William j simmons biography kkk

American journalist and educator

For the founder of the second Ku Klux Klan, see William Joseph Simmons.

William J.

Simmons (June 29, 1849 – October 30, 1890) was an American Baptist pastor, educator, author, and activist. He was a former enslaved person who became the second president of Simmons College of Kentucky (1880–1890), for whom the school was later named.

Simmons greatly developed Howard University's teacher training programs when he took over the school.

Other articles where William J. Simmons is discussed: Ku Klux Klan: Revival of the Ku Klux Klan: William J. Simmons, a preacher and promoter of fraternal.

Other articles where William J. Simmons is discussed: Ku Klux Klan: Revival of the Ku Klux Klan: William J. Simmons, a preacher and promoter of fraternal.

William J. Simmons, seated during a investigation of the Ku Klux Klan by a US House of Representatives committee, was inspired by DW Griffith's film, The.

William Joseph Simmons (May 7, – May 18, ) was an American preacher and fraternal organizer who founded and led the second Ku Klux Klan from.

Klaverns popped up across America in nearly every state.

The Ku Klux Klan.

In addition, he was a writer, journalist, and educator. In 1886 he became president of the American National Baptist Convention, one of the organizations that would merge to form the National Baptist Convention, USA. He was elected president of the Colored Press Association for his work as editor of the American Baptist, a newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky.

Simmons was also the author of Men of Mark (1877), an anthology of 177 short biographies of notable African American men.