Historical Marker for Dr. Ellamae Simmons
Tax deductible
We're raising funds as a community to pay for a historical marker on Mount Vernon's Public Square, recognizing Mount Vernon native, Dr. Ellamae Simmons!
Ellamae Simmons earned her bachelor’s in nursing from Hampton University in Virginia in 1940 before serving her country as an U.S. Army nurse. After the war, she enrolled at Ohio State University as a pre-med major on the G.I. Bill, and graduated from Howard University with her medical degree in 1959.
At every turn, Dr. Simmons blazed a trail of excellence for others to follow. The first black woman physician to specialize in asthma, allergy, and immunology in the country, she also posted a raft of other firsts, including being one of eight army nurses chosen to integrate the US armed forces during World War II. She subsequently became the first black woman to live in the dorms at Ohio State, and the first black woman to join Kaiser Foundation Hospital’s medical staff, where she would also help found the Kaiser African American Professional Association, or KAAPA.
In 1967, she purchased a home in San Francisco’s exclusive Presidio Heights, effectively integrating the neighborhood. Soon after, she became a leader in the Bay Area’s Mutual Real Estate Investment Trust, or M-REIT, helping to secure investors to buy and resell properties in neighborhoods where home ownership by people of color was previously blocked. This was the beginning of Dr. Simmons’ second act as a real estate investor and activist.
Throughout her life, Dr. Simmons remained committed to creating opportunities for others. After her retirement at the age of 71, she became involved with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), taking classes at the University of San Francisco. Recognizing that adult learning programs were the key to an intellectually rich post-retirement life, she brought the curriculum to her alma mater, Hampton University, in 2005. The Osher Foundation now permanently endows the award-winning OLLI program she established there. In 2008, five days after the inauguration of the nation’s first African-American president, Dr. Simmons was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Hampton University, the historically black institution that had opened the first door to her dreams. She later told the story of her extraordinary life in her book Overcome: My Life In Pursuit of A Dream, which was published in 2016.
Dr. Simmons passed away in 2019 at the age of 101.
We have a short time to raise these funds! Help us out! Donate and share!
Ellamae Simmons earned her bachelor’s in nursing from Hampton University in Virginia in 1940 before serving her country as an U.S. Army nurse. After the war, she enrolled at Ohio State University as a pre-med major on the G.I. Bill, and graduated from Howard University with her medical degree in 1959.
At every turn, Dr. Simmons blazed a trail of excellence for others to follow. The first black woman physician to specialize in asthma, allergy, and immunology in the country, she also posted a raft of other firsts, including being one of eight army nurses chosen to integrate the US armed forces during World War II. She subsequently became the first black woman to live in the dorms at Ohio State, and the first black woman to join Kaiser Foundation Hospital’s medical staff, where she would also help found the Kaiser African American Professional Association, or KAAPA.
In 1967, she purchased a home in San Francisco’s exclusive Presidio Heights, effectively integrating the neighborhood. Soon after, she became a leader in the Bay Area’s Mutual Real Estate Investment Trust, or M-REIT, helping to secure investors to buy and resell properties in neighborhoods where home ownership by people of color was previously blocked. This was the beginning of Dr. Simmons’ second act as a real estate investor and activist.
Throughout her life, Dr. Simmons remained committed to creating opportunities for others. After her retirement at the age of 71, she became involved with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), taking classes at the University of San Francisco. Recognizing that adult learning programs were the key to an intellectually rich post-retirement life, she brought the curriculum to her alma mater, Hampton University, in 2005. The Osher Foundation now permanently endows the award-winning OLLI program she established there. In 2008, five days after the inauguration of the nation’s first African-American president, Dr. Simmons was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Hampton University, the historically black institution that had opened the first door to her dreams. She later told the story of her extraordinary life in her book Overcome: My Life In Pursuit of A Dream, which was published in 2016.
Dr. Simmons passed away in 2019 at the age of 101.
We have a short time to raise these funds! Help us out! Donate and share!
Organizer
Tanner Salyers
Organizer
Mount Vernon, OH
Knox County Historical Society
Beneficiary