, church, leadership, education, humorous times, and music. The book cleared up a myth. Blacks lived throughout Madison, not just in South Madison which the wider community believed. I learned that all ethnic groups of the 20s, 30s and 40s were working class and had the same problems. I learned that Blacks owned 14 businesses, 9 entered the military, several became sports heroes, and Blacks formed 18 social organizations. I interviewed a life-long Italian who talked about how Italians and Jews stood up for Blacks when they saw Blacks harassed. A former Caucasian real estate agent discussed how agents used a manual to discriminate against Blacks in housing. She became an advocate mitigating these discriminating practices by starting a registry listing areas and homes where Blacks could live in Madison. After the book was published, I gave several presentations. I was surprised to see how my people attended, and how many small groups of interested citizens requested me to speak. What an honor.
Even though I am a proud Purgolder, I am also proud that I am a 1992 National Distinguished Principal awardee. Yea East for my educational foundation!
