Lucy Francis Simms
The historic career of Lucy Simms, a former slave who taught over 1,800 students to read and write against all odds
Many in the Harrisonburg community had wondered why one of the most influential educators, Lucy Francis Simms, did not set her ambitions to profit from her skill as a teacher in the late 1800s. Perhaps, the footprints she left after her death in 1934 attest to her selfless devotion to educating children even in segregated schools….
