William J. Simmons (June 29, 1849 – October 30, 1890) was an American Baptist pastor, educator, author, and activist.

He was elected president of the Colored Press Association for his work as editor of the American Baptist, a newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky.

When Simmons was young, his mother fled slavery with her three children, William and his two sisters, Emeline and Anna.

They initially settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and were met by an uncle named Alexander Tardiff, who housed them, fed them and educated the children.

[4] After graduating, Simmons moved to Arkansas to become a teacher on the advice of Horace Greeley, but returned to Hillsdale soon after.

[5] In Kentucky, Simmons was elected for several years the chairman of the State Convention of Colored Men.

In 1886, Simmons was elected over T. Thomas Fortune as president of the Colored Press Association, having lost to W. A. Pledger the previous year.

[1] The convention was a call for African American Baptist unity and was also led by Richard DeBaptiste and featured notable presentations by Solomon T. Clanton and James T.

[6] In 1889 in Indianapolis, Simmons was a leader at the American National Baptist Convention and wrote a resolution to provide aid for blacks fleeing violence in the South and moving to the North.

He was working on a sister edition of the title that would highlight the lives and accomplishments of prominent pre-1900 African American women, but died before its completion.