General University Organizations. Simmons Art Museum Records
Thomas Jackson Simmons, Wake Forest alumnus (1883), established the Simmons Art Museum on June 2, 1941, on the Wake Forest College campus in Wake Forest, N.C. Materials in this collection include a formal letter written by Governor J. Melville Broughton, the museum's annual reports, museum catalogs, and a visitor's register. The museum became the WFU Simmons Collection, part of the University Art Collections.
Biographical and Historical Note
Thomas Jackson Simmons was born on April 18, 1864, to William Gaston and Mary Elizabeth Foote Simmons, one of seven children. William Gaston Simmons, a Wake Forest alumnus (1852) held a number of positions at Wake Forest College, including professor of mathematics, natural science, and chemistry, and bursar and treasurer. Thomas earned an M.A. from Wake Forest College in 1883 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Sister Evabelle Simmons was the first woman graduate of Wake Forest College in 1888, receiving a diploma in 1890. Simmons became a teacher working in high schools, a public schools superintendent, and then president of several institutions of higher education: Union Female College in Eufaula, Alabama (1893-1898), Shorter College in Rome, Georgia (1898-1910), and Brenau College in Gainesville, Georgia (1910-1941). He was married to Lessie Muse Southgate Simmons (1863-1914). Simmons died on March 17, 1942.
Simmons established the Simmons Art Museum in Wake Forest, N.C. The museum's opening took place on June 2, 1941, and was attended by Governor J. Melville Broughton (1910) who also accepted Simmons' donation on behalf of the College. A list of the artworks, along with descriptions of some, was included in the May 1941 copy of Wake Forest College Alumni News. First homed in the Johnson Memorial Medical Building, the Simmons Art Museum became the Simmons Collection, part of the University Art Collections.
Sources:
- "Funeral Held For Simmons, Picture Donor." Old Gold and Black. 1942 March 20.
- "Simmons Collection." WFU University Art Collections. Accessed online at https://artcollections.wfu.edu/collections/simmons-collection/
Collection Overview
This collection contains a letter written by Governor Joseph Melville Broughton who formally accepted the invitation to the opening ceremony of Dr. T. J. Simmons' art museum, annual reports including the hours and number of visitors, catalogs, and a visitor's register listing out the names and addresses of each individual that visited from 1941-1957.
Administrative Information
- Publication Information
- Processed by Kainat Tariq, 2021 September
- Revision Description
- Revised by Meg Campbell, materials added, 2024 April
- Access Restrictions
- Collection is open for researchers.
- Copyright Notice
- The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
- Preferred Citation
- General University Organizations. Simmons Art Museum Records (RG13.6), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.