Muriel Simms

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Judith Davidoff

Seeking a better life, David Simms moved his wife and children from Missouri to Madison in 1934. His youngest daughter, Muriel, was born and raised in Madison. Muriel grew up knowing the important contributions Madison’s black pioneers made to the city — contributions that were often not acknowledged in the papers or history books. In 2003, she decided it was time to take down the stories she could. Her collection of oral histories — Settlin’: Stories of Madison’s Early African American Families — was recently published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.

press release:

Muriel Simms is a lifelong Madison resident and longtime educator in the Madison Metropolitan School District. She received her doctorate from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2002 and serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership at Edgewood College. She has published articles in several education journals, including Elementary School Journal, Urban Education, and Democracy & Education, and has presented her research at two educational conferences, the American Education Research Association and the University Council for Education Administration Symposium. Simms served on boards for the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute, the Friends of Cherokee Marsh, the Community Development Block Grant Review Team, Volunteers in Probation, the Brams Addition Neighborhood Association, University of Wisconsin’s College Access Program, the South Madison Planning Committee, Madison’s Early Childhood Care and Education Committee, and the NAACP Madison Chapter. She has received several awards for her professional duties and community service, including the Martin L. King Jr. Appreciation Award, NAACP’s Unsung Heroine Award, 2012 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award from the Urban League of Greater Madison, and a “Muriel Simms Day” proclamation from the city of Madison. She was also named Wisconsin Elementary Principal of the Year in 1992 by the Wisconsin Association of Elementary School Principals and the Wisconsin and National School Board Associations. In 2003, she became interested in writing a book on Madison’s pioneer African American families by interviewing the descendants of these early settlers. She golfs, creates folksy art, and collects African American dolls and stamps.