Simkins describes an event that was particularly formative in leading to her decision to leave her post as state secretary of the NAACP. Shortly after the Orangeburg boycott, Simkins describes how South Carolina witnessed a rise of White Citizens' Councils that sought to terrorize and undermine civil rights activists in the state. In response, Simkins helped to organize a relief fund to help those who were suffering. Her actions generated disapproval from Roy Wilkins, who firmly reminded her that the NAACP was not a relief organization. Out of concern of the people, however, Simkins defied his orders and used the relief funds she had raised to throw a Christmas party for disadvantaged African American children. As she explains later in the interview, this was one event in a longer chain of circumstances that led to Simkins' disillusionment with the aims of the NAACP.