Identity elements
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
Bob Simms collection
Date(s)
- 1907-2006 (Creation)
Extent
107 Boxes
Name of creator
Biographical history
Bob Simms was born in Snow Hill, Alabama in 1927. Shortly after his birth, Bob Simms' parents Alberta (1888-1970) and Harry Simms (1884-1949) relocated to the community of Tuskegee, Alabama, as members of the music faculty. Harry Simms was one of Dr. Washington Carver's students in the class of 1907 and often took his youngest son Bob with him on visits to Dr. Carver's home.
Bob Simms moved to Florida in 1953 to join the faculty of the George Washington Carver schools in Coconut Grove and later served as Executive Director of the Metro Dade Community Relations Board from 1968 to 1983. Mr. Simms developed the Miami Inner-City Minority Experience (MICME) for the U.S. Department of Defense in the 1970s and led efforts to create and implement the Inner City Marine Project - now known as Mast Academy. With his wife Aubrey Watkins Simms, he was a founding member of the Church of the Open Door in Liberty City and is the father if the first black woman to serve as judge in Florida, Leah Simms. Mr. Simms is Emeritus Member of the University of Miami, Board of Trustees.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The Bob Simms collection documents the life and activities of Robert H. Simms in the black communities in Coconut Grove and Miami and reflects his work with the Community Relations Board and the Defense Race Relations Institute. The collection also contains campaign materials from Leah Simms, the first African American female judge in the state of Florida, and the "Glory in the Grove" photographs of people and events at the George Washington Carver elementary and high schools in Coconut Grove before desegregation. A final component of the collection includes photographs, correspondence and clippings of General "Chappie" James and his family. General James was the first four star African American General and married Dorothy Watkins.
System of arrangement
Series I. Simms Family
Sub-series A. Photographs
Sub-series B. Correspondence and other documents
Sub-series C. Audio Recordings
Series II. George Washington Carver School Photographs and Yearbooks
Series III. Community Relations Board
Series IV. Miami Inner City Minority Experience / Defense Race Relations Institute
Series V. Minority Inner City Marine Project
Sub-series A. Photographs
Sub-series B. Correspondence
Series VI. Bob Simms Daily Logs
Series VII. Judge Leah A. Simms Campaign Material
Series VIII. General "Chappie" James and family
Series IX. Negatives
Series X. Awards & Exhibits
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
This collection is open for research.
Physical access
Items from this collection are kept on-campus and may be requested from the first floor Kislak Center in the Otto G. Richter Library at University of Miami.
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Bob Simms collection Finding Aid © 2009 University of Miami. Requests to reproduce or publish materials from this collection should be directed to asc.library@miami.edu.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Generated finding aid
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Gift of Robert H. Simms, 2007.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Selected materials from this collection have been digitized.
https://digitalcollections.library.miami.edu/digital/collection/asm0650
Related archival materials
Bob Simms : An Activist's Life and Legacy (online exhibit): http://scholar.library.miami.edu/bobsimms/
Related descriptions
Notes element
General note
Other Information:
The attached container list is specific to "Series 9: Negatives." It is an inventory of the negative file for Bob Simms' photographic collection and features people, organizations, activities and events from Coconut Grove, South Miami and Richmond Heights from 1953 to 1964.
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Sources used
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Metropolitan Dade County (Fla.). Community Relations Board (Subject)
- Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. (Subject)
- Tuskegee Institute (Subject)
- Tuskegee University (Subject)
- Tuskegee University. General Chappie James Center for Aerospace Science and Health Education (Subject)
- James, Daniel, 1920-1978 (Subject)
Genre access points
- Appointment books
- Sound recordings » Audiocassettes
- Sound recordings » Audiotapes
- Audiovisual materials
- Negatives (photographs)
- Photographs
- Slides (Photographs)
- Video recordings (physical artifacts) » Videocassettes
- Sound recordings
- Sound recordings » Audiotapes » Open reel audiotapes
- Video recordings (physical artifacts) » Videocassettes » U-matic
- Video recordings (physical artifacts)
- Video recordings (physical artifacts) » Videocassettes » VHS
- Sound recordings » CD-Rs