Soroptimist International of Greenville

2007 Greenville County Women's Hall of Fame Inductee

Mary Chevillette Simms Oliphant said she was "born loving history." This love is reflected in the twenty books she authored.
   As the granddaughter of William Gilmore Simms, a well known nineteenth-century author and literary giant, she was a natural choice to update his history of the state, originally written in 1840. Her work on this project was begun shortly after her graduation from the College for Women in Charleston.
   By the next year, shortly after her marriage to Albert Drane Oliphant, the book was finished. Mrs. Oliphant made a successful presentation to the Board of Education which adopted her book as a text for use for the next five years. This was in 1917 (before women had the right to vote) and thus began a long career of writing history texts.
   After updating her grandfather's book for many years, in 1932 she wrote one of her own. This text book, in nine editions, spanned the generations in its use by middle school students from the 1930's until 1985. Additionally, a textbook geared to third graders, written in collaboration with her daughter Mary Simms Oliphant Furman, was in use from the 1940's until 1990.
   Her love of history was also displayed by her efforts to preserve historic buildings and historical documents. She succeeded in having her ancestral home, "Woodlands", designated as a National Historic Landmark and established the William Gilmore Simms Visiting Research Professor Award endowment to honor her grandfather. She acted as executrix and senior editor of the Simms library collected together at USC’s South Caroliniana Library and Society.
   Mrs. Oliphant has a long list of honorary literary accomplishments to her credit. She was inducted into the SC Hall of Fame in 1982 and was the first woman the receive the Order of the Palmetto, the highest award a Governor can present.