The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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Ernest E. Sims

Professor Ernest Eldridge Sims (3 July 1914 – 10 November 1983) was the defining African American educational leader in twentieth-century Avon Park. He served for decades as principal of Hopewell School, was appointed assistant principal of Avon Park Middle School upon desegregation, and completed a thirty-five-year career in the Avon Park public school system—the longest instructional record of any Black educator in the town’s history[maxwell-1976][findagrave-sims].

Early Life and Education

Born in Fort Meade, Polk County, Florida, to Thomas Sims (1876–1951) and Maggie Rebecca Gant Sims (1887–1981), Sims moved with his family to Avon Park as a young child in 1919 and entered the first grade in the town’s early segregated school system[maxwell-1976][findagrave-sims]. In the April 1930 federal census of Avon Park’s unincorporated precinct (Enumeration District 28-3, Sheet 4B, leaf 0053, Dwelling 89, Family 92), fifteen-year-old Earnest E. Simms lived in a rented $5-a-month house at 57 East First Street with his father Thomas Simms (a crate-mill laborer), his mother Maggie Simms, and five siblings: Thomas E., Rosa L., Delbert M., Elihu, and Barney[census-1930-avon-park]. Twenty years later, in the 1950 federal census, his parents Thomas and Maggie R. Sims lived at 216 Castle Street, while his older brother Thomas E. Sims worked at the crate factory and Thomas E.’s wife Hattie Sims owned a neighborhood grocery store ([black-businesses-and-trades-in-avon-park-1920-1930](../findings/black-businesses-and-trades-in-avon-park-1920-1930.md)).

After completing the eighth grade in Avon Park, Sims continued his education through a sequence of higher institutions:

  1. Florida Memorial College (then located in St. Augustine), completing a two-year course to earn a License Instructor’s degree[maxwell-1976].
  2. North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College (A&T) in Greensboro, North Carolina, pursuing advanced undergraduate studies[maxwell-1976][findagrave-sims].
  3. Columbia University in New York City, completing postgraduate professional training in educational administration[maxwell-1976][findagrave-sims].

During World War II, Sims served in the United States Army from 20 October 1942 to 1945, attaining the rank of Master Sergeant[findagrave-sims]. In 1949, he married Arletha Christina “AJ” James Sims (1921–2012)[findagrave-sims].

Principalship and Integration Leadership

Sims returned to Avon Park to dedicate his career to local youth, teaching and administering at Hopewell School for thirty-five years[maxwell-1976]. Known respectfully throughout the community as Prof. Sims, he was widely regarded by Black and white residents alike as an exceptional civic leader who advocated for improved healthcare, expanded municipal services, and educational advancement for Black families[newssun-hopewell-2026].

When Highlands County consolidated and desegregated its public school system between 1966 and 1968, Sims transitioned into district leadership. Rather than being displaced, he was appointed assistant principal of the integrated Avon Park schools, and subsequently assistant principal of Avon Park Middle School, where he served until his formal retirement in 1971[maxwell-1976].

Civic Life and Honors

Sims served as a deacon, trustee, choir member, and Sunday School teacher at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church, was active in the NAACP, the Avon Park Housing Authority, the Elementary School Principals Council, and the Highlands County Retired Teachers Association, and served as a gubernatorial liaison for Highlands County[findagrave-sims].

Sims died in Hillsborough County on 10 November 1983 at the age of sixty-nine and was interred at Lakeside Historical Cemetery in Avon Park[findagrave-sims].

In recognition of his foundational contributions to local education, the City of Avon Park named Ernest E. Sims Street in his honor—the very street upon which Hopewell School stood, where the RCMA Hopewell Child Development Center continues to serve children today[hcpao-hopewell][rcma-hopewell]. Prior to its renaming (sometime between Sims’s death in 1983 and 2019, though the exact ordinance is absent from current online municipal archives), the road was historically referred to as School Street. In 2026, to comply with 911 county addressing conventions for fragmented roads, the Highlands County Board of County Commissioners renamed the western portion of the roadway Prof Sims Street, following testimony from his daughter, Cynthia Sims, to the Avon Park City Council in 2025[ap-cc-mar-2025].

References

Where this comes from

Evidence
corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell, The First Hundred Years of Avon Park (references/the-first-hundred-years-of-avon-park_leoma-bradshaw-maxwell_1976.md) (1976)
  2. Margaret Graham, Highlands News-Sun, Hopewell Elementary School educators encouraged Black students to excel (2026)
  3. Find a Grave contributors, Find a Grave memorial 68187567, Ernest Eldridge Sims (1914-1983), Lakeside Historical Cemetery, Avon Park (2026)
  4. Highlands County Property Appraiser, Highlands County Property Appraiser, parcel A-27-33-28-160-00A0-0000, 100 Ernest E. Sims Street, Avon Park (2026)
  5. Redlands Christian Migrant Association, RCMA Hopewell Child Development Center, Avon Park (2026)
  6. City of Avon Park, City Council Regular Meeting Video and Agenda Packet (2026)
  7. United States Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930, population schedules, Florida, Highlands County, enumeration district 28-3 (Avon Park precinct), Sheet 4B (leaf 0053), NARA microfilm T626 roll 318 (1930) · official

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