Local artisans crafted many of Charleston’s famous ornamental gates, like the gate pictured above by Philip Simmons. Decorative wrought-iron gates, fences, and railings are an integral part of Charleston’s identity, and the city’s African American craftsmen played a strong role in defining this applied art form and preserving its legacy into the modern era.

Beginning in the seventeenth century, Charleston served as one of North America’s major entrance point for enslaved Africans, resulting in a large African American population. While most of the region’s enslaved African Americans lived and worked on rural plantations, there were a significant number of enslaved and free blacks employed as artisans in Charleston. This community developed an African American blacksmithing tradition, passing these skills down to future craftsmen, including Simmons.

Born on Daniel Island, South Carolina, in 1912, Simmons worked for seventy-seven years as a blacksmith and, after 1938, focused entirely on ornamental ironwork. His work earned him nicknames such as “Keeper of the Gate” and “Dean” of the city’s blacksmiths. Simmons created over 500 pieces, now adorning structures across the region. This work is a physical legacy of the African American contributions to the development of Charleston’s unique urban landscape, both before and after emancipation.

Simmons spent most of his career working out of his modest workshop on Charleston’s Eastside. Today, the site has a museum dedicated to his contributions to the city and beyond.

The gate pictured above is now in the collection of theSmithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visitors to the museum can view this object in the “Cultural Expressions” exhibition.

Credits and Sources:

2008.11.1ab - Wrought iron gate created by Philip Simmons, 1970s. Created by: Phillip Simmons. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

"History - St. Michaels Church." St Michaels Church. Accessed December 16, 2015. http://stmichaelschurch.net/about/history/.

"Philip Simmons Foundation." Accessed December 16, 2015. http://www.philipsimmons.us/index.html.

Powers, Jr., Bernard. "The Black Craft Tradition in Charleston · Keeper of the Gate: Philip Simmons Ironwork in Charleston, South Carolina." The Low Country Digital History Initiative.  Accessed December 16, 2015. http://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/philip_simmons/black-craft-tradition-in-charl.

Simmons, Philip. "Oral History Interview with Philip Simmons." Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. Interviewed by Mary Douglas. April 4-5, 2001. http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-philip-simmons-11873. Accessed December 28, 2015.

Vlach, John Michael. "Philip Simmons, Keeper of the Gate · Keeper of the Gate: Philip Simmons Ironwork in Charleston, South Carolina." Low Country Digital History Initiative. Accessed December 16, 2015. http://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/philip_simmons/philip-simmons-keeper-of-the-g.