Biography/History:

Maude C. (Newton) Simmons was born in Arkansas around 1885. She was the daughter of Minnie A. Newton of Mississippi. The Simmons family was living in Drew, Sunflower County, Mississippi, after 1903. Maude Newton Simmons was a widow and again living with her mother by 1920. Minnie A. Newton was also widowed by that time, and her son, Wallace D. Newton, was farming near Drew.

In April of 1947, Maude Newton Simmons was elected as president of the first Business and Professional Women's Club in Sunflower County. She was apparently employed as a teacher in Sunflower County as well. By March of 1967, Simmons was writing a newspaper column entitled "Drew Doings" for the Enterprise-Tocsin, published in Indianola, Mississippi, and she continued writing the column through at least August of 1970. She sent the first version of the same column to the Sunflower Mirror, published in Ruleville, Mississippi, in October of 1967. Simmons continued sending her articles to the Sunflower Mirror over the next several months, but the newspaper apparently ceased publication by the end of that year.

Scope and Content:

This collection consists of two 35 mm, positive microfilm rolls of newspaper articles, newsclippings, and correspondence of Maude Newton Simmons. The materials are generally not organized by date or format.

The majority of the newspaper articles by Simmons are typewritten and undated. However, there are a few handwritten articles, and several articles are annotated with her corrections. Her "Drew Doings" articles contained a number of subheadings that varied with each issue. Each article in the column concerned a variety of subjects, including births, deaths, church and school news, politics, sports, topics of community interest, visitors, and poetry composed by Simmons or published authors.

Most of the newsclippings of the articles by Simmons are from the Enterprise-Tocsin. There are also two 1960 issues of the Drew Leader, which was published in Drew, Mississippi.

The correspondence of Simmons is primarily addressed to the editors of the Enterprise-Tocsin or the Sunflower Mirror regarding corrections to her newspaper articles or subscriptions. She also wrote one letter to the board of missions of an unidentified Methodist church requesting a book.

Series Identification:

1. Newspaper Articles. ca. 1964–1970; n.d.

   Rolls 1 (MF Roll # 36602) and 2 (MF Roll # 36603)

2. Newsclippings. 1960; 1968–1970; n.d.

   Rolls 1 (MF Roll # 36602) and 2 (MF Roll # 36603)

3. Correspondence. 1967–1969.

   Rolls 1 (MF Roll # 36602) and 2 (MF Roll # 36603)