1. Ada Simond was an American public health activist, historian, educator, and writer considered a community leader for her contributions to public health and African-American historical education.
16 Facts About Ada Simond
1. 2.
Ada Simond was named to the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in 1986.
3.
Ada Simond is descended from French explorer Louis Juchereau de St Denis.
4.
Ada Simond's family ran a farm, raising rice, soybeans, and sugarcane.
5.
Ada Simond was only able to attend one semester of high-school but supplemented her learning by borrowing books from L C Anderson, who later went on to found the Colored Teachers State Association of Texas.
6.
In 1929, Ada Simond married Charles Yerwood, a physician in Austin.
7.
Ada Simond became stepmother to his two daughters: Connie Yerwood Connor, who became the first Black doctor to serve on the Texas Department of Health and Joyce Yerwood, who became the first female African American physician in Fairfield County, Connecticut.
8.
In 1934, Ada Simond earned her Bachelor of Science in Family Lie Education from Tillotson College.
9.
In 1942, Ada Simond became a public health representative for the Texas Tuberculosis Association, traveling across the state to educate impoverished Texans about proper sanitation and other factors needed to combat tuberculosis.
10.
In 1967, Ada Simond reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 at the Texas Tuberculosis Association.
11.
Ada Simond found a similar job at the Texas State Department of Health until being forced to retire again in 1973, when she reached their mandatory retirement age of 70.
12.
From 1974 to 1977, Ada Simond worked as a bailiff in the Fifty-Third district in Travis County, Texas.
13.
The books are narrated by a character named Mae Dee Lewis, whom Ada Simond based on a childhood friend.
14.
Ada Simond cites a desire to help children who were learning to cope with newly integrated Texan schools at the time.
15.
Ada Simond has been called a "pioneer" among African-American women writers and has been described as having a "marvelous penchant" for history in Austin.
16.
Ada Simond has received the Black Heritage Award from the Austin Independent School District and the Human Relations Award from the Texas State Teachers Association.