“When you are raised with a Mom who is known and respected and trusted by stars, it became commonplace to watch my Mom entertaining internationally acclaimed artists in her home. For all the famous people my Mom got to know because of her work as a professional photojournalist; and a civil rights activist in her own right, as well as being a museum curator. One thing I can honestly say is that she always remained humble. She never got “star-struck” or anything near it.”
That’s one of many things that Tamarra Sims shared with me as I talked with her about her beloved mother, Phyllis Sims.
“Despite having lung cancer for several years, she remained deliberate about living life–on her own terms. She peacefully passed on April 5, 2023. Tamarra shared that right up until three months ago, her mother was still doing one of the things she enjoyed most, and that was traveling.
“What I want people to remember about my mother is this: If there was any special event or something important going on in Philadelphia, my mother was there taking pictures. Everybody knew her. One of the things that also comes to my mind is that my Mom was really driven to write and complete a book about her mother and her mother’s life story. Her mother, my grandmother, was the first Black woman automobile salesperson for Ford Motor Company, and that was a big thing. She completed that book about five or six years ago. That was a really big thing that she wanted to do. The name of the book is “Speakeasy: The Juanita Sims Thunderbird Story.” As the story goes, a lot of local entertainers who made it big would come to my grandmother to purchase their vehicles. Even entertainers who were not necessarily from Philly would purchase their cars from my grandmother. I’m talking about people such as Sammy Davis, Sarah Vaughn, and a long list of others. As for my Mom, aside from her work as a professional photographer and in later years as the curator of the Marian Anderson House and Museum, and through her many travels, she met countless people from all walks of life.“
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