While many have referred to Gone with the Wind as propaganda over the years or claimed that its tale was nothing more than the sympathetic southern “lost cause” pamphlet in jumbo size,….none have come forth to face my research and deny what I have documented. In fact on a number of occasions I have even sought to “pick a fight” with the doubters, the media and some attorneys who I dared to show up to see if the facts I present could “get a conviction” of truth in court.
Now, there’s a new crop of doubters and this time the focus is on the stories of those who lived as slaves during the period of the “late unpleasantness” (as the little old ladies referred to the Civil War in later years). According to those making the accusations, Gone with the Wind showed slaves living and working along with their masters with little animosity or desire to flee and thus it must be labeled a lie and nothing more than southern apocrypha (false documents). But how is it that a group of folks who never ventured south of the Atlanta Airport (if they came to Atlanta at all) could say for sure that none of these tales did or did not happen?
When I started my research in 1994 I found a statement by Margaret Mitchell that, “practically all of the incidences (in GWTW) are true” and that “the little maid Prissy was a real person”. Later I documented Prissy living before, during and after the war in the area near Mitchell’s great grandparent’s home. I went on to document stories of Prissy and her mistress getting sick after, “tending to the white trash” nearby but neither of them succumbing to its effects. And I even found a notation for another slave named Pork arriving to serve on the plantation just before the Yankees took over their house during the Battle of Jonesboro.
But that is not all for I documented numerous males and females of color who continued to stay on the Plantation in the area and even fight back against the Yankees soldiers. I found that they risked their lives to save white males and females of the area as well as Confederate soldiers wounded on the field. In short I documented more than a dozen tales of slaves doing that which Margaret Mitchell wrote about them doing in her book,….and what Selznick in turn presented in film.
But the difference between my research and those who seek to dismiss it is that I do not take the stories of those few and claim they represent all. The fact that there were people in the area that, as Wilbur Kurtz said, “filled the pages of Gone with the Wind” is simply a fact of history. But I doubt there will be much media attention toward what I have learned (and wrote about in my first book, Lost In Yesterday) as they (media and their shills) seem to prefer finding some professorial egg head who, “toes the party line” to simply spout their ignorance for the coin of the realm. They will not walk the streets of Jonesboro, Lovejoy or Fayetteville with me to learn the truth so once again it will be little more than slander.
But the question still arises; do we dismiss it (Gone with the Wind), hide it or curse it because it may not fit neatly into a preconceived idea or argument? Are we to practice “book burning” on Gone with the Wind because the ignorant refuse to read and study the facts? Or do we stand to our feet and as adults make note of the interesting stories of this time and place, understanding that while, “life imitates art” it takes more than a few stories from a historical moment to make a case for or against. Shall we renew again the pledge to follow the truth wherever it leads so that our historical foundation is founded in facts? Or shall we follow the intellectual cowards who continue to lead the charge…to the rear?
I myself will continue to share the information to those with the courage to come and see. I have long since, “crossed the Rubicon” (look up the reference) and there will be no turning back. The Tara façade was a movie set based on a book which contained the true stories gleaned like wheat from histories field and I will continue to serve up the bread from that field to all who come hungry.
Peter
You tell them Peter! By God… As God as my witness, I know that these stories are true! I believe in you and this labor of love….
I guess ‘gone with the wind’ was a racist movie lets ask oprah
Peter- very nicely written. We appreciate your dedication to fact and local history, and the preservation of the Tara facade!
History is replete with TRUTHs, much of which is/has been ignored to fit a contrived narrative that as the axiom states:
“Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.” For me, those who rewrite history have much to explain – if there are any educated people who care to know the TRUTH.
GOD BLESS…
I want to continue to partake of all the bread you offer 🙂 It seems to me that most people who object to the story of GWTW have not seen the movie and definitely have not read the book.
No, Gone with the Wind should be shelved!!
Just to to take something away doesn’t mean it never happened. I’ve thought of GWTW as a story of survival.
Scarlett, it shows how she overcomes all adversity to continue on. It is not about slavery.
David Selznick consulted with NAACP to tone down racial themes. I feel it’s actually more respecfyl than other films of its time.
Hattie MacDaniel holds the entire movie together anyway.
It is a movie people, get over it, but never hide it in some dark corner.
GWTW should never be shelved as propaganda. I loved that movie and its characters are based on real people.. What is the harm of recreating the facade so people can see and still learn about that era.. I think you are doing a wonderful thing Peter. If those people don’t want to do the research and know the truth… Well what can you say….
no!!!!!!!
I am a product of two wonderful born Southerners neither who graduated high school. Daddy moved to NYC in the late 1930’s since he could not find a satisfactory job in Charleston, SC. Then he returned to marry my Mother on 12-31-1938 and move her to NYC. Her father was a minister in the Church of God out of Cleveland TN, and none her family were well-schooled or well-traveled. I was born & raised on Long Island as an only child who spent all vacations in the South with relatives & who was educated in the NY public school system. I now live in Atlanta with my husband who is a musical genius & a computer whiz. I adore GWTW since I know it is based on fact!
Long Live the South !!! I love my home and I’m proud to be a Southerner and I don’t care to EVER cross the Mason/Dixon line !! Scarlet and Rhett will always be my heroes!! I will wave my Confederate flag and play Dixie til the day I die and “Frankly, My Dear…I don’t give a damn” what any yankee has to say about it !! Thanks for letting me have my rant that I have been holding in since this whole thing started !!
I so appriciate your pages, the history you are saving and I hope to one day visit you and see all the wonderful things you have saved and preserved !!
The relationship of Margaret Mitchell with Dr. Benjamin Mays and later the
relation ship of her nephew with Morehouse College.
Greatest Book & Movie of all time!!! I hope the “Crazies”will leave the both of them alone!!!!
As a native born son of the South, and one who has been in the film business as an actor, a writer, and a film critic, and especially as on who was glad to see the Confederate flags come down over houses of State, I repeat for clarity and impact “houses of State,” I say to this a fervent NO. It is a work of art. It is a product of it’s time, and it is a fictional, very, very fictional portrayal of the “Old South.” One more note to add is that to shelf GWTW, would be a slap in the face to Hattie McDaniel’s oscar win, which of course was a great moment in African American history itself. I could write on this subject for hours, but don’t wish to become long winded for now…perhaps more later.
Thank you! I can’t believe this is something that is even being discussed. In the last week I’ve wondered just how true Mr. Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” may be. Freedom of speech…..may it never go out of style.
Yes, let’s shelve Gone With the Wind, along with all of our history and heritage. Keep only what a select group thinks appropriate to pass along.
So far as proving Gone With the Wind, exactly how do you prove fiction, especially when the author states it is not based on real people, other than those historical leaders (Lincoln, Sherman, Robert E. Lee, etc.)
Margaret Mitchell specifically stressed how she went through stacks of documents, Census records and such to prevent using names of any persons of the surrounding area, especially during the time in which she was writing. The same is true about battles, military leaders and such. She did everything humanly possible to be historically accurate.
Why people think it necessary to dissect this book is hilarious to me. It was done in Margaret Mitchell’s lifetime and obviously there are those who still think it needs to be done.
If you know the history behind Gone With the Wind, you would not even dream of dissecting it for the sake of someone proving a character actually existed or a particular story line actually happened.
Fact is, I’m sure several of the story lines could have actually happened during this time period, both in the North and the South. Think about it.
Leave this story as written by the author, respect her work that much. Even David O Selznick respected her work enough to keep as much in tact for the movie as was possible.
So far as ‘saving Tara’, all well and good. Just remember the plantation never existed outside the story, although a little fancier than Margaret Mitchell described it in her book, the movie depiction is the one everyone thinks of.
Peter:
I believe in everything you are doing with Tara facade. Keep up the excellent work. Forever, GWTW, greatest movie and book. Never quit. Love it all.
Judy
Why remove a wonderful movie. all scenes were played very well. A lot of history is shared.
There always a little fiction to make the film interesting. but the youth today can see how
it really was. LEAVE IT ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!