Alice Carter Simmons

Alice Carter Simmons (March 1883 – March 30, 1943) was an American pianist, organist, and music educator. She was the founding secretary of the National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM), and was head of the instrumental music program at Tuskegee Institute beginning in 1916; she also taught at Fisk University.

Alice Carter Simmons
Alice Carter Simmons, from a 1925 issue of The Crisis
Born	March 1883 Hollandale, Mississippi, US
Died	March 30, 1943 (aged 60) New York, New York, US
Occupation(s)	Musician, music educator
Relatives	Booker T. Washington (uncle) Margaret Murray Washington (aunt) Roscoe Simmons (brother)

Early life and education

Simmons was born in Hollandale, Mississippi, the daughter of Emory Peter Simmons and Willie Murray Simmons. Her father, born under slavery, was a school principal.^[1][2] Her aunt Margaret Murray Washington was the third wife of Booker T. Washington. Her brother was journalist and lecturer Roscoe Simmons.^[3][4][5]

Simmons completed teacher training at Tuskegee Institute in 1903,^[6] graduated from Fisk University in 1908,^[7][8][9] and pursued further training as a pianist at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1908 and 1909,^[10] completing a Bachelor of Music degree in 1930.^[11] In the late 1930s, she was working on a master's degree at Columbia University.^[2]

Career

 

The newly-elected officers of the National Association of Negro Musicians in 1925; standing, from left, Camille Nickerson, Henry Grant, Lillian Lemon, J. Wesley Jones, Lillian Carpenter, Adelaide Herriot; seated, from left, Mildred Bryant Jones, Carl Rossini Diton, Alice Carter Simmons, Robert Nathaniel Dett, Martha Broadus Anderson, and Clarence Cameron White.

In 1910, Simmons played the first-night concert to open the Morton Theatre in Athens, Georgia.^[10] From 1910 to 1911, she was on the faculty of the Elizabeth City State Teachers College in North Carolina.^[12] In 1916, she became head of the division of instrumental music at Tuskegee Institute.^[7][13] One of her Tuskegee students was composer William L. Dawson.^[3][14] She accompanied singer Cleota Collins and violinists Clarence Cameron White and H. Harrison Ferrell in concerts at Tuskegee.^[15][16][17]

She was founding secretary of the National Association of Negro Musicians, when it organized in 1919.^[18][19] In 1931, she helped organize a choir competition at Fisk University.^[20] She became secretary-treasurer of NANM in 1922,^[21] remained on the board through the mid-1920s,^[22][23] and was active at the organization's national conventions into the 1930s.^[24][25]

In her last years, she was director of Club Caroline, a residence for Black working women in New York City.^[26]

Personal life

Alice Carter Simmons died from complications after surgery in 1943, aged 60 years, at a hospital in New York City.^[26] In 1944, the Los Angeles chapter of the NANM held a memorial concert for Simmons and her colleagues Robert Nathaniel Dett and Maude Roberts George. Naida McCullough was one of the musicians featured.^[27]

References

1. "What Makes a Good Teacher". The Delta Democrat-Times. 1949-10-09. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Celebration for Prof. Simmons Ends Yesterday". The Delta Democrat-Times. 1937-10-20. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Wyatt, Lucius R. (Fall 1985). "Composers Corner: William L. Dawson at 85". Black Music Research Newsletter: 7.
4. Roscoe Conkling Simmons Sr. Family Papers, Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History.
5. "Patriotic Program". The Leaf-Chronicle. 1948-02-10. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Annual Commencement of Washington's School". The Montgomery Advertiser. 1903-05-29. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Washington, Booker T.; Harlan, Louis R. (1980). Booker T. Washington Papers Volume 9: 1906-8. Assistant Editor, Nan E. Woodruff. University of Illinois Press. p. 428. ISBN 978-0-252-00771-2.
8. "Splendid Organ Recital at Fisk". Nashville Banner. 1908-06-12. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Miss Simmons' Recital at Blind School". The Nashville Globe. 1907-05-10. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Centennial". Morton Theatre. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
11. Baumann, Roland M. (2014-07-31). Constructing Black Education at Oberlin College: A Documentary History. Ohio University Press. pp. Chapter 3, note 13. ISBN 978-0-8214-4363-7.
12. Elizabeth City State Normal School (1909). Elizabeth City State Teachers College Catalog. Elizabeth City State University G. R. Little Library. Elizabeth City, N.C.: Elizabeth City State Normal School.
13. "Miss Simmons Does Good Work at Tuskegee". Fisk University News. 11: 31. March 1921.
14. Hare, Maud Cuney (1936). Negro Musicians and their Music. Washington, D.C.: Associated Publishers.
15. White, Lucien H. (February 26, 1921). "In the Realm of Music". The New York Age. p. 5. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "Tuskegee Institute Notes". The New York Age. 1919-07-26. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
17. "Violinist at Tuskegee". The New York Age. 1924-05-10. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
18. "Notes". New Music Review. 18: 345. November 1919.
19. White, Lucien H. (1920-12-18). "Meeting of Nat'l Assn. of Musicians Causes Conflict". The New York Age. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
20. "Negro Choruses Compete at Fisk". Nashville Banner. 1931-04-23. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
21. White, Lucien H. (1922-08-19). "Some Reflections on Recent Meeting of the N. A. N. M." The New York Age. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
22. "Musicians Coming to City for Convention". The Indianapolis News. 1925-07-25. p. 31. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
23. White, Lucien H. (1927-09-10). "Carl Diton of Philadelphia Retained as President of National Association of Negro Musicians at St. Louis Meet". The New York Age. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
24. "Negro Musicians to Open Convention with Big Mass Meeting Here Today". The Knoxville Journal. 1932-08-21. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
25. "Musicians' Ass'n to Meet in Naptown". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1933-08-12. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-02-14 – via Newspapers.com.
26. "Col. Simmons Sister Dies in New York". The Chicago Defender. April 10, 1943. p. 8 – via ProQuest.
27. "Local Musicians Plan Memorial for National Officers". The California Eagle. February 17, 1944. p. 3. Retrieved February 14, 2021 – via Internet Archive.