Neal F. Simeon Papers

Neal Ferdinand Simeon was born in Chicago in 1916 and was of Creole descent. He graduated from Doolittle Elementary School and went on to graduate from Wendell Phillips High School in 1934. Simeon received his Bachelor of Arts in Mechanical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1938. He started working under Benjamin Willis at the Chicago Board of Education in 1942., and later served in the United States Navy from 1944-1945. After WWII, he went to Northwestern University and received a Master of Arts in Educational Administration. Simeon’s career as an educator began when he became a teacher at Wendell Phillips Evening High School. A short time later, he became a full time machine shop teacher at Dunbar Vocational High School where he successively served as Administrator, Placement Counselor, Assistant Principal, and as Director of Special Projects in Vocational Education. In 1961, the Chicago Board of Education appointed him Director of Vocational Education and Guidance Centers for the Chicago public schools. This position gave him a citywide voice in creating and developing vocational education for Chicago youth and made him the highest paid African American employee at the Board. Simeon represented the United States at the 1962 International Trade Fair in Lagos, Nigeria. Simeon died in 1963.