Simon Green Atkins
Haywood, Chatham County, North Carolina

Founder of Winston-Salem State University and the North Carolina Negro Teachers’ Association.

In 1863, Simon Green Atkins was born in Haywood, Chatham County to Allen and Eliza Atkins, farmers and former enslaved people. In his youth, Atkins excelled in school and rose to be at the top of his class.

He eventually began teaching locally within Chatham County before enrolling at St. Augustine’s Normal Collegiate Institute, now St. Augustine’s College, in Raleigh, North Carolina. After graduating, he returned to Chatham County to continue teaching.

In 1881, Atkins was one of the founders of the North Carolina Negro Teachers’ Association, an organization that promoted and helped educate Black teachers across North Carolina. Atkins served many terms as president and secretary throughout his life.

In 1884, his teaching skills were recognized and he was offered a job at Livingstone College in Salisbury. He accepted the position and served as head of the grammar school department for six years. During his last two years at the university, he also served as treasurer for the college.

His time at Livingstone College also brought about the start of him spending his summers teaching Black teachers. Atkins conducted many institutes throughout North Carolina in order to help further educate Black teachers.

The city of Winston-Salem offered Atkins the position of principal of public schools for Black students in 1890. Atkins took the job and flourished in the new community. He quickly started a project to develop a neglected Black section of town called Columbia Heights. His goal with the project was to provide better housing conditions and help Black members of the community gain ownership of their properties. In 1892, Atkins moved into Columbia Heights and created a school in the community.

In 1895, Atkins resigned as principal of public schools for Black students in Winston-Salem to focus on his own school in Columbia Heights. In 1895, the school was called Slater Normal and Industrial School. The school soon came under state supervision. In 1897, Slater Normal and Industrial School received a legislative charter and began growing rapidly. By 1905, the state bought Slater Normal and Industrial School’s property and took full control.

As the state board of education took over, the school was updated from high school level to include a two year post-high school program. In 1925, the school continued to expand, and was rechartered as the Winston-Salem Teachers College. This rechartering allowed the school to have a four year curriculum while limiting its function to the training of teachers for Black elementary schools within North Carolina.

Atkins himself remained president of the college until 1934, watching his small school become a four year institution. After his resignation due to poor health, Atkin’s son, Francis L. Atkins, was elected as his successor. Later in 1934, Simon Green Atkins passed away.

However, in 1969, Winston-Salem Teachers College was again renamed to Winston-Salem State University. In 1972, Winston-Salem State University was recognized as one of the 16 schools within the University of North Carolina System.

Simon Green Atkins’ life was dedicated to Black education and educators. His legacy remains to this day through Winston-Salem State University, one of North Carolina’s 12 Historically Black Colleges.
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Source: ChathamPast dot com