Philip Simmons centennial

This June will mark the centennial of famed ironsmith Philip Simmons’ birth in 1912 on Daniel’s Island. Mr. Simmons went to work at a Calhoun Street blacksmith shop at age thirteen, learning to fix wheels and axles of wagons and carts, pounding iron by hammer on anvil each day in the heat of coal furnaces. He was fascinated by the decorative iron work that had graced old Charleston since colonial times, and by his twenties began to fashion his own creations as ornamental gate work. His first decorative gate made in Charleston stands in Stoll’s Alley today, what he called his “billboard gate”, which he used to show people what kind of work he could do.
Ever-so-slowly, his clientele increased, and the reputation of his work spread. From his little shed on Drake Street in the East Side, Mr. Simmons diligently pounded away, and won as many accolades for his work as he did for a kind, gentle disposition. I got to know Mr. Simmons very well in his later years when I did programs for a local television station, and among the many shows I did on him was a 1998 documentary called “Philip Simmons –Fire and Iron.” The last show I did with Mr. Simmons was in 2005 as part of my “Carolina Explore” series with Comcast. He was well over 90 at the time, but still banged away on the molten iron as an instructor at the American College of Building Arts inside the old District Jail on Magazine Street.
Never bitter over his poor background and the fact that he descended from slaves, always gracious in thanking wealthier patrons who bought his work for generations, Philip Simmons was a man who transcended class and racial differences in Charleston and proved throughout his brilliant career that creative genius can come from an inner passion and joy, glowing like the sparks that framed his determined face for more than ninety years.