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Cecile Cooper newspaper clippings, 1966-1987

""Simon Estes"" Page 3

SIMON ESTES continued.....Page 3

prejudice and the innumerable other obstacles that might have frustrated the third of 5 children of a poor Negro family born during the depression in a small Iowa coal-mining town. Simon's father had come to Centerville from Missouri, (where [[underline]]his[[end underline]] father had been a slave on a cotton plantation) and worked 12 hours a day -- first as a coal-miner and later as a chauffeur and hotel porter -- to support his family and pay for the 6-room, 2-story house, in a poor but integrated neighborhood, that was their home. The house was surrounded by fruit trees and the family grew their own vegetables, but there was no running water and young Simon was obliged to fetch the daily water supply from a well some distance away. As a youngster he attended the Central Ward School (where he was the only black in his class) and after school often helped his father gather up in baskets the scraps of coal that fell from trucks leaving the mines -- the family's only source of winter fuel.

As the daughter of Nat Jeter, a pioneer labor organizer, Simon's mother was somewhat better educated than her husband, had a natural soprano voice and often played hymns, spirituals and gospel songs on a small, battered upright piano, encouraging Simon and his 2 older sisters to join in chorus. On a visit to the Estes home, the minister of Centerville's Second Baptist Church heard one of these family song sessions and, recognizing the special vocal gift of young Simon, invited the 8-year-old lad to sing a solo at the next Sunday's church service. From then on through his years at Central High, (where he won letters for football and basketball, was the leading high-jumper and the starting baseball pitcher) Simon sang regularly in church choir and school chorus, first as a high boy soprano and then as a tenor. In the latter capacity he represented his school in a statewide competition at Cedar Falls, singing "On Top of Old Smokey" in what he recalls as a pretty fair imitation of Mario Lanza. But by the time he had reached Centerville Junior College, he was experiencing a voice change and couldn't sing at all. So he put music out of his mind and decided to become a doctor.

Transferring to the University of Iowa -- where he stayed for 8 years, first in the School of Medicine and later as a student for the ministry -- he earned the money for his tuition and board working from 4 P.M. to 1 A.M. as a dishwasher in a restaurant in Cedar Rapids, 25 miles off campus, one of the few jobs which was open to one of his race. He also had head-on confrontation with bigotry when,after his 

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SIMON ESTES continued.....Page 3 prejudice and the innumerable other obstacles that might have frustrated the third of 5 children of a poor Negro family born during the depression in a small Iowa coal-mining town. Simon's father had come to Centerville from Missouri, (where [[underline]]his[[end underline]] father had been a slave on a cotton plantation) and worked 12 hours a day -- first as a coal-miner and later as a chauffeur and hotel porter -- to support his family and pay for the 6-room, 2-story house, in a poor but integrated neighborhood, that was their home. The house was surrounded by fruit trees and the family grew their own vegetables, but there was no running water and young Simon was obliged to fetch the daily water supply from a well some distance away. As a youngster he attended the Central Ward School (where he was the only black in his class) and after school often helped his father gather up in baskets the scraps of coal that fell from trucks leaving the mines -- the family's only source of winter fuel. As the daughter of Nat Jeter, a pioneer labor organizer, Simon's mother was somewhat better educated than her husband, had a natural soprano voice and often played hymns, spirituals and gospel songs on a small, battered upright piano, encouraging Simon and his 2 older sisters to join in chorus. On a visit to the Estes home, the minister of Centerville's Second Baptist Church heard one of these family song sessions and, recognizing the special vocal gift of young Simon, invited the 8-year-old lad to sing a solo at the next Sunday's church service. From then on through his years at Central High, (where he won letters for football and basketball, was the leading high-jumper and the starting baseball pitcher) Simon sang regularly in church choir and school chorus, first as a high boy soprano and then as a tenor. In the latter capacity he represented his school in a statewide competition at Cedar Falls, singing "On Top of Old Smokey" in what he recalls as a pretty fair imitation of Mario Lanza. But by the time he had reached Centerville Junior College, he was experiencing a voice change and couldn't sing at all. So he put music out of his mind and decided to become a doctor. Transferring to the University of Iowa -- where he stayed for 8 years, first in the School of Medicine and later as a student for the ministry -- he earned the money for his tuition and board working from 4 P.M. to 1 A.M. as a dishwasher in a restaurant in Cedar Rapids, 25 miles off campus, one of the few jobs which was open to one of his race. He also had head-on confrontation with bigotry when,after his (MORE, PLEASE)