Columbia in Richland County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Modjeska Simkins House

Photographed By Mike Stroud, September 19, 2010

1. Modjeska Simkins House Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

This house was for sixty years the home of Modjeska Monteith Simkins (1899-1992), social reformer and civil rights activist. A Columbia native, she was educated at Benedict College, then taught high school. Director of Negro Work for the S.C. Anti-tuberculosis Association 1931-1942, Simkins was the first black in S.C. to hold a full-time, statewide, public health position.

Simkins was a founder of the S.C. Conference of the National Asssociation for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). As the secretary of the conference 1941-1957, Simkins hosted many meetings and planning sessions here, for cases such as Brown v. Board of Education. In 1997 the house was acquired by the Collaborative for Community Trust; it was transferred to the Historic Columbia Foundation in 2007.

Erected 2008 by The Historic Columbia Foundation, the City of Columbia, and SC Department of Transportation. (Marker Number 40-148.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights

Modjeska Simkins House Marker, reverse side image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, September 19, 2010

2. Modjeska Simkins House Marker, reverse side

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• Education. In addition, it is included in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1997.

Location. 34° 0.842′ N, 81° 2.139′ W. Marker is in Columbia, South Carolina, in Richland County. Marker is on Marion Street, on the right when traveling south. Located between Elmwood Avenue (US 76) and Calhoun Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2025 Marion Street, Columbia SC 29201, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. South Carolina State Hospital (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); South Carolina State Hospital, Mills Building (about 800 feet away); Mann-Simons Cottage (approx. 0.2 miles away); Elmwood Avenue (approx. 0.2 miles away); Ebenezer Lutheran Church (approx. 0.2 miles away); Pieces of the Past (approx. ¼ mile away); Richland Street (approx. ¼ mile away); An Enduring Landmark (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Columbia.

Regarding Modjeska Simkins House. The Modjeska Monteith Simkins house is significant for its association with the life and work of Modjeska Monteith Simkins, a leader in African American public health reform and the civil rights movement in South Carolina from 1931 to her death in 1992 and for

Photographed By Mike Stroud, September 19, 2010

3. Modjeska Simkins House Marker

National Register of Historic Places: Simkins, Modjeska Monteith, House ** (added 1994 - Building - #94000263) • Historic Significance: Person, Event • Historic Person: Simkins, Modjeska Monteith • Period of Significance: 1925-1949, 1950-1974 •

its association with the civil rights movement. Although the property is over ninety years old, it achieved exceptional significance within the last fifty years as the home and work place of Simkins during the period of significance from 1932 to 1965. Throughout her career, Simkins used the house as a residence, lodging for civil rights associates, an office, and a meeting place. Guests of Simkins, including Thurgood Marshall, stayed in her house when hotels in the city were closed to African Americans. The house also became the target of a shooting by those opposed to the work of Simkins and other civil rights leaders. The house is a one-and-one-half-story, wood frame, vernacular dwelling with an L-shaped plan, side gabled roof, and a front porch. Although oral tradition indicates a date of construction as early as the 1850s, the house and the smaller similar structure behind it were probably built between 1895 and 1919. Listed in the National Register March 25, 1994.(South Carolina Department of Archives and History)

Also see . . . Modjeska Monteith Simkins House, Wikipedia entry. Although an oral tradition indicates that the house was built before the Civil War, it is likely constructed ca. 1900. The Simkins family moved into the house in 1932. (Submitted on September 21, 2010, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.)

Modjeska Simkins House and Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, September 19, 2010

4. Modjeska Simkins House and Marker

Modjeska Simkins House Marker seen looking south along Marion Street image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, September 19, 2010

5. Modjeska Simkins House Marker seen looking south along Marion Street

Modjeska Simkins House image. Click for full size.

South Carolina Department of Archives and History, circa 1994

6. Modjeska Simkins House

South Carolina Department of Archives and History, circa 1994

7. Modjeska Simkins House Marker

Modjeska Simkins image. Click for full size.

the Modjeska Monteith Simkins Papers, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina

8. Modjeska Simkins

Credits. This page was last revised on August 5, 2021. It was originally submitted on September 21, 2010, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 885 times since then and 29 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. submitted on September 21, 2010, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.