Dr. Georgiana Simpson Unveiling Ceremony Speech

“Too often black women’s stories are neglected, untold, and hidden. We are the footnotes in other people’s stories.”

When I wrote this part of my speech, the magnitude of what we had been working on for 3 years finally settled in. All the planning, drafting, organizing, collaborating –everything we did was to reframe black women as not just an afterthought, but as full characters in their own stories. Read the full speech below!

November 28th, 2017

When I first came to the University of Chicago, I must admit I had my reservations. I remember fondly looking for the black people in the dining hall, in my classes, and in positions of leadership. I soon discovered that it wasn’t that I couldn’t find them, but that there were simply not that many of us to begin with.

So I had to accept early on that this University would be a place where I would have to be conscious of the spaces I inhabit. Opportunities and resources wouldn’t just be given to me — I had to seek them out and at times create them.

The reality is how I felt when I first came to campus, is an all too familiar feeling to many students of color who attend universities across the nation. So I channeled the initial feeling of being uncomfortable into curiosity. As a first-year at the University of Chicago, I went rummaging through the University archives in search of understanding. I found the archive entitled “Integrating the Life of the Mind: African-Americans at the University of Chicago” It was in this archive that I read of a woman named Georgiana Simpson who came to the University in 1907 to begin her undergraduate degree. Upon her arrival at Green Residence Hall, she was met with protests from white female students who didn’t want her living in the residence simply because she was black. The Dean of Women Marion Talbot and Sophonisba Breckinridge made the decision that Georgiana Simpson could remain on campus. However, University President Harry Pratt Judson overturned this decision and made Simpson find residence off campus.

Nevertheless, she persisted!

She returned to the University of Chicago to begin her graduate work in 1917. Georgiana Simpson became DOCTOR Georgiana Simpson in 1921 making her one of the first African-American women to earn a Ph.D. in the United States.

Too often black women’s stories are neglected, untold, and hidden. We are the Footnotes in other people’s stories. We honor University President Harry Pratt Judson, Sophinsba Breckinridge, and Marion Talbot with the naming of college dorms and public art pieces, but Dr. Simpson’s name has yet to receive the same honor.

All of this changes today! Dr. Simpson will be permanently fixated in Reynolds Club, a space that was once reserved for white men only and now is a center for student life. Her bronze bust has her looking onward with her head facing away from the bronze relief of President Judson. She has a slight, yet triumphant grin, her shoulders broadened. She stands there in all her glory in her graduation gown.

When people pass by her bronze bust I want them to feel emboldened, inspired, and worthy. I want Dr. Simpson to become a part of our campus life and culture, in ways she couldn’t when she attended the University. So I have a suggestion that I would like to run by everyone tonight. We have a myth here at the University of Chicago, — if you step on the seal here in Reynolds Club a magical curse will befall you and you won’t graduate in four years. What if we can undo that curse with a new tradition — students can touch Dr. Georgiana’s Simpson bronze tassel as a form of reassurance that they will graduate, and not only will they survive, but they will thrive!

While myths and curses come and go, there are still many obstacles that black women face on college campuses today. My heart breaks for the stories of black women like Jazzy Rowe who was tormented by her roommate at the University of Hartford; women like Taylor Dumpson from American University who faced racist torments for being elected the first black female student government president. These stories are a reminder that the aspiration of diversity and inclusion is just that — an aspiration. We must acknowledge and deal with our past, as painful as it may be so that we can create a more equitable future.

So I say to these women — this bronze bust of Dr. Georgiana Simpson is for you.

For the students of color across the nation who ever questioned their place at the greatest institutions in the world — This bronze bust is for you.

For the professors who mentor students of color and provide the resources and opportunities that we need to succeed. The professors who say to me I no longer have to work twice as hard just to have half of what my counterparts have — This bronze bust is for you.

For the staff members who have a truly open-door policy. Who provide encouragement and comfort at the toughest of times during our college careers — This bronze bust is for you.

For my mother, who is here tonight, who always taught me that if there is no solution, you must become it. If there’s no path, you must pave it. If there are no opportunities, you must create them. This bronze bust is for you.

As Viola Davis stated during her Emmy speech, “The only thing that separates women of color from everyone else is opportunity.” If not for Dr. Simpson, I and so many students of color like me would not have the opportunities that we have today. So I say before everyone here tonight — May the permanent fixture of her legacy remain an inspiration to the next generation of women for centuries to come.

Thank you.