[1][4] She completed her master's degree with her thesis, The Phonology of Merigarto which examined an early Middle High German poem.

She experienced racial prejudice very early on in her enrollment at the University of Chicago, particularly in housing; that she was invited to reside in the women's dormitory was met with protest from white students.

[2] Furthermore, a letter from the Frederick Douglass Centre was sent to President Judson condemning their action to remove Simpson: The case of Miss Simpson ... who upon your demand gave up her room there and sought quarters outside the campus, is one which has aroused deep interest and concern in and out of university circles.Simpson was the first black woman to be awarded a doctoral degree in the United States.

[9][10] Simpson returned to Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., to teach as most universities did not hire black women outside of home economics courses at this time.

"[12] Her final major publication was a translation of a French work, detailing the biography of Toussaint L'Ouverture, the leader of the Haitian Revolution.