Margaret Mitchell letter and program

Descriptive Summary

Repository: Georgia Historical Society Creator: Mitchell, Margaret, 1900-1949. Title: Margaret Mitchell letter and program Dates: 1940 Extent: 0.05 cubic feet (1 folder) Identification: MS 0919

Biographical/Historical Note

Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949) was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Her father, Eugene M. Mitchell, was a prominent attorney. Her mother, Maybelle Stephens Mitchell, was active in the women's suffrage movement. Margaret Mitchell attended Atlanta public schools, graduated from Washington Seminary in Atlanta, and attended Smith College for one year before leaving college upon the death of her mother. She married John Marsh on July 4, 1925. Her only novel, Gone With the Wind, was published in 1936 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937. The movie based on the novel was released in 1939. She was a columnist for the Atlanta Journal Sunday Magazine from 1922 until 1926 and wrote dozens of articles, interviews, sketches, and book reviews before publishing her novel. She died in 1949 after being struck by a car while crossing Peachtree Street in Atlanta.

Scope and Content Note

This collection includes a letter from Margaret Mitchell in Atlanta, Georgia to Joseph W. McAvoy of the Hibernian Society of Savannah, Georgia on March 20, 1940. In her letter, Mitchell thanks McAvoy for the program of the dinner; she also explains why she chose the name "Tara" for the plantation in Gone with the Wind. The second item in the collection is a program of the Hibernian Society Dinner, March 16, 1940, which features a picture of the fictitious plantation, "Tara", on the cover and includes the lyrics to the song, "The Harp that Once Through Tara's Hall."

Index Terms

Hibernian Society (Savannah, Ga.) Letters (correspondence) McAvoy, Joseph W., b. approximately 1913. Mitchell, Margaret, 1900-1949. Souvenir programs.

Administrative Information

Custodial History

Material was acquired from recipient of the letter.

Preferred Citation

[item identification], Margaret Mitchell letter and program, MS 919, Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia.

Acquisition Information

Gift of J. W. McAvoy, 1971. Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to the Georgia Historical Society. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Division of Library and Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Georgia Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Sponsorship

Encoding funded by a 2012 Documenting Democracy grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Container List

Items 1: Margaret Mitchell to Joseph W. McAvoy, 1940 March 20

Item 2: Hibernian Society Dinner program, 1940 March 16