William Gilmore Simms and Charleston, South Carolina: Southern Literary Tour, Part Two: #16

William Gilmore Simms (1806-70) was a poet, novelist, and biographer of the antebellum period, and as such it almost goes without saying that his writing was pro-slavery, and therefore anti-Tom. Several of his books are online, amongst which are:

The Yemassee: A Romance of Carolina (1844),

The Wigwam and the Cabin (1845),

The Life of Francis Marion (1846), and

Guy Rivers: A Tale of Georgia (1882).

Simms was born in Charleston and his bust stands in White Point Gardens, The Battery, looking away from the Atlantic Ocean.

Simms began his professonal life as a lawyer, but soon gave it up to write. He was a popular writer, and received praise from Edgar Allan Poe, but the War Between the States destroyed him financially and spiritually. Although his works are now largely forgotten, a William Gilmore Simms Society exists.

The base of this memorial a few hundred yards from Simms's bust is blank, apart from the handwritten message: 'This memorial is dedicated to all those smart enough to live and die for themselves and not for oppresive [sic] fascist governments.' The anarchist symbol under this message suggests that the writer was referring to all governments.