{{short description|American poet}}{{Infobox person | name = Anne Semple | image = Anne Semple.png | other_names = Ann Semple | birth_date = June 9, 1900 | birth_place = Caddo, Oklahoma, U.S. | death_date = October 25, 1987 | death_place = Oklahoma, U.S. | occupation = Writer, poet, college professor | known_for = 5th Poet Laureate of Oklahoma | relatives = Peter Pitchlynn (great-grandfather) }}
'''Anne Ruth Semple''' (June 9, 1900 – October 25, 1987), sometimes written '''Ann Semple'',''''' was a Native American writer and professor. She was the fifth poet laureate of the state of Oklahoma, appointed in 1944.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|last=Holliday|first=Shawn|title=The Oklahoma Poets Laureate: A Sourcebook, History, and Anthology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gLMWrgEACAAJ&pg=PA75|year=2015|publisher=Mongrel Empire Press|isbn=978-0-9903204-3-2|pages=75–76}}</ref> She taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University from 1947 to 1965.
== Early life and education == Semple was born in Caddo, Oklahoma,<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1942-07-05 |title=Miss Anne Semple Publishes First Book of Prairie Poems |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/durant-daily-democrat-miss-anne-semple-p/197955342/ |access-date=2026-05-21 |work=Durant Daily Democrat |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> the daughter of Charles Alexander Semple and Minnie E. Pitchlynn Semple. She was an enrolled member of the Choctaw nation, and the great-granddaughter of Peter Pitchlynn (Snapping Turtle), who served as chief of the Choctaw nation in the 1860s.<ref name=":1" /> Her brother William Finley Semple was chief of the Choctaw nation from 1918 to 1922, and served in the Oklahoma legislature.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.choctawnation.com/chief/1918-william-f-semple#:~:text=President%20Woodrow%20Wilson%20appointed%20William,William%20F.|title=1918 - William F. Semple | Choctaw Nation}}</ref>
Semple attended high school at the Oklahoma Presbyterian College.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=May 1926 |title=Work at Oklahoma Presbyterian College |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Presbyterian_Survey/1CVXAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Anne%20Semple%20Choctaw&pg=PA277&printsec=frontcover |journal=The Presbyterian Survey |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=277}}</ref> She earned a bachelor's degree in 1933 at Southeastern State College. She pursued further studies at Austin College in Texas, where she wrote a master's thesis on Native American folklore in Oklahoma.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=1955-06-13 |title=Anne Semple Awarded Ph.D. Degree by A.&M. College; It's Official Now |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/durant-daily-democrat-anne-semple-awarde/197954929/ |access-date=2026-05-21 |work=Durant Daily Democrat |pages=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She completed doctoral studies at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College,<ref name=":2" /> (now Oklahoma State University), with a 1955 dissertation on the history of Oklahoma Presbyterian College.<ref>Semple, Anne Ruth. [https://openresearch.okstate.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/4e5b69a6-a477-4124-96ae-fdaa9d5f7a2a/content "The Origin and Development of Oklahoma Presbyterian College"] (D.Ed. dissertation, 1955, Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College).</ref>
== Career == Semple was the fifth poet laureate of Oklahoma, appointed in 1944 by Governor Robert S. Kerr.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=1944-05-12 |title=Anne Semple is Poet Laureate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/durant-daily-democrat-anne-semple-is-poe/197954495/ |access-date=2026-05-21 |work=Durant Daily Democrat |pages=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She was the first Native American writer to hold the position of Poet Laureate in any U.S. state.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dennis |first=Yvonne Wakim |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Indigenous_Firsts/hK2AEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Anne+Semple+Choctaw&pg=PT152&printsec=frontcover |title=Indigenous Firsts: A History of Native American Achievements and Events |last2=Hirschfelder |first2=Arlene |last3=Molin |first3=Paulette F. |date=2022-10-25 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |isbn=978-1-57859-806-9 |pages=152 |language=en}}</ref> She was a member of the Oklahoma Poetry Society, Sigma Tau Delta, the Oklahoma Writers' Club, the Oklahoma Educational Association, Phi Alpha Theta, Delta Kappa Gamma, the Ohoyohoma Club, and the California Federation of Chaparral Poets.<ref name=":3" />
Semple was a professor of education at Southeastern Oklahoma State University from at least 1947 until 1965.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lectures.se.edu/digitized-annuals/Annuals/1947/1947%20PDF.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2020-09-28 |archive-date=2020-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928152543/http://lectures.se.edu/digitized-annuals/Annuals/1947/1947%20PDF.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> She spoke about her work to community groups.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1956-03-25 |title=Dr. Anne Semple Speaks to Zeta Chapter of DKG |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/durant-daily-democrat-dr-anne-semple-sp/197954067/ |access-date=2026-05-21 |work=Durant Daily Democrat |pages=11 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1955-09-25 |title=Dr. Anne Semple Honored at Tea |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/durant-daily-democrat-dr-anne-semple-ho/197954363/ |access-date=2026-05-21 |work=Durant Daily Democrat |pages=9 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1955-11-20 |title=Dr. Anne Semple Presents Program at Regular Meeting of Fortnightly Club |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/durant-daily-democrat-dr-anne-semple-pr/197955253/ |access-date=2026-05-21 |work=Durant Daily Democrat |pages=9 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
== Publications == * "One of Many" (1931, essay)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Semple |first=Ann |date=June 1931 |title=One of Many |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_presbyterians-today_1931-06_21_6/page/356/mode/2up?q=Semple |journal=The Presbyterians Today |volume=21 |issue=6 |pages=356 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> * ''Prairie-Born: A Book of Verse'' (1942)<ref name=":1" /> * "Christian Leaders Developed at Oklahoma Presbyterian College" (1946)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Semple |first=Anne |date=January 1946 |title=Christian Leaders Developed at Oklahoma Presbyterian College |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_presbyterians-today_1946-01_36_1/page/18/mode/2up?q=%22Anne+Semple%22 |journal=Presbyterian Survey |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=18-20 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> * ''Ties that Bind: The Story of Oklahoma Presbyterian College'' (1957)<ref>{{Cite news |date=1958-11-20 |title=Story of OPC by Dr. Anne Semple, SSC Education Professor, is Reviewed in 'The Southeastern' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-antlers-american-story-of-opc-by-dr/197955591/ |access-date=2026-05-21 |work=The Antlers American |pages=4 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
== Personal life and legacy == Semple died in 1987, at the age of 87, in Oklahoma. Her grave is in Gethsemane Cemetery in Caddo, Oklahoma. Her papers are in the collection of the Oklahoma Historical Society.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Finding Aid, Anne R. Semple Collection, 1937-1987 |url=https://www.okhistory.org/research/findingaid?id=001cyj |access-date=2026-05-21 |website=Oklahoma Historical Society}}</ref> The Semple Family Museum of Native American Art at Southeastern Oklahoma State University is named for her family.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome! |url=https://www.se.edu/semplefamilymuseum/ |access-date=2026-05-21 |website=Semple Family Museum |language=en-US}}</ref> Her great-niece Jane Semple Umsted is an artist who was appointed to the board of trustees of the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gonzales |first=Hannah |date=2023-07-21 |title=Choctaw artist appointed by President Biden |url=https://www.kxii.com/2023/07/21/choctaw-artist-appointed-by-president-biden/ |access-date=2026-05-21 |website=KXII 12 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Trevino |first=Belle |date=2023-07-21 |title=Biden appoints SOSU curator to Native American arts organization |url=https://www.kten.com/biden-appoints-sosu-curator-to-native-american-arts-organization/article_7a6ab5b1-f866-552c-be32-4b72dd4b2c23.html |access-date=2026-05-21 |website=KTEN |language=en}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== See also == {{Portal|Poetry }} * Poets Laureate of Oklahoma
{{OK Poets Laureate|state=expanded}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Semple, Anne}} Category:1900 births Category:1987 deaths Category:Poets laureate of Oklahoma Category:20th-century Native American women writers Category:20th-century American women writers Category:20th-century Native American writers Category:People from Caddo County, Oklahoma Category:Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma