Name/Title
Amanda Green SimonsEntry/Object ID
2006.5.0084Description
Black and white photograph of a woman in a dark, floor-length dress. There is white frill on the collar of the dress, which also contains a brooch in the center. Her hair appears to be in an updo. She wears a chain around her neck that merges into one strand and tucks into her waistband. She stands in front of what seems to be a painted backdrop. The leg of a chair is visible in the lower left corner.Photograph Details
Subject Person or Organization
Amanda L. GreenContext
Amanda Green (1874-1960) was the wife of Charles Hall Simons (1865-1933), the youngest son of Agnes Jackson Simons (1831-1907) and William Simons (1810-1878). Agnes was the daughter of midwife Celia Mann (1799-1867) and boatman Ben Delane (1800-1890), the original property owners of the Mann-Simons Site in Columbia. Both Celia and Ben were born enslaved in Charleston, later coming to Columbia in the early 19th century after obtaining their freedom and settling on the corner of Richland and Marion streets. Their children and grandchildren, especially Agnes, Charles, and his brother, John Lucius, would utilize space at this property to build a series of businesses and homes that kept the family financially secured during the Jim Crow period.
Amanda had a well-known reputation as a dressmaker. In 1905, she is listed in the Columbia City Cirectory as a dressmaker living two blocks east of the Mann-Simons home at 1531 Richland Street. The following year, she married Charles, a fellow member of Calvary Baptist Church, and they soon moved to 1910 Marion Street, where they lived until 1910. They then moved into Agnes’ former home, which Agnes had inherited from her mother, Celia, upon her death in 1867. Amanda continued to sew at this property, and Charles would establish himself as a tailor.
While both Amanda and Charles each had a child from a previous relationship, both of their children did not involve themselves with the family following their parents' marriage. However, Amanda and Charles adopted four-year-old Bernice Connors (b.1908) in 1912. Bernice would later inherit the property in 1960 before turning it over to the Columbia Housing Authority in 1970.Dimensions
Height
12-3/4 inWidth
8-1/2 inRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Amanda L. Green