Over the last few weeks there have been calls for all Confederate symbols (and artifacts) to be destroyed. A number of writers have written that Gone with the Wind, with its Southern characters and a sympathetic (in their words) portrayal of the south, should be removed from book shelves and never again shown on a big screen (or even a little one). While I dare say I doubt if any of those calling for Gone with the Winds destruction have taken the time to really read the book or study the movie (for if they did they would see how unsympathetic the south is portrayed thru Scarlett and her costars), do they have a point that it is time for it to be shelved forever and the Tara façade be covered with a few old feed sacks and put back to bed like Rip Van Winkle?
It was exciting when the Saving Tara Project first began. It was an opportunity to walk amongst the most recognizable of all movie sets. It was an opportunity to remember the stars who breathed life into those pieces. And for a storyteller like myself it was a chance to “ply my trade” by bringing folks to the old barn and sharing the tales with them. And as a confirmed entertainer and camera hog, it was another adventure to share and claim as a “first” on my resume.
Well, I have been working on this for over two years now and seen a number of successes, a barn full of relics rather than a barn full of junk piled on top of relics. A brand and story that has gone around the world and back and a book to prove that Tara still exists and that it wasn’t lost in Hollywood (like so much of the past) some fifty years ago…and a new group of friends that answered a call for volunteers and never left…..along with a long list of supporters from all over the world who regularly check in and send their encouragement. The facebook site has gone from just myself and my wife to almost 23,000, and a new website/blog has just come online…but is all this for naught and are we just spinning our wheels?
That is the question for the day as I wonder where to go from here. I am still trying to sell books and bring in tours. I am still hoping for help to either build a building on the Talmadge property or take the Tara façade to a location near its current address as the story it tells is so closely tied to the area (as Wilbur Kurtz said), “from Jonesboro to Lovejoy”. 
I’ll be looking for you all up at the gate.
Peter
Please hold on…..Surely she can be saved……..what can I do to help you? Can we not hold an affair this Fall and call out to the people who care. Ms. Betty held many events at her home for things. Will the Son’s not let us have a BBQ on the Lawns and raise money? I know you said they get the $$$ if we host, but can they not see their Mothers dream dying by the way side?? Would it help if I reach out to them?
Can you hold a tour in the fall, when it is cooler and let me see if I can get 20 friends together? I’ve tried several times, but the heat is relentless… Please don’t give up yet.
Please do not give up!! Be patient and it will happen! I do so wish I lived closer. I contacted you in April but we could not work it out to visit. Will try again, Lord willing!!! History cannot be changed, State’s right’s were fought for and the South lost. It is our past and we have a right to not forget all the people, black and white, that lost their lives in that horrible war. PLEASE do not give up! Have faith and keep on trying!! God bless you.
PLEASE DON’T GIVE UP! I think Carol Morris has a great idea! Maybe have more than one so people can make arrangements. What about a GO FUND ME account – request for those who may only have 5 or 10 dollars to contribute? I am actually making plans to come down on August 25 for a tour
I’m far far away in Idaho, and will probably never get to go to Tara, but I love the book, and the movie. America is and has always been a country of extremes. This hub bub, too will pass. We have lost so much history, in the name of progress, but what it really is, is lost. Please hang on. Hope to some day see you at the gate.
Didn’t Margaret Mitchell say at the world premiere that GWTW was about folks that had gumption and folks that didn’t?
Try not to lose your gumption. You’re helping to preserve an important piece of distinctly American cinematic history.
Stay strong.
I attended the 1989 50th Anniversary of
GWTW in Atlanta and was pleased to meet Mrs. Talmadge at the Atlanta Historical Society. I was then and still am now a huge Gone With The Wind fan, I had recently graduated from the University of Utah in Film Studies and that fantastic week in Atlanta I was representing our Salt Lake City Daily
DESERET NEWS which gave me access with press credentials to all of the events. I was charmed to meet Mrs. Talmadge ( I don’t recall her first name at the moment- it is in those notes in a file ) I was delighted be her enthusiasm and the story behind procuring the Tara facade which was in partial display at the museum. There are so many points of interest in our culture that meet through both Margaret Mitchell’s novel and the unparalleled movie….I listened to almost 3 hours of taped interviews I have from that week in Atlanta just a few months ago ….all of the cast members who were there , Daniel Selznick and others at the museum…they are wonderful and I would love to transcribe them as well as edit them for those who would be interested…
PLEASE keep up your work to preserve the history that is part of this fascinating GWTW story…I understand the racial issues are still so raw in our country but the artistic genius of all things connected to this iconic epic are priceless and can lead to on-going discussion….
Good Luck Peter with your efforts!
Best-
Steve Lawrence Peterson
Salt Lake City
Your not alone on your fight to save something with no money, I am the same boat with a property that already has two structures on it and I cannot get the little bit of help to pay 10k for the property. Even offered to sign contracts and everything shesh if I could sell a body part for enough money to at least preserve it from further neglect I would! I am glad you have been able to save what you have and been able to properly inform people that it isn’t a lost artifact of film history. This confederate flag stuff will blow over and the next “big issue” will take its place. The property I am looking at is a civil war era slave church and a later home that was built it stayed an AME church up until 2002. I am white guy from California attempting to buy an African American Church…..if that won’t bring up confrontation just wait till the history is revealed. Its just we are approaching an age where are past and history isn’t as valued as the new “I” gadget…..I feel if we knew our history better we wouldn’t be doing all this non sense over a flag but rather spending that energy teaching the past…
Thanks for all your work to protect one of Hollywood’s greatest set pieces. Too many iconic sets have been lost, and for that reason alone, your project is worth the time and the effort.
As far as the recent columns about what should be done about GWTW in 2015, I haven’t found any specific one which called for the film to be banned. The New York Post writer Lou Limmerick who started all the furor, suggested the film be retired as a relic, like the Confederate flag, in order to degrade the film’s status as a cultural icon because of its racial politics.
I personally think he was way over the top and self-indulgent in his political correctness, as have been other writers. Let’s face it, GWTW was written and filmed in a certain time and place and contains romance, beauty and truth which some 21st Century audiences find difficult to understand. Let us also not forget that ROOTS and 12 YEARS A SLAVE both contain their own brand of sweep, truth and embellishment.
GWTW may no longer have major special re-releases like THE WIZARD OF OZ, or THE SOUND OF MUSIC, but it will remain with us, because of its superb craftsmanship and as an example of the peak of old Hollywood studio power. It will always have fans and devotees and that is why your labor or love in preserving this wonderful piece of Hollywood history is and will always be appreciated by the people who know and love it the most.