[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 85 (Wednesday, June 16, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S7155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO PHILIP SIMMONS

 Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, today it is my great privilege 
and honor to salute one of my home state's legendary craftsmen, Philip 
Simmons, on his 87th birthday. Mr. Simmons retired in 1990 after more 
than 60 years as a master blacksmith in Charleston, SC. Despite his 
retirement, Mr. Simmons takes great pride in checking in on his shop 
each day, saying hello to the many workers he trained, some of them for 
more than 30 years, as they carry on the craft.
  Philip Simmons' renowned ironwork is on display throughout South 
Carolina, including the symbolic gates to the city outside the Meeting 
Street Visitors Center in Charleston, at the S.C. State Museum in 
Columbia, and he has been inducted into the S.C. Hall of Fame in Myrtle 
Beach. I am also proud to say that Mr. Simmons work can be viewed here 
in our nation's capitol at the Smithsonian Museum.
  The dedication, love and pride in craftsmanship displayed by Philip 
Simmons and passed on to his apprentices is to be saluted. Mr. Simmons 
is an appropriately admired member of the South Carolina family and I 
join his relatives, friends and admirers in wishing him a happy 
birthday and health and happiness in the years to come.

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