Althea T. L. Simmons

Althea T. L. Simmons (April 17, 1924 – September 13, 1990) was a civil rights activist and attorney with the NAACP for over 35 years. Simmons was the head of the NAACP's Washington D.C. office and its chief lobbyist from 1979 to 1990. She was well known for her effective lobbying, close monitoring of lawmakers' voting habits, and her commanding presence. As a teen, she lived with her family in Winnsboro, Louisiana. In NAACP's New York branch, she was the associate director of branch and field services, Simmons noted that the observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was an opportunity for white people to learn about race relations, as the history books provided scant information about civil rights.

Simmons also argued against the appointment of William Rehnquist as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, as she alleged that Rehnquist engaged in activities aimed at thwarting voter participation by African Americans and Latinos in the 1960s in Arizona. In her Senate testimony against Rehnquist's confirmation as chief justice, Simmons noted that "even though a person is a genius, if he lacks compassion, it distorts reality and cripples objectivity."

Simmons closely monitored the voting records of lawmakers, as she observed that "t's not enough to just listen to the politicians at election time. Start monitoring how they vote. Often they will say something on the floor of the House or Senate just to get into the Congressional Record, but they vote just the opposite." It was vetoed by then-President of the United States George H. W. Bush about one month after her death.

On September 17, 1990, four days after her death, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy read a tribute to Simmons into the Senate's Congressional Record, where he referred to her as the "101st Senator on civil rights" and a "great champion in the continuing struggle to fulfill the constitutional promises of equal justice for all."

Personal Simmons was an active member of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Washington D.C. She also served as a committee member at the United Methodist Church Board of Pensions. She was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and voting rights activist Melanie L. Campbell.

She died at the age of 66 from respiratory failure after hip surgery.

Selected honors President's Award of Washburn University Althea T. L. Simmons. Review of Maggie's American Dream, The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 59, no. 2, 1990, pp. 220–222 Althea T. L. Simmons. Civil Rights and Reaganomics, The Crisis, vol. 91, no. 4, 1984, pp. 8–10