Jake Simmons, Jr.

Joseph Jacob Simmons Jr. (January 17, 1901 – March 24, 1981) was a prominent African-American oilman. He "rose above humble beginnings to become the most successful and most recognizable black entrepreneur in the history of the petroleum industry." As an internationally known oil broker he partnered with Phillips Petroleum Company and Signal Oil and Gas to open up African oil fields in Liberia, Nigeria and Ghana. In 1969, he became the first black person to be appointed to the National Petroleum Council.

In the 1960s, Simmons worked as an intermediary in multimillion-dollar deals between major American oil companies and newly independent African nations.

Simmons thought that jobs were the key to economic empowerment for African Americans. He helped blacks gain skills in his business and then helped them find jobs in other businesses. Donald, an economist, took over Simmons Royalty Company. Blanche was a social worker and Kenneth, a Harvard-educated professor of architecture at the University of California, Berkeley.