Lula Sims was an African American woman born in 1877 in Mississippi 1 1900 U.S. census, Shelby County, Tennessee, Ward 5, p. 16, dwelling 222, family 13, Lula; NARAmicrofilm publication M432, roll T623-1854.
She was the only child of Caleb and Eliza Sims.
She was born in the final year of American Reconstruction (1877). Reconstruction was the nation’s plan to reunite after the Civil War in a way that rejoined the South and the North and include African Americans as citizens. When the federal government left the South to its own affairs, Black Americans saw their rights not only dwindle, but violently snatched away.
As they sought better opportunities and true freedom, African Americans moved throughout the South, especially from rural to urban areas. The Sims family joined this migration. By 1896, they made their home in Memphis, Tennessee. 2 U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011 [database on-line].
In the final quarter of the nineteenth century, the city’s Black population grew immensely, and a community of churches, schools, and businesses followed. 3 “Civil War and Reconstruction,” memphis.edu, https://www.memphis.edu/benhooks/mapping-civil-rights/civil-war-reconstruction.php#:~:text=Civil%20War%20and%20Reconstruction%20During%20the%20Civil%20War,camps%20and%20shantytowns%20in%20and%20around%20the%20Memphis. Lula worked as a teacher while her father worked as a cook. Her mother’s occupation remains unclear.
Sometime between 1901 and 1902, Lula and her parents relocated once more—this time to Indian Territory.
“ABOUT: HISTORIC VERNON A.M.E. CHURCH,” photograph, retrieved from https://vernoname.com/about/.
By doing so, the Sims family joined the exodus of many Black Americans out of the Deep South. Over the next few years, they made their way closer to Greenwood.
The Sims family moved frequently as they sought to make their way. From 1910 to 1914, they lived in three different homes (Lynn Lane, North Frankfort, and North Kenosha) each time moving closer to Greenwood. 4 1910 U.S. census, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, p. 7b, dwelling 133, family 83, Lula M; NARAmicrofilm publication M432, roll T624_1274; Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011; Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. </mfn>
In 1914, Lula was listed as the 6th grade teacher for Dunbar Grade School. The school was one of two schools in the area. Like Booker T. Washington High, it was built in 1913. It operated out of a eighteen-room brick building and a two-room frame building on N. Hartford Avenue. 5“Tulsa History: Education, 1880-1941,” Tulsa Preservation Commission, https://tulsapreservationcommission.org/tulsa-history/education/ There is no doubt that Lula played a great role in the lives of the community especially among the students of Dunbar.
After the Massacre, the Red Cross Hospital sat atop a destroyed Dunbar school .
No death date can be found for Lula Sims, which opens up questions about where she was during the Massacre and how it may have affected the rest of her life.
Makayla Swanson
Take a short quiz on Sims’ life!
Bibliography
1900 U.S. census, Shelby County, Tennessee, Ward 5, p. 16, dwelling 222, family 13, Lula; NARAmicrofilm publication M432, roll T623-1854. Retrieved from Ancestry.com.
1910 U.S. census, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, p. 7b, dwelling 133, family 83, Lula M; NARAmicrofilm publication M432, roll T624_1274. Retrieved from Ancestry.com.
“Civil War and Reconstruction,” memphis.edu, https://www.memphis.edu/benhooks/mapping-civil-rights/civil-war-reconstruction.php#:~:text=Civil%20War%20and%20Reconstruction%20During%20the%20Civil%20War,camps%20and%20shantytowns%20in%20and%20around%20the%20Memphis.
“Tulsa History: Education, 1880-1941,” Tulsa Preservation Commission, https://tulsapreservationcommission.org/tulsa-history/education/
U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011 [database on-line].
Citation: To cite this essay, use the following citation: Makayla Swanson, “Lula Sims,” in Women of Black Wall Street, 2021, Brandy Thomas Wells, Ed. https://blackwallstreetwomen.com/lula-sims/ (Access Date)
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