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DeutschPauline Sims Puryear
Pauline Sims Puryear | |
|---|---|
 Pauline Sims Puryear, from a 1926 magazine | |
| Born | Pauline J. Sims June 6, 1900 Savannah, Georgia |
| Died | August 2, 1971 (aged 71) Tallahassee, Florida |
| Other names | Pauline Sims Puryear |
| Occupation(s) | Social worker, clubwoman, ordained minister |
| Notable work | President of Alpha Kappa Alpha from 1925 to 1927 |
Pauline J. Sims Puryear (June 6, 1900 – August 2, 1971) was an American social worker and clubwoman, the fourth international president of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and Dean of Women at Florida A&M State College. (Her surnames are written with and without the hyphen in various sources.)
Early life
[edit]Pauline J. Sims was born in Savannah, Georgia,[1] the daughter of Felix R. Sims and Emma E. Griffin Sims.[2] Her brothers David, George, and Yancey[3] were all ordained ministers; one of them, David Henry Sims, was 55th bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church;[4] his wife Mayme Holden Sims was also a church and community leader.[5] Pauline Sims graduated from Howard University in 1918.[6][7]
Career
[edit]Puryear was the fourth international president of Alpha Kappa Alpha, serving from 1925 to 1927.[8][9] As president of Alpha Kappa Alpha, she corresponded with W. E. B. Du Bois.[10] She was a charter member of the sorority's first New Jersey chapter in 1934, along with Myra Smith Kearse.[11] She and Kearse were also founding members of the College Women's Club of Union County.[12]
In the 1940s and 1950s, Puryear was a social worker in Newark, New Jersey.[13] She was ordained as a minister in the AME Church.[14] She spoke at churches[15] and at national and regional church conferences.[16][17][18] She was an alternate delegate to the 1948 Republican National Convention from New Jersey.[19] In 1962, she was Dean of Women at Florida A&M State College.[20] In 1967, she was still active with Alpha Kappa Alpha, as head of the sorority's "Negro heritage project".[21] In 1970, she helped launch a "black culture reading library" at the Pearl Street YWCA in Nashville, Tennessee.[22]
Personal life
[edit]Pauline J. Sims married Rev. Thomas Langston Puryear Sr., who was president of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).[23] They lived in Belleville, New Jersey and had sons Thomas and Paul. Rev. Paul Lionel Puryear became a professor at Tuskegee University and Dean of African American Affairs at the University of Virginia.[24] Her husband died in 1958;[23] she died in 1971, in Tallahassee, Florida.[14]
Her granddaughter Paula Puryear is a screenwriter.[25][26]
References
[edit]- ^ Who's who in Colored America. Who's Who in Colored America Corporation. 1942. p. 423.
- ^ "Mrs. Emma E. Sims". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1942-11-19. p. 22. Retrieved 2021-02-01 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Rev. Yancey Sims NH Minister Dead at 63". Record-Journal. 1962-01-11. p. 24. Retrieved 2021-01-31 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Bishop D. H. Sims, Stormy Prelate in AME Church Dies". The Huntsville Mirror. 1965-10-30. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-01-31 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Miller, Bill (1989-12-19). "Mayme Holden Sims, Church and Civic Leader". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 64. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
- ^ "Former International Presidents". Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
- ^ "Seniors Debating Team Elected". Howard University Journal. 15: 3. November 23, 1917 – via Digital Howard.
- ^ "The Horizon". The Crisis: 243. March 1926.
- ^ "Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Annual Boule to be Held at Columbus, Ohio". California Eagle. 1926-12-10. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-01-31 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Letter from Pauline Sims-Puryear to W. E. B. Du Bois, May 27, 1925". W. E. B. DuBois Papers, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
- ^ "The "Mother Pearl" of New Jersey". Beta Alpha Omega. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
- ^ Washington, Ethel M. (2004). Union County Black Americans. Arcadia Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-7385-3683-5.
- ^ "Will Hear Address by Social Worker". The Central New Jersey Home News. 1942-12-05. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-01-31 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Mrs. Pauline Puryear". Tallahassee Democrat. 1971-08-05. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-01-31 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Lincolin-Douglas Dinner in Mt. Zion AME Church". The Courier-News. 1942-02-13. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-02-01 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Churches to Worship at Mt. Zion A. M. E." The Central New Jersey Home News. 1941-02-08. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-01-31 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "A. M. E. Bishop Recalls World Spiritual Need". The News Journal. 1940-09-26. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-01-31 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Leach, Baxter (1941-08-09). "A.M.E. Religious Workers Hold Christian Workers Conference at Bordentown School". The New York Age. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-01-31 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "3 N. J. Delegates Asks Firm Stand on Civil Rights". Courier-Post. 1948-06-21. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-01-31 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Rev. Y. L. Sims, Heart Victim". The Courier-News. 1962-01-13. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-02-01 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Shelton, Elizabeth (1967-02-26). "Negro Role in History Researched by Sorority". The Courier-Journal. p. 30. Retrieved 2021-02-01 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "YWCA News". The Tennessean. 1970-04-12. p. 88. Retrieved 2021-02-01 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Rev. T. L. Puryear, Former CIAA Prexy". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1958-10-11. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-01-31 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Martin, Paula Puryear; McClain, Paula D.; Simpson, Andrea (October 2010). "Paul Lionel Puryear, Sr". PS: Political Science & Politics. 43 (4): 806–807. doi:10.1017/S1049096510001502. ISSN 1049-0965.
- ^ "Paula Puryear Martin". Film Independent. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
- ^ "Paula Puryear". IMDb. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
