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Legacies Project Oral History: Opal Simmons

Opal Simmons was born in 1931 in Detroit. After graduating from Eastern High School, she attended Fisk University and Wayne State University. She lived in New York for a few years as a young woman and recalls attending dances at the Savoy. She volunteered as a letter reader for the American Red Cross during World War II. During her working years in Detroit, she was secretary to the deputy mayor in the Coleman A. Young administration. Richard Simmons Jr. became her second husband. Later in life, she attended seminary and became a minister.

Opal Simmons was interviewed in partnership with the Museum of African American History of Detroit and Y Arts Detroit in 2010 as part of the Legacies Project.

Detroit Mayor Albert E. Cobo Visits Ann Arbor, October 1956

Detroit Mayor Albert E. Cobo Visits Ann Arbor, October 1956 image
Year:
1956
Published In:
Ann Arbor News, October 16, 1956
Caption:
COBO SPEAKS IN CITY: Chatting with Detroit Mayor Albert E. Cobo (center), Republican gubernatorial candidate, during a rally here last night were Cecil O. Creal, (left), Washtenaw county Republican chairman, and Ann Arbor Mayor William E. Brown, jr.