MINDEN BLACK CULTURE                                         WALL OF FAME       NOW          

As the 7th born and last living child of 10 children of Hattie & Harvey Sims Sr., I, James (JIMMY) Sims take great pride in dedicating this website in their honor. They are truly deserving of this honor.  Being share croppers when I was born, I truly believe they would be as proud of me today as they were when I was born on APRIL FOOL'S DAY in 1940 and as they were when I was the first of their 10 children to graduate from high school.  My dad was a baptist deacon and my mother a deaconess when I was born and remained so throughout their lives until ages 80 & 93, respectively. My dad's health went bad and he was considered dead in the doctor's office when I was 2 years old, but recovered to out live Dr. Wade (Arcadia, LA) and  his prediction that my dad would not live longer than six years. I was in the doctor's office with my mom & dad that day and remember that event very well. Every time Dr. Wade would see my dad later on, he would joke and say "There goes a ghost". My dad not only out lived that doctor, but lived 40 years longer than he predicted.  During those years, my dad would have periodic hemorrhage type nose bleeds and he had a bad heart.  Because of this,  my dad was declared disabled for life and was on welfare until his death ever since his diagnosis when I was 2 years old.

My mother had to work as a house maid and baby sitter for white people in order to make ends meet.  She also used her God given talent and skills as an "at home seamstress" to sew and make clothes for others as a means to supplement the family income.  She was very talented and could make clothing outfits from a picture and without a pattern. Being a very good cook, she also worked and cooked at restaurants to make ends meet.  By the way, she could stand up, bend over and touch her toes without bending her knees, up until the day she died at 93 and a half years old. She was very energetic and died while she was eating dinner after attending church that SUNDAY at Greater St. Paul Baptist Church.

Our family moved to Minden, Creighton Hill, in the summer of 1952 (when I was 12 years old) from Taylor/Ada, LA, (known as Woodard & Walker, because of the sawmill there by that name) Prior to Ada/Taylor, we lived in Bryceland, LA where I was born.  After we moved to Minden, all of our family members immediately became members of New Light Baptist Church, where my dad (already a Deacon) remained a Deacon for 30 years until he died in 1982. Deacon Harvey (PIG) Sims and Mrs. Hattie Sims produced 2 preachers, of which one of them and his wife produced 3 preachers.  Of the 10 children, 3 boys became professional recording artists (6 boys were singers).  The 6th born child (girl) and 8th born child (boy) died at birth. The 1st child of the 10 (girl) was of my dad before he married my mom and happened while he was a very young teenager and lived with my mom & dad after they married and up until she became of adult age. My mom &  dad both were singers, but my dad was the dominant singer and trained his first four boys to sing and formed a gospel quartet with them performing at churches during their early ages. My one sister of the Hattie & Harvey Sims marriage was the only child of their children that never acquired the talent of singing.  However, she was definitely a TALKER and would have been a RAPPER for sure, had it been available during her young years of life.  

It's amazing that my dad, who came from a family of three brothers that their mother and father both died when the boys were very young kids and they were raised by their grandma on their mother's side and was not able to get a formal  education past the third grade but  that did not stop him from gaining knowledge and becoming very educated through continued study via association of the children of  his grandma, which was his young  aunt & uncles. One would never know that he was not a high school graduate because he was very well read and had high school math skills.  He knew the Bible so well that other deacons would come to our house to learn from his Bible teachings.

My mom and dad were both very well respected in the community and always about sharing and caring about others in the community.  They instilled those characteristics to all of their kids.  The Bible was the guide for our house and several years ago I titled one of my gospel albums "IT'S ALL ABOUT LOVE", with 8 songs that I wrote on the album.  I didn't know that this day was coming that I would be giving them praise for the inspiration for that CD Album.  I did however, write and dedicate a song on that album to and about my dad with some of the songs he would sing during devotion at church before he responded in prayer.  That song is called "OLD SCHOOL DEVOTION".  Thanks mom & dad for your love and all of the love you inspired in me.  THAT'S WHAT THIS DEDICATION IS ALL ABOUT, passing along a little of that love to the city of MINDEN, LA with a mechanism for the BLACK community to cherish as the
                                MINDEN BLACK CULTURE WALL OF FAME