Lucy F. Simms School played a vital role in the Black community in Harrisonburg and beyond prior to its closure due to integration in 1965. In the summer of 2022, Celebrating Simms embarked on a year-long oral history project to celebrate and preserve the memories of students who attended Simms before it closed its doors. These recorded sessions were conducted by current high school students from Spotswood and Turner Ashby high schools in Rockingham County as part of their 2022-2023 African American History elective course work. Also included is a 2005 interview with Mary Awkward Fairfax, a former teacher at the Lucy F. Simms school.