William Gilmore Simms
April 1806-June 1870

The father of Southern literature was a native Charlestonian. He was a poet, novelist, short story writer, biographer, historian, editor, essayist, playwright, orator, and mentor to dozens of young authors. As the leading Southern figure of his day, he also gained international recognition. Despite Northern bias against publishing Southern authors, he became the most prolific of writers, using his talent as a writer to support his growing family.

His subject matter and focus were always the people and places he knew and loved. Simms was an author of remarkable genius capable of producing books that appealed to a wide variety of readers. In 1845, Edgar Allen Poe said that Simms’ famous short story collection, “The Wigwam and the Cabin,” was the best American book yet published. This book was published in Scotland in 1848 as “Life in America.”

From 1829 to 1859 he would include African Americans in ten novels, six tales, two novelettes, and three sketches. “The Crazy Crow,” a tale published in 1840 and later included in “The Wigwam and the Cabin,” made Simms the nation’s first literary figure to place a black at the center of a story. His truthfulness in portraying Native Americans in his earlier stories upheld his commitment not to exclude Native or African Americans from his works. They were truly a part of his section and deserved a place in his section’s literature.

Simms was as independent and unique as his beloved Charleston, the diverse cultural haven that had spawned him. In 1860 following South Carolina’s secession, Simms became involved with the defense of his city. He wrote, “Do not be rash, but do not let this old city forget her prestige. Charleston is worth all New England.”

He seethed with fury during the 597-day siege and penned the poem “The Angel of the Church” depicting the artillery damage to St. Michael’s.

When a northern reporter toured Charleston in 1865-66, Simms assailed him about the damage saying, “Charleston, sir, was the finest city in the world; not a large city, but the finest. South Carolina, sir, was the flower of modern civilization. Our people were the most hospitable, the most accomplished, having the highest degree of culture and the highest sense of honor of any people.”

Simms died a poor man. But today visitors from all over the world flock to his beloved Charleston. It is one of the top tourist destinations in America. And his words still ring true. There is no city that rivals Charleston—“the finest city in the world.”

 (From “Fire in the Cradle, Charleston’s Literary Heritage” by Dr. David Aiken)