From left- George Simpson Jr., Dr Nelson L. Adams III, County Commissioner Vice Chairman Kionne L. McGhee, City of Miami Commissioner Damian Pardo and Ray Simpson (George’s brother), posed during the street renaming ceremony to honor the Florida’s first board certified Black pediatrician, Dazelle Simpson and her husband, the state’s first Black surgeon, George Simpson.
pportal@miamiherald.com
Carol Davis Henley Byrd had been waiting on the day she could see her cousin Dazelle Simpson’s name on a street sign in Coconut Grove.
That day finally came Friday when the sign for Dazelle and George Simpson Way was revealed along a short strip of Percival Avenue by the Simpson’s Coconut Grove home. The Simpsons were the first Black board-certified pediatrician and surgeon in the state. George was the first Black surgeon to perform surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital, the Miami Herald reported. Dazelle was a pioneering pediatrician who made house calls all around South Florida and promoted preventative care.
“This is helping to remind people years later what some of the people in this community did for us and beyond,” Byrd told the Miami Herald.
The city of Miami and Miami-Dade County honored the couple inside the Gibson Hall located at Christ Episcopal Church for their efforts in making healthcare accessible and fighting for civil rights in South Florida.
Byrd had been working with George for six years to get a street named after Dazelle until he died in 2024 at 98. Dazelle Simpson died in 2020 at 95. Byrd finally was able to make it happen after enlisting the help of AnnMarie Henry, co-founder of nonprofit Profiles in Black Miami, who had helped get Byrd get a street named after her father, activist Ira P. Davis.
Byrd said she often went with Dazelle on house calls and was awestruck by her work ethic and dedication to helping people with their medical needs.
“If someone was in trouble or in need, she was right there, and she did whatever,” Byrd said. “Watching Dazelle, and how hard she worked and how long the hours were, and then she would volunteer and be in all these organizations to help affect change — she was just unbelievable.”
The Simpson’s devotion to the medical field and love for each other was touted by speakers at the street renaming ceremony, including Miami-Dade County Commissioner and Vice Chair Khionne McGhee, who said their legacy will live on in Miami and beyond.
“That is something strong for us to appreciate and understand,” he said. “History has shown us that there have been people who have wanted to cross us out of history. Now, their names will forever live within the DNA of not just Coconut Grove, but the entire United States of America.”
Born in Miami, Dazelle Simpson wanted to be a doctor since she was 4 years old. Her grandfather, Coconut Grove real estate pioneer and businessman, E.W.F. Stirrup was a large influence in her life as he encouraged her dreams.
Simpson attended Dade County Training School for Coloreds (later known as George Washington Carver High School) where she was valedictorian before attending Fisk University and later Meharry Medical College. That’s where she would meet her husband George.
After completing her residency in pediatrics at Hubbard Hospital of Meharry Medical College, she returned to Miami, where she practiced pediatrics for 42 years, retiring in 1995 from Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Born in New York, George Simpson Sr. was an accomplished surgeon and civil rights leader in Miami, having helped desegregate lunch counters. Like his wife, he’d wanted to be in the medical field since his youth, setting his sights on being a surgeon.
Simpson worked at Homer G. Phillips Hospital in St. Louis, was a surgical resident at Meharry Medical College’s Hubbard Hospital, completed two years of military service as a 1st lieutenant in the Surgical Service of the U.S. Army at Fort Dix Army Hospital, and was senior surgeon for the U.S. Public Health Service. Simpson would join his wife in Miami in 1958 and open up a private practice in general surgery.
His brother Raphael Simpson said he’d always looked up to his brother — George saved his life when he fell down a sewer. “He was always teaching me a lot of things growing up, and advising me with different problems I may have had,” he said.
Simpson’s oldest son, George Simpson Jr. said his parents put in ten to 11 hours of work a day for more than 40 years, and that work ethic was passed onto him and his siblings. “I saw them the least compared to my little brothers because they had a big agenda,” he said. “They taught us to work hard, be diligent, to not take too much crap because, again, civil rights difference were very great then compared to now.”
Byrd said it’s important the Simpsons be honored because much of Coconut Grove’s Black history is vanishing. “The Grove is changing right now,” she said. “So, when people for generations to come ride by and see that name on that street, it’s going to make them wonder who they are and what did they do. Hopefully, it will inspire them.”
Simpson’s brother Raphael said he wished his bother could’ve been alive to see the honor come into fruition. “They really did all they could imagine that helped Black communities wherever they were,” he said. “That was part of their agenda — and they lived it.”
Raisa Habersham
Miami Herald
Raisa Habersham is the race and culture reporter for the Miami Herald. She previously covered Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale for the Herald with a focus on housing and affordability. Habersham is a graduate of the University of Georgia. She joined the Herald in 2022.
