George Simkins, Jr.

George Simkins, Jr.
Born	August 23, 1924
Occupation	Dentist, Civil Rights Activist

Dr. George Simkins, Jr., (August 23, 1924 – November 21, 2001) was a dentist, community leader in Greensboro, North Carolina, and civil rights activist. During the 1950s, he won several significant desegregation lawsuits and was, for a quarter of a century, the president of the Greensboro branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Beginning in 1955, Simkins used the courts and local referenda to compel the desegregation of recreational facilities, schools, and hospitals and end discrimination in the delivery of public housing, banking services, and city services.

Simkins was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, on August 23, 1924, the first child of George C. Simkins Sr., a dentist and community leader, and Guyrene Tyson Simkins, an educator. He grew up in sports and was a natural athlete, and was even a nationally ranked badminton player. Simkins attended Dudley High School in Greensboro before matriculating into Herzl Junior College in Chicago, and then Talladega College, from which he graduated. He earned his dentistry degree from Meharry School of Dentistry in 1948 and completed his rotating internship at Jersey City Medical Center. Simkins opened a private dentistry practice upon returning to Greensboro and joined the Guilford County Health Department, becoming the first African American employed there.

In 1940, the city of Greensboro constructed a golf course using public funds - 65 percent of which were provided by the federal government – as part of the Works Progress Administration. The course was opened in 1949 by the city of Greensboro as a public facility exclusively for whites. In 1955, Simkins decided to challenge the city council’s segregation rule by going to the Gillespie Park course to play. On December 7, 1955, the same week the Montgomery bus boycott was launched in the wake of Rosa Park’s defiance of bus segregation, he and five others went to the Gillespie Park course where they presented green fees, but were not given permission to play – they were told the Gillespie Park Golf Course was a private course for members only. Simkins placed seventy-five cents, the green fee for the course, on the counter and proceeded to the course after insisting on his right to play. The manager approached Dr. Simkins and his five companions and demanded they leave, but they refused and continued to play.

That night, Simkins and the five other players were arrested and charged with trespassing. On February 6, 1956, all six men were convicted of simple trespass and fined fifteen dollars and court costs. They appealed to the Superior Court, and were found guilty in December 1956. The trespass charges were finally thrown out by the North Carolina State Supreme Court in June 1957.

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