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.
The group served as consultants for the following community/social engineerring programs: Inner City Marine Program, Partners for Youth, The Miami Chapter National Junior Tennis League and Network, Inc.
The Simms Family moved to Miami during the fall of 1953 when Bob Simms (b. 1927) accepted the position of chair of the physical education department at George Washinton Carver, Jr. and Sr. High School. It ws during this time that he began to take pictures of various school events, organizations and individuals to serve as a visual documentation of a segregated school. He later served as the Executive Director of the Dade County Community Relations Bard, an organization created to mediate ethnic conflicts. Aubrey Watkins Simms (1924-2006) worked as the assistant to two University of Miami presidents, Henry King Stanford and Edward T. Toote II. She was very active in various community organizations and served on the board of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Mr. and Mrs. Simms' son David Michael Simms (b. 1954) is a radiologist and classical bassist. He played in the Albany Symphony Orchestra and the Berkshire Symphony while attending Williams College. Their daughter Leah A. Simms (b. 1949) became the first black woman to serve as judge in the history of Florida. She was appointed by Governor Bob Graham in 1981 and elected to the post in 1982.
The "Glory in the Grove" photographs depict the life of the students at the George Washington Carver schools form 1953 to 1965 during the time of segregation. When Bob Simms joined the Carver faculty as chairman of the physical education department in 1953, he started taking photographs of the students, athletics, and school and civic activities in an effort to document the life at a segregated school. Later, after school desegregation, these pictures served as a visual documentation of the rich traditions, successes and glories of this segregated school, the students and the community. On land donated by Coral Gables developer George Merrick in 1924, the Dade County Training School served black students from throughout the Miami area at the elementary and juniro high school levels. A student of george Washington Carver's and a graduate of the Tuskegee Institute, Mrs. Frances Tucker became principal of the school in 1929. In 1934, one high school class was added to the school each year, When Dr. Carver died in 1942, the school was renamed in his honor. Today the George Washington Carver Middle School is a magnet school in international education.
The Metro Dade County Commission created the Community Relations Board (CRB) in 1963 to be a unique community agency that would attempt to solve hardcore social problems and economic distresses that were troubling to many Dade County residents. It was to maintain a progressive environment conductive to the equal pursuits of happiness and quality of life by all County residents. The CRB's function the time was to develop mutual understanding, tolerance, and respect among all economic, social, and religious and ethnic groups in Dade County and to make studies in the field of human relations. Bob Simms became the Deputy Director in January 1967. He was promoted to Executive Director in April 1968 by Senator Harry P. Cain, Chairman, and remained in that post until retirement on September 30, 1983.
In the late 1960s the Department of Defense conducted a study to determine the causes of racial unrest in the Armed Forces. As a direct result of that study, the Defense Race Relations Institute (DRRI) was established on June 24, 1971 by Deputy Secretary of Defense David Packard. This institute was located at the Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The DRRI's primary objective was to reduce racial tension and prevent violence in the armed forces. The students in the Institute represented a broad cross section of American ethnic backgrounds and every branch of the service. The Institute provided a comprehensive 6 week program that included a 50-hour experiential workshop. This workshop was developed by Bob Simms and his company, Robert H. Simms & Associates. The experiential workshop became known as the Miami Inner-City Minority Experience (MICME) and was conducted from 1972 to 1976. MICME was based on the DRRI's curriculum and theories learned, and an authentic, hands-on experience that began on a Friday afternoon and concluded two days later.
This program served as the forerunner of the Mast Academy, Dade County Public Schools new Marine High School and brought together the resources of the Marine industry to enhance the quality of marine education for inner city youth. - Bob Simms
Judge Leah A. Simms, the daughter of Aubrey Watkins Simms and Bob Simms, was the first African-American woman to serve as judge in the state of Florida from 1981 to 1986. Prior to her election, she was the first African-American woman to serve as Assistant State Attorney in Miami Dade County from 1980 to 1981. From 1960 to 1962, she was the first African-Amercian student at Robert E. Lee Junior High School in Miami after desegregation.
