C. O. Simpkins Sr.

Simpkins was born in Mansfield, Louisiana in DeSoto Parish south of Shreveport, the son of Oscar Seymour Simpkins, also a dentist, and the former Olivia Gardner, a public school teacher. He had one sister, Marguerite Simpkins-Call.[2] He was born at a time when the separation of the white and black Americans known as segregation was the law or de facto law in the United States. Black people in the United States were subjected to acts of terrorism and cruelty carried out with impunity, economic deprivation and exploitation. When he was a child, Simpkins witnessed a white policeman shoot an unarmed black man, who was not a threat to the officer, in the head. On his way to Sunday school one day, he saw a white man beat a black man with a bullwhip because the black man owed him five dollars.[3]

The Simpkins family owned some of the most coveted land in Mansfield. When a group of white men threatened to take the land by force, Simpkins' paternal grandfather, Oscar Seymour (Seeb) Simpkins', response was to defend his land with his guns and to say to the white friend who told him the men were coming, "Tell them to hurry up. Because I'm damn tired of waiting". The men never came, and the Simpkins kept their land. The Simpkins' earliest ancestry in the United States can be traced back to Oliver Borneo Simpkins I, who was born free in 1760 Boston and who died in 1831.

Under segregation Simpkins was not allowed to attend schools that were reserved for white people. He was educated at three historically black institutions: Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, and Tennessee State University and Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry in Nashville.[2] At Wiley College he was deeply influenced by a Professor Watson in the Department of Anthropology who taught pride in African ancestry based on scientific evidence. This countered the disparagement of the African-American people that is embedded in the culture of the United States. He was inducted into Sigma Pi Phi and Alpha Phi Alpha, the first African-American Greek-letter social fraternity. He met his first wife, Dorothy Herndon, while he attended Meharry; she was an undergraduate student at nearby Tennessee State University. Both were influenced by Hugh and Mabel Smythe a married couple who were faculty at Tennessee State; they opposed segregation and fought for the freedom of African-American people. Simpkins was drafted into the United States Air Force during the Korean War. He was stationed at the former Sampson Air Force Base in the Finger Lakes section of upstate New York. Initially the Simpkins were denied housing on base because of their race in spite of executive order 9981 issued by President Truman in 1948 that abolished discrimination “on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin in the United States Armed Forces”. Because of racism among the majority population in the upstate New York area the Simpkins could only find housing, owned by an African-American woman. This required that Simpkins drive 60 miles in sometimes harsh and dangerous weather to get to work and back home each day. Unwilling to accept this situation Simpkins, went to Washington, DC to meet with President Truman and tell him that if he and his family were not given housing on the base like other officers he was going to take his family back to Louisiana. Simpkins did not meet with Truman. Instead he met with a representative of the President who told him that he would receive the housing. On his return he and his family moved into housing on the base. However, Simpkins still faced opposition at Sampson. Simpkins entered the Air Force as a lieutenant. Early in his tenure at Sampson a white private refused to salute him. Simpkins took out his pistol and immediately put him under arrest. The private was punished and saluted him after that. When Simpkins brought his son to get a haircut, the white barber refused to cut their hair. Simpkins ordered him to cut their hair and the barber obeyed the order. Later when Simpkins returned for a haircut the barber pointed to a black barber and told Simpkins that the black barber would cut his hair. Simpkins told the white barber, “You are my barber and ordered him to cut his hair again and the white barber complied. Simpkins worked in the dental clinic on the base. Prior to being drafted he had practiced with his father who had taught him aspects of dentistry that enhanced the excellent dental school training he had received at Meharry. Simpkins was eagerly sought after by the high-ranking officers on the base and their relatives because of education. Simpkins also treated more patients at the clinic than the other dentists. This attention incurred opposition. An allegation was made that although Simpkins did more cases his work was inferior. After this allegation Simpkins was removed from practice and given a desk job. Shortly after his removal an investigation was conducted. The committee found that not only did Simpkins do more cases his work was also superior to that of the other dentists. Simpkins was restored to his work as a dentist seeing patients. Simpkins' performance of dentistry at the highest level regardless of the obstacles reverberated with what his father, Oscar Simpkins had told him, “I’m with you. If you be a bootlegger make the best whiskey, be a preacher preach the best sermon, be a dentist be the best dentist.”[4] Possibly due to the stress to which he was subjected, Simpkins developed abdominal pain. Military physicians performed gastroscopy and told Simpkins that they found stomach cancer and it had to be surgically removed. Because of the hostility he had encountered Simpkins did not trust the military physicians. He was especially concerned about the physician who would have been giving him anesthesia. Simpkins knew that this physician hated African-Americans. Simpkins told family members how he prayed to God about the surgery and decided not to have it. The diagnosis must have been incorrect since had it been stomach cancer he would have succumbed to it long ago. The commander of the base was angered by the acquisition of housing by Simpkins on the base. Simpkins had requested a transfer to California which had been granted. However, the orders were altered so that he would be sent to Manila in the Philippines where the Hukbalahap rebellion was raging and he would be exposed to considerable danger. He was able to find out what the authentic orders were. This resulted in his not being transferred anywhere and completing his military obligation at Sampson. He was promoted to captain and honorably discharged in 1951 and returned to Shreveport to practice dentistry.[2]

Upon his return to Shreveport Simpkins rejoined his father in dental practice. They shared a building on the corner of Milam and Pierre Avenue. Later Simpkins set up his own practice on Gary Street. In 1954 he ran for a seat on the Caddo Parish School Board. He was the first African-American to run for office in Shreveport since the 19th century when a wave of terror carried out by racist organizations such as the White League[5] followed by a new state constitution passed in 1898 resulted in the disenfranchisement of the state’s African-American population. Simpkins’ comment on this race was, “I was defeated, but the election showed me two or three different things, it showed, one, that white people as well as Negroes would vote for a qualified person. Number two, it showed me the need for more Negroes, more registered voters”[6] Simpkins became the president of a local Shreveport based civil rights organization, The United Christian Movement. This organization was formed after the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was outlawed in Louisiana. The United Christian Movement consisted of several Shreveport ministers. Simpkins was one of few lay persons. He focused this organization on voter registration reasoning that if African-Americans could gain the right to vote they could influence the political structure to enact policies that would enable them to have all of the rights and opportunities that were enjoyed by other Americans. The United Christian Movement also addressed other areas of oppression such as the exclusion of African-Americans from the trade school. Dorothy Simpkins applied. The reason given for her rejection was that she was over qualified. In 1960 Simpkins’ wrote to Dr. W.E.B. Dubois requesting advice on how they should proceed.[7]

In 1960, Simpkins was among the founders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a personal friend of Martin Luther King from 1958 until his assassination in 1968. He initially met King when the civil rights figure was speaking in Chicago, Illinois. Simpkins invited King to speak in Shreveport. Many churches were afraid to host Reverend King for fear that they would be bombed and would not allow the speech to take place in their church. However, the pastor at Galilee Baptist Church told Simpkins that, “If they bomb our church God will give us another one” and he welcomed Reverend King to his pulpit. The church was full in spite of police harassment. In this speech Reverend King gave Simpkins recognition for his dedication and the role he played in the struggle for freedom of the African-American people. Simpkins kept the speech on his tape recorder and with the collaboration of Shreveport historian Eric Brock the speech was recorded onto a CD in 2011. Simpkins recalled that: "People often think he first used 'Free at last' in the 'I Have a Dream' speech. But he used it first right here in Shreveport. To me, that was his best speech ever, and I told him that."[8]

Voting.[9]

Simpkins and his wife Dorothy were partners in the civil rights struggle. In Louisiana it was against the law for African-Americans to sit on the front of the trolley. In the late 1950s Mrs. Simpkins and her son, Cuthbert Simpkins, were sitting in a seat in the front section. In the back the rest of the boy scouts she had taken on a field trip were seated. At the insistence of a white women who was seated next to Mrs. Simpkins the bus driver stopped the trolley and called the police. Within minutes the chief of police, Harvey Teasley, accompanied by 3-4 other policemen got on the bus and began threatening Mrs. Simpkins and her son. Both remained silent. Mrs. Simpkins and her son were removed from the bus by the police and she was arrested. Dr. William Edgar Hicks, a local African-American physician who owned a cab company sent all of his cabs to take the boys home. Mrs. Simpkins did this in order to keep the police from humiliating the boys. Simpkins also was arrested after he told some black youth that they had a right to use the main public library and encouraged them to do so. When the boys attempted to use the library, they were beaten and Simpkins was arrested. At the police station the mayor and the police chief met with him. They told him that if he stopped his struggle for civil rights they would let him and his family use any public facilities that white people used. He refused to do this and he was left alone in the room with a police officer who told him “You are f___in up my life.” Simpkins replied “You are f___in up my life.” Then the police officer said to Simpkins “I ought to blow your goddamn brains out.” Simpkins said nothing. But he had a gun that looked like a pen with one bullet in it. Had the police officer tried to harm him he was going to shoot him. Nothing further occurred and Simpkins was released. However, on another occasion three police cars surrounded Simpkins' car as he was driving home one night. He knew they were going to assassinate him. He pulled out his German Luger and said he was taking as many of them with him as he could. There was a standoff and the police dispersed. Simpkins stated later that “Nonviolent tactics sometimes worked better when you were carrying a gun.”[10]

At the height of the civil rights movement a new family home Simpkins was building was bombed and another home on nearby Lake Bistineau was bombed and burned. He was placed on a "death list" by white-supremacist organizations. He and his family left secretly and flew to New York because he could not obtain malpractice insurance or insurance on his properties, and he feared for the safety of his family and that of the African-American community. Given the acquiescence and sometimes participation of the police force and the legal system in these acts of terror there was no significant option available to stop the violence against the African-American community. Other homes and institutions were bombed and African-Americans were being arrested for frivolous reasons and beaten. Simpkins and his wife, Dorothy, felt that if they left the attacks might be lessened and the community would not suffer as much. The family went initially to Chicago where they stayed with Mrs. Simpkins' mother, Ida Mae Herndon. Simpkins attempted to find employment in a factory that made car head lights. When he came to his interview he was told the factory did not hire African-Americans. He also met with Robert Kennedy who offered him a position as a Peace Corp Director in Gabon or Peru. Simpkins initially accepted the offer. But the process was delayed after Louisiana Senator Ellender, a rabid segregationist, falsely alleged that Simpkins was a Communist. Simpkins would joke that when asked by government officials if he were a Communist he would answer “The only Russian I know is Jimmy Rushing.” Simpkins loved blues and jazz and Jimmy Rushing was one of his favorite blues singers. In addition, Simpkins and his wife Dorothy began having second thoughts about taking a Peace Corp position because it would require that their children attend schools that were far away from them. While the Peace Corp process dragged on Governor Nelson Rockefeller met with Simpkins and encouraged him to settle in New York. Simpkins took the state dental exam and passed it. Then he searched for a home in New York accompanied by individuals sent by Rockefeller to assist him. Simpkins purchased a home in Hollis Queens, New York City and moved his family there. He established a dental practice close to his home on Hollis Avenue and continued his advocacy for civil rights. In New York he met and became a supporter of Malcolm X. He also demanded that African-Americans be employed in the construction of Kennedy airport. In the mid-1960s Simpkins became chairman of the Jamaica Community Corporation a city entity charged with advocating for the interests of the local community. As president of the Jamaica Community Corporation he was the leading force among those who helped bring forth York College of the City University of New York, located in Jamaica in the Queens borough of New York City. York College now enrolls more than 8,000 students on a modern 50-acre campus. After twenty-six years in New York, he returned to Shreveport.[11] In 1990, approximately 13 years after the main public library in Shreveport began allowing African-Americans to use it, Simpkins entered the political arena by running in the Shreveport Mayor’s race. Among of the policies he ran on were bringing black and white people together, the creation of a University of Shreveport, the building of a “strong, well-trained well-equipped police department and making Shreveport a haven for retirees. He led with 31 percent of the vote in the multi-candidate nonpartisan blanket primary for mayor of Shreveport.[2] However, he was defeated in a runoff election held on November 6 by the Republican Hazel Beard, 38,604 (59.4 percent) to 26,341 (40.6 percent).[12] Initially on the day of the runoff it appeared that Simpkins might win. The newscasters of at least one local TV station broke through a façade of professionalism and nervously urged white people to vote because “...it looks like he is winning.”

Two years later, Simpkins assumed the state House seat for a single term. The district was formerly held briefly by a Republican, Tommy Armstrong. Because of redistricting, Armstrong did not run for the House but instead failed in a bid for the Louisiana State Senate. Simpkins brought much benefit to his district. One example was the construction of a much-needed main road that had been languishing in the legislature for many years. Simpkins also saw a need for a medical clinic in his district. He was able to get legislation passed to fund it. However, another legislator manipulated the system so that the funds never got to be used. Simpkins circumvented this roadblock by buying land for the clinic. He then went to the CEO of Willis-Knighton Health System James Elrod and asked him if her would put a clinic in his district if he donated the land. Elrod agreed and the clinic was built in spite of the obstructionism. This clinic is now named Simpkins Community Health and Education Center. Simpkins did not run again in 1995 and was succeeded by another African-American Democrat, Cedric Glover, who eleven years later was elected mayor of Shreveport, the first black in that position.[13] After his House tenure, Simpkins was a co-chairman of the Shreveport Airport Authority.[13]

His marriage to Dorothy Herndon (February 1926 – September 27, 2015) ended in divorce after their relocation to New York. She worked as a social worker and as a computer programmer after the divorce. She was born in Brinkley, Arkansas and was raised in Chicago. Dorothy Simpkins' services were held at the Central Free Methodist Church in Shreveport on October 6, 2015. Another funeral service was held for her in Chicago and she was interred at Burr Oak Cemetery in the Chicago suburb of Aslip, next to her mother, Ida Mae Pettus Lomax Herndon, who died in 1967.[14] While in Shreveport working with the United Christian Movement Mrs. Simpkins edited and distributed the organization’s newsletter “Freedom”, taught voter registration classes and led active voter drives. She was the adult advisor to the youth branch of The United Christian Movement.

Simpkins had six children, Glenda Ganier, a teacher, of Prampram, Ghana, West Africa, Cuthbert Simpkins, of Shreveport, Louisiana, Deborah Simpkins-Savage, a linguist and translator, of California; Eric Simpkins, an IT program manager from the Washington D.C. area; Cheri Simpkins-Gardner, a District Court Judge from Maryland, and Alicia Richens, an artist of Las Cruces, New Mexico. His fifth wife was the former Elaine Joyce Shoemaker, also a Shreveport Democrat and a biochemist.[15]

Simpkins was long active in the National Dental Association and other dental organizations. The National Dental Association is an organization organized by African-American dentists in response to their exclusion from membership in the American Dental Association. Simpkins served as the Chairman of the Committee on Civil Rights of the National Dental Association.[16] While chairman he led the struggle to change the policy of the American Dental Association that excluded African-American members. By the mid-1960s African-Americans were allowed membership. Simpkins retired from his practice in 2011. He remained involved in black community affairs and inspired many younger individuals of all ethnic groups to join the struggle for justice. In the latter part of his life he spoke often of the importance of love for all mankind. Simpkins died on December 4, 2019, at the age of 94.[17]