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New Perspectives on the History of the South
Dixie's Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture
Southern Association for Women Historians Julia Cherry Spruill Prize "A vital and, until now, missing piece to the puzzle of the 'Lost Cause' ideology and its impact on the daily lives of post-Civil War southerners. This is a careful, insightful examination of the role women played in shaping the perceptions of two generations of southerners, not simply through rhetoric but through the creation of a remarkably effective organization whose leadership influenced the teaching of history in the schools, created a landscape of monuments that honored the Confederate dead, and provided assistance to elderly veterans, their widows, and their children."--Carol Berkin, City University of New York
Even without the right to vote, members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy proved to have enormous social and political influence throughout the South--all in the name of preserving Confederate culture. Karen L. Cox's history of the UDC, an organization founded in 1894 to vindicate the Confederate generation and honor the Lost Cause, shows why myths surrounding the Confederacy continue to endure.
The Daughters, as UDC members were popularly known, were literally daughters of the Confederate generation. While southern women had long been leaders in efforts to memorialize the Confederacy, UDC members made the Lost Cause a movement about vindication as well as memorialization. They erected monuments, monitored history for "truthfulness," and sought to educate coming generations of white southerners about an idyllic past and a just cause--states' rights. Soldiers' and widows' homes, perpetuation of the mythology of the antebellum South, and pro-southern textbooks in the region's white public schools were all integral to their mission of creating the New South in the image of the Old.
UDC members aspired to transform military defeat into a political and cultural victory, in which states' rights and white supremacy remained intact. To the extent they were successful, the Daughters helped to preserve and perpetuate an agenda for the New South that included maintaining the social status quo. Placing the organization's activities in the context of the postwar and Progressive-Era South, Cox describes in detail the UDC's origins and early development, its efforts to collect and preserve manuscripts and artifacts and to build monuments, and its later role in the peace movement and World War I.
This remarkable history of the organization presents a portrait of two generations of southern women whose efforts helped shape the social and political culture of the New South. It also offers a new historical perspective on the subject of Confederate memory and the role southern women played in its development.
Karen L. Cox is assistant professor and director of the public history program at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
Even without the right to vote, members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy proved to have enormous social and political influence throughout the South--all in the name of preserving Confederate culture. Karen L. Cox's history of the UDC, an organization founded in 1894 to vindicate the Confederate generation and honor the Lost Cause, shows why myths surrounding the Confederacy continue to endure.
The Daughters, as UDC members were popularly known, were literally daughters of the Confederate generation. While southern women had long been leaders in efforts to memorialize the Confederacy, UDC members made the Lost Cause a movement about vindication as well as memorialization. They erected monuments, monitored history for "truthfulness," and sought to educate coming generations of white southerners about an idyllic past and a just cause--states' rights. Soldiers' and widows' homes, perpetuation of the mythology of the antebellum South, and pro-southern textbooks in the region's white public schools were all integral to their mission of creating the New South in the image of the Old.
UDC members aspired to transform military defeat into a political and cultural victory, in which states' rights and white supremacy remained intact. To the extent they were successful, the Daughters helped to preserve and perpetuate an agenda for the New South that included maintaining the social status quo. Placing the organization's activities in the context of the postwar and Progressive-Era South, Cox describes in detail the UDC's origins and early development, its efforts to collect and preserve manuscripts and artifacts and to build monuments, and its later role in the peace movement and World War I.
This remarkable history of the organization presents a portrait of two generations of southern women whose efforts helped shape the social and political culture of the New South. It also offers a new historical perspective on the subject of Confederate memory and the role southern women played in its development.
Karen L. Cox is assistant professor and director of the public history program at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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860 people want to read
About the author
Karen L. Cox
11 books31 followersKaren L. Cox is professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Cox received her BA and MA in history from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and her Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1997.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
June 28, 2020
The United Daughters of the Confederacy have much to answer for. Cox's books traces the development of the group and, more importantly, the groups involvement in the manipulation of history as well as the monuments that are currently under debate (and quite frankly, should come down).
It is extremely difficult in reading the section about the UDC and education to not think of the Hitler Youth and other educational/brain washing programs. We not only should be talking about the statues that a certain Orange president seems interesting in protecting (as opposed to Native American Sacred sites) but also how we as a society think about the Civil War.
It is extremely difficult in reading the section about the UDC and education to not think of the Hitler Youth and other educational/brain washing programs. We not only should be talking about the statues that a certain Orange president seems interesting in protecting (as opposed to Native American Sacred sites) but also how we as a society think about the Civil War.
July 30, 2021
This was sort of a tedious read because of the academic approach and repetitiveness, but it clearly tells the story of the origin and growth of the Lost Cause propaganda. The United Daughters of the Confederacy organization, in an effort to vindicate their husbands and fathers, funded hundreds of confederate monuments and indoctrinated children in the "unbiased" history of the noble confederate cause. The main talking points:
--The Civil War was fought over states' rights, not slavery
--Confederate soldiers were fighting to uphold the US Constitution and were true American patriots
--The antebellum plantation system was a pastoral idyll, and slavery was a benign institution that benefited slaves
--Confederate politicians and military leaders are all heroes
The UDC's campaign was so successful, that these myths are still passed around to this day. I wish the book had spent more time of the way these ideas have supported and furthered institutional racism and white supremacy, but it at least made a clear case for the role of the UDC in the all-too-familiar and somehow-still-active confederate mythos.
--The Civil War was fought over states' rights, not slavery
--Confederate soldiers were fighting to uphold the US Constitution and were true American patriots
--The antebellum plantation system was a pastoral idyll, and slavery was a benign institution that benefited slaves
--Confederate politicians and military leaders are all heroes
The UDC's campaign was so successful, that these myths are still passed around to this day. I wish the book had spent more time of the way these ideas have supported and furthered institutional racism and white supremacy, but it at least made a clear case for the role of the UDC in the all-too-familiar and somehow-still-active confederate mythos.
August 24, 2018
Why did the UDC build all these monuments and promote education to counter the "anti-South" bias? Historian Cox provides a fascinating and important look at this influential organization that thrived at the turn of the last century.
The UDC played an instrumental role in raising a generation of women in the Lost Cause and provides a good context for not just the last 100 years of segregation, but today.
The UDC played an instrumental role in raising a generation of women in the Lost Cause and provides a good context for not just the last 100 years of segregation, but today.
May 12, 2023
Examines the role of white women's organizations in perpetuating the Lost Cause narrative, memorializing confederate generals, romanticizing plantation life, and institutionalizing white supremacy in school curriculum. Really got me thinking about the role of mothers as storytellers - and how the stories we tell can humanize or dehumanize.
White supremacy and patriarchy are so intertwined and I feel like the only way out of their tangled web is to start the planet over and try again??
White supremacy and patriarchy are so intertwined and I feel like the only way out of their tangled web is to start the planet over and try again??
August 12, 2020
I felt like Cox explained the history of the UDC clearly and laid out their roll in promoting the "Lost Cause" and white supremacy well. It did feel like the book ended a bit abruptly though. I would have liked a little more about the recent history and the role of the organization in influencing policies after WWI.
April 2, 2018
Brain Food: Ochra... not fried
Scandal Level: characters who are totally racist
Violence: racism
Must be ___ old to read: 16 and a Civil War History buff
Read if you liked: Gone with the Wind and need to know the real story
Re-readability: Once is enough
Thoughts: This book is fascinating. I was assigned to read and write a professional review of it for my HIS-602: The Civil War Era course in my MA program. In less formal terms; this book is well written, but not for the 'lay' history nerd. It is definitely geared toward a scholarly audience. There is nothing wrong with that, I'm just making sure that is clear. Cox discusses the creation of the "Lost Cause Myth" and "Confederate Culture." She specifically focuses on the way women who joined The United Daughters of the Confederacy were central, she argues that they were the leaders, in creating and perpetuating this form of southern culture. It is an interesting read and she argues her thesis well, I do not know that I would call it enjoyable though.
Scandal Level: characters who are totally racist
Violence: racism
Must be ___ old to read: 16 and a Civil War History buff
Read if you liked: Gone with the Wind and need to know the real story
Re-readability: Once is enough
Thoughts: This book is fascinating. I was assigned to read and write a professional review of it for my HIS-602: The Civil War Era course in my MA program. In less formal terms; this book is well written, but not for the 'lay' history nerd. It is definitely geared toward a scholarly audience. There is nothing wrong with that, I'm just making sure that is clear. Cox discusses the creation of the "Lost Cause Myth" and "Confederate Culture." She specifically focuses on the way women who joined The United Daughters of the Confederacy were central, she argues that they were the leaders, in creating and perpetuating this form of southern culture. It is an interesting read and she argues her thesis well, I do not know that I would call it enjoyable though.
January 24, 2022
This book was a difficult read for 2 reasons. #1 Because the book was based on a thesis paper there is a lot of repetition which, unfortunately, becomes tedious at times. #2 (and infinitely more important) because the ugly, racist things written in this book are STILL causing problems today. These women literally glorified the KKK, they filled textbooks with outright lies & made sure they were placed in every school & every library in the south &, in some cases, in the north & west. They contributed in large part to the creation of Jim Crow. They littered the south with monuments & memorials that upheld racist ideals & managed to convince federal & state governments to foot the bill. In other words African Americans helped pay for statues of men that literally terrorized, enslaved (& in some cases murdered) them. The sad thing is, had these women used their charm & charisma to bring about positive change & reconciliation between the north & south, they would be of the most celebrated organizations in our nation. Unfortunately the damage they inflicted on America is deep & generation after generation continues to pay the price. I can see no reason for the Daughters of the Confederacy to exist. Unless they admit to their hate-filled, racist past, & try to make up for it, they bring absolutely no value to our country & should to be ashamed of the things they have done.
***On a side note... it should be mentioned that members of the UDC were given a lot of freedoms that were otherwise unavailable to them before the war. It was OK for them to speak publicly, to become editors & reporters, to interact with senators, governors, etc. Whether or not this had anything to do with them continuing their work beyond putting flowers on graves & taking care of the aged & widowed I can not say. But because of the way women were treated it would be unfair to not consider the effect of their new found freedoms on them. It certainly doesn't justify anything, but it may be easier to understand from this perspective.
***On a side note... it should be mentioned that members of the UDC were given a lot of freedoms that were otherwise unavailable to them before the war. It was OK for them to speak publicly, to become editors & reporters, to interact with senators, governors, etc. Whether or not this had anything to do with them continuing their work beyond putting flowers on graves & taking care of the aged & widowed I can not say. But because of the way women were treated it would be unfair to not consider the effect of their new found freedoms on them. It certainly doesn't justify anything, but it may be easier to understand from this perspective.
February 8, 2020
This book read so easily where I expected it to read more like a textbook. I was genuinely interested in every page and looked forward to each new chapter in the saga and the legacy of the UDC and the Lost Cause. Highly recommended for anyone who wants more context behind the Lost Cause and how its effects ripple through history and impacts us today.
December 5, 2023
Goodnight HIS499 thanks for everything
October 18, 2020
The 2019 revised edition of Karen L. Cox's Dixie's Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture, first published in 2003, is both a superb history of the UDC and perfectly-timed read for the sociopolitical moment in which we find ourselves. Moreover, it is among the most accessible (<200 pages) and successful adaptations of a doctoral dissertation into book form that I have read. Also, if you take nothing else away from this review: this is not a book about placing blame. It's a history. If it makes you uncomfortable or leaves you wondering, then that's a good thing.
This history is concise, it contextualizes the UDC (est. in 1894) as a socially and politically powerful complement to the Ladies Memorial Associations (LMAs) that arose immediately after the Civil War and established the "Lost Cause" mythology and such traditions as Confederate Memorial Day. The UDC came to exercise considerable political power throughout the South and across much of the country. What I most appreciated was that in the course of charting this historic trajectory, Cox carefully contextualizes the group's evolving priorities and the wider social and geopolitical events against which they unfolded and continue to unfold. I also could not help but draw an amusing (to me, anyway) parallel between the organizational history of the UDC Cox had written and the UDC's vigilant campaign to define how the history of the War Between the States was to be written for conveyance via public school and university textbooks.
Talk about the politics of memory! The UDC's notion of historical "bias" stood and stands markedly at odds with any notion of a scholarly approach to history where the records are amassed, synthesized, critiqued, and interpreted. In other words, the UDC was less concerned with telling the truth than they were with telling their truth. Throughout my reading of this recounting of the UDC's remarkable efforts to vindicate their Confederate ancestors' reputations--in some instances by amassing and attempting to stack the decks of the very sorts of targeted collections of oral histories, artifacts, and leveraging of funding for creation of Divisions of Archives & History within state governments that would house these materials--I could not help but chuckle at the fact that it was all so readily unpacked by the very historical methods and logical thinking one is taught in the same schools and universities they imagined themselves to have "managed" into seeing things their way. This was just one among a litany of ironies, the most notable probably being that the UDC afforded women an opportunity to pursue a role in the public sphere while still retaining or claiming to retain the trappings of their image as traditional women bound by their apron strings to hearth and home.
Many readers are likely familiar with the UDC's role in the fundraising for and erection of Confederate monuments and memorials throughout the South, in courthouse squares, and even at Arlington National Cemetery. What you will also discover, is that their reach was (and is) far greater. It extended beyond monument building (whose meaning and locations changed significantly between the 1880s and 1919) to caring for the Confederate veterans to their widows and orphans, campaigning for "impartial" textbooks in schoolrooms and universities, restoration of historic buildings significant in the history of the Confederacy (and therefore the nation), the transmission of pro-Confederate culture to children and young people within the home as an outgrowth of Confederate motherhood and outside the home and classroom via creation of a Confederate "catechism" and establishment of Children of the Confederacy (COC) chapters as auxiliaries to state UDC chapters, establishment of high school and college scholarships for the benefit of middle- and upper middle class Confederate descendants, and a steadfast commitment that reconciliation would occur only on the UDC's terms (that is, after what they perceived as the vindication of their ancestors had been accomplished).
Readers will be fascinated to learn of UDC activities during the Spanish-American War and World War I, none of which required deviation from their long-term goals and steadfast dedication to Confederate heritage, a strong defense of states' rights, and white supremacy. I was particularly interested to read the history of the UDC and situate it against a backdrop of women's history across these same years, against the development of the disciplines and fields of Southern History, public history, the growth of state archives and archival collections, and the evolution of a national preservation program. I could not help but wonder where books I had read long ago such as The Last Living Confederate Widow Tells All fit within the UDC's goals of Southern uplift and transfer of traditional ideals of class and race relations from the Old South to the emerging New South? Also, where do visions of the New South as envisioned by the UDC fit in relation to those purveyed in pop culture sources on television and film, or even resting just a few feet from me on my coffee table in the form of periodicals such as Garden & Gun as I type this review? (As for G&G, please don't mock before you've checked it out--always a great dog story, cocktail recipe, and frequently interesting book reviews and great food-related content.)
Cox is careful to note that not all Southerners subscribed to the positions advocated by groups like the UDC--neither in the past nor in the present. What is most profound, though, is their influence. She notes that "The generation of children raised on the Lost Cause and Confederate culture in the early decades of the twentieth century is also the generation that was actively engaged in massive resistance to desegregation at mid-century" (p. 161). She notes that other groups adopted the UDC's mantra of states' rights and white supremacy, with the result that the Citizens Councils organized throughout the South in the 1950s and 1960s used it to react to efforts to advance civil rights, noting that: "In its heyday the UDC was the primary nonpolitical organization promoting preservation of the status quo; during the period of massive resistance, the councils operated with the same goal" (p. 162).
So flash forward to mid-October 2020 when I read this book against the same backdrop as some of you reading (or contemplating reading) this book. I cannot imagine a more timely read as we all engage in the ongoing reevaluation of priorities this year has wrought. Once we have a safe and effective vaccine in place I would like this review to constitute an open invitation to Dr. Cox to stop by our house for a spirited discussion of this book and her other work on southern identity and heritage--the latter referring to the uses to which information from or about the past is put in the present. A good many of my friends and colleagues would like to discuss these topics with you, so if you're game Dr. Cox, let's make it a dinner party at which you'll be the guest of honor. (N.B.: So that you're prepared, please come prepared to consider the potential link between inculcation in the Lost Cause narrative and Confederate culture and the popularity of Civil War reenactment, if any. I'm keen to hear your thoughts on this and many other things.)
This history is concise, it contextualizes the UDC (est. in 1894) as a socially and politically powerful complement to the Ladies Memorial Associations (LMAs) that arose immediately after the Civil War and established the "Lost Cause" mythology and such traditions as Confederate Memorial Day. The UDC came to exercise considerable political power throughout the South and across much of the country. What I most appreciated was that in the course of charting this historic trajectory, Cox carefully contextualizes the group's evolving priorities and the wider social and geopolitical events against which they unfolded and continue to unfold. I also could not help but draw an amusing (to me, anyway) parallel between the organizational history of the UDC Cox had written and the UDC's vigilant campaign to define how the history of the War Between the States was to be written for conveyance via public school and university textbooks.
Talk about the politics of memory! The UDC's notion of historical "bias" stood and stands markedly at odds with any notion of a scholarly approach to history where the records are amassed, synthesized, critiqued, and interpreted. In other words, the UDC was less concerned with telling the truth than they were with telling their truth. Throughout my reading of this recounting of the UDC's remarkable efforts to vindicate their Confederate ancestors' reputations--in some instances by amassing and attempting to stack the decks of the very sorts of targeted collections of oral histories, artifacts, and leveraging of funding for creation of Divisions of Archives & History within state governments that would house these materials--I could not help but chuckle at the fact that it was all so readily unpacked by the very historical methods and logical thinking one is taught in the same schools and universities they imagined themselves to have "managed" into seeing things their way. This was just one among a litany of ironies, the most notable probably being that the UDC afforded women an opportunity to pursue a role in the public sphere while still retaining or claiming to retain the trappings of their image as traditional women bound by their apron strings to hearth and home.
Many readers are likely familiar with the UDC's role in the fundraising for and erection of Confederate monuments and memorials throughout the South, in courthouse squares, and even at Arlington National Cemetery. What you will also discover, is that their reach was (and is) far greater. It extended beyond monument building (whose meaning and locations changed significantly between the 1880s and 1919) to caring for the Confederate veterans to their widows and orphans, campaigning for "impartial" textbooks in schoolrooms and universities, restoration of historic buildings significant in the history of the Confederacy (and therefore the nation), the transmission of pro-Confederate culture to children and young people within the home as an outgrowth of Confederate motherhood and outside the home and classroom via creation of a Confederate "catechism" and establishment of Children of the Confederacy (COC) chapters as auxiliaries to state UDC chapters, establishment of high school and college scholarships for the benefit of middle- and upper middle class Confederate descendants, and a steadfast commitment that reconciliation would occur only on the UDC's terms (that is, after what they perceived as the vindication of their ancestors had been accomplished).
Readers will be fascinated to learn of UDC activities during the Spanish-American War and World War I, none of which required deviation from their long-term goals and steadfast dedication to Confederate heritage, a strong defense of states' rights, and white supremacy. I was particularly interested to read the history of the UDC and situate it against a backdrop of women's history across these same years, against the development of the disciplines and fields of Southern History, public history, the growth of state archives and archival collections, and the evolution of a national preservation program. I could not help but wonder where books I had read long ago such as The Last Living Confederate Widow Tells All fit within the UDC's goals of Southern uplift and transfer of traditional ideals of class and race relations from the Old South to the emerging New South? Also, where do visions of the New South as envisioned by the UDC fit in relation to those purveyed in pop culture sources on television and film, or even resting just a few feet from me on my coffee table in the form of periodicals such as Garden & Gun as I type this review? (As for G&G, please don't mock before you've checked it out--always a great dog story, cocktail recipe, and frequently interesting book reviews and great food-related content.)
Cox is careful to note that not all Southerners subscribed to the positions advocated by groups like the UDC--neither in the past nor in the present. What is most profound, though, is their influence. She notes that "The generation of children raised on the Lost Cause and Confederate culture in the early decades of the twentieth century is also the generation that was actively engaged in massive resistance to desegregation at mid-century" (p. 161). She notes that other groups adopted the UDC's mantra of states' rights and white supremacy, with the result that the Citizens Councils organized throughout the South in the 1950s and 1960s used it to react to efforts to advance civil rights, noting that: "In its heyday the UDC was the primary nonpolitical organization promoting preservation of the status quo; during the period of massive resistance, the councils operated with the same goal" (p. 162).
So flash forward to mid-October 2020 when I read this book against the same backdrop as some of you reading (or contemplating reading) this book. I cannot imagine a more timely read as we all engage in the ongoing reevaluation of priorities this year has wrought. Once we have a safe and effective vaccine in place I would like this review to constitute an open invitation to Dr. Cox to stop by our house for a spirited discussion of this book and her other work on southern identity and heritage--the latter referring to the uses to which information from or about the past is put in the present. A good many of my friends and colleagues would like to discuss these topics with you, so if you're game Dr. Cox, let's make it a dinner party at which you'll be the guest of honor. (N.B.: So that you're prepared, please come prepared to consider the potential link between inculcation in the Lost Cause narrative and Confederate culture and the popularity of Civil War reenactment, if any. I'm keen to hear your thoughts on this and many other things.)
March 17, 2017
This book falls into a category somewhere between Yankee Propaganda and a backhanded compliment. The only reason that I gave it two stars was because it does include a lot of fascinating history of the early UDC. Janet Randolph squaring off with Fitzhugh Lee over the Robert E Lee monument in Richmond is a particular highlight.
But, there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the South and Southerners that permeates the book and infuriates people like me who are Southern. The fact that I have been a member of the UDC for nearly 22 years only highlights the author's inability to understand the organization.
Ms. Cox fails to see the response of a black teacher to Historian General Mildred Lewis Rutherford's sending essays on Confederate history to black schools as sincere. Perhaps someone needs to explain to her that some of those same black folks had ancestors who served in the Confederate Army and many of them were proud of that service.
This is a book that states the facts, but misses the point. If you choose to read it, please bear that in mind.
But, there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the South and Southerners that permeates the book and infuriates people like me who are Southern. The fact that I have been a member of the UDC for nearly 22 years only highlights the author's inability to understand the organization.
Ms. Cox fails to see the response of a black teacher to Historian General Mildred Lewis Rutherford's sending essays on Confederate history to black schools as sincere. Perhaps someone needs to explain to her that some of those same black folks had ancestors who served in the Confederate Army and many of them were proud of that service.
This is a book that states the facts, but misses the point. If you choose to read it, please bear that in mind.
June 23, 2020
Having grown up in the Jim Crow South I was immersed in the message of the UDC and its promotion of White Supremacy. I really didn't know much about the organization even though I had a great-grandmother who was a very active member. I think this book would be helpful for those who don't understand much about how we arrived at the place we are in our society and why White Supremacy is so hard to overcome. A timely read.
August 17, 2021
Should be required reading for every American.
August 28, 2021
Shocking to think this organization is still around.
September 17, 2018
Dixie's Daughters is a fascinating book about a lesser-known group of women who altered American history in an enormous way, both then and not-surprisingly, now. Beginning immediately after the Civil War and continuing to the present day, the greatest achievements by groups composed entirely of women were made before they even had the right to vote. Their intentions were clear and upfront: they wanted vindication for those who fought in the Confederate Army and they wanted to maintain the honor, dignity, and culture of the American South. To accomplish this, they built Confederate monuments across the country. Mostly in the South but in Northern cities as well. The most shocking in my book is the massive monument, depicting slaves and all, that was placed in Arlington National Cemetery. Furthermore, they altered textbooks and started youth auxiliary groups to teach what they deemed "true history." Just for a frame of reference, some of this truthful history included the belief that slavery was a benevolent institution and a blessing for African-Americans. The Civil War was actually a disagreement between the states and the Confederacy was fighting on behalf of the Constitution rather than over slavery. And finally, the southern men who fought in the "War Between the States" were American heroes, not traitors. Truly fascinating stuff.
Fast forward to the present day and you can see the lasting impact of the Daughters of Dixie's efforts. Many of the statues and monuments still bear their names. The flying of the Confederate flag too is also largely due in part to their efforts. Other outcomes are more subtle but definitely present. The culture of the south including lasting bouts of racism have also preserved in part because of Dixie's Daughters. Books on the heroic Ku Klux Klan were recommended reading to schoolchildren during the era and many libraries stocked books of this nature freely. Intended for white children, young blacks also read them once they became secondhand books and were passed down in their schools. What we learn as children largely determines the direction we take as adults and when it becomes generational precedence, it would be naive to ignore the results.
I'm not from the South nor have I spent much time there. Even though I've read some on the Civil War and watched a documentary or two, I was taken aback by how naive I was myself while reading this book. To think that once the final white flag was waved the war was over wasn't even a half truth. Not everything these women did was bad as they also created early welfare programs that aided Confederate families and veterans after the war. They merely wanted to preserve their way of life. Secondly, while I'm not a fan of placing monuments for those who lose a war, it's important to note that those who fought against the Union were also Americans. I can see how it would be hard to head home, lick ones wounds, and carry on as before. I think the efforts of the United Daughters of the Confederacy were damning but also necessary to bring our country back together. I think flying the Confederate flag and placing monuments in packed town squares or outside of government buildings is not a great plan but without them, would the country have healed? Interesting stuff and definitely worth a ponder.
Not quite a feminist manifesto but definitely illustrative of girl power, Dixie's Daughters is worth a read. It is a book written by an academic and as such isn't the most compelling thing you'll pick up but Karen Cox did her homework and was able to break down a huge chunk of history into a manageable 200 or so pages with frequent citations. My only gripe is the redundancy that peppers the pages from time to time. There were times when I was like, "Wait a second, did I mix up my bookmark? I swear I've read this exact sentence before." And I had. It's done in a way to reaffirm a point that applies broadly from one topic to the next but she didn't shuffle the words much. Otherwise, no complaints. Well-written with lots of cool old pictures of a piece of forgotten American history that vividly lives on.
Fast forward to the present day and you can see the lasting impact of the Daughters of Dixie's efforts. Many of the statues and monuments still bear their names. The flying of the Confederate flag too is also largely due in part to their efforts. Other outcomes are more subtle but definitely present. The culture of the south including lasting bouts of racism have also preserved in part because of Dixie's Daughters. Books on the heroic Ku Klux Klan were recommended reading to schoolchildren during the era and many libraries stocked books of this nature freely. Intended for white children, young blacks also read them once they became secondhand books and were passed down in their schools. What we learn as children largely determines the direction we take as adults and when it becomes generational precedence, it would be naive to ignore the results.
I'm not from the South nor have I spent much time there. Even though I've read some on the Civil War and watched a documentary or two, I was taken aback by how naive I was myself while reading this book. To think that once the final white flag was waved the war was over wasn't even a half truth. Not everything these women did was bad as they also created early welfare programs that aided Confederate families and veterans after the war. They merely wanted to preserve their way of life. Secondly, while I'm not a fan of placing monuments for those who lose a war, it's important to note that those who fought against the Union were also Americans. I can see how it would be hard to head home, lick ones wounds, and carry on as before. I think the efforts of the United Daughters of the Confederacy were damning but also necessary to bring our country back together. I think flying the Confederate flag and placing monuments in packed town squares or outside of government buildings is not a great plan but without them, would the country have healed? Interesting stuff and definitely worth a ponder.
Not quite a feminist manifesto but definitely illustrative of girl power, Dixie's Daughters is worth a read. It is a book written by an academic and as such isn't the most compelling thing you'll pick up but Karen Cox did her homework and was able to break down a huge chunk of history into a manageable 200 or so pages with frequent citations. My only gripe is the redundancy that peppers the pages from time to time. There were times when I was like, "Wait a second, did I mix up my bookmark? I swear I've read this exact sentence before." And I had. It's done in a way to reaffirm a point that applies broadly from one topic to the next but she didn't shuffle the words much. Otherwise, no complaints. Well-written with lots of cool old pictures of a piece of forgotten American history that vividly lives on.
August 10, 2023
I have known about the existence of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) organization for well over 30 years, going back to my early days of working in a small-town public library. One of the elderly women who worked part-time in the library was an active member of the local chapter, and other members were involved in making donations of books and other resources to our genealogy and local history room. The town where I worked was in middle Georgia, the same part of the country where I was raised, and it was saturated with the romanticism of the Old South, the glory of the Civil War, and the perpetuation of the "Lost Cause" ideology that espoused the virtues of the defeated Confederacy.
My experience with our local chapter compels me to recognize that the UDC, locally and nationally, was an organization that sometimes did what I would consider good work, especially during my lifetime. They funded scholarships, supported libraries, sponsored educational public programs, and performed acts of charity in the community. However, even near the end of the 20th century, the UDC was still preserving myths, half truths, and propaganda about the Confederacy, states rights, the Civil War, and most egregiously, slavery.
In this excellent study first published in 2003 but recently reissued, Karen Cox traces the history of the UDC going back to its founding in the 1890s and the period of its greatest influence through the end of World War I. I was unaware how powerful these women were on a national stage, even before women achieved the right to vote. Tapping into the psychological and emotional wounds that would not heal in the South even decades following the fall of the Confederacy, the UDC was a money-raising machine for a variety of projects, and they were almost always more successful than their male counterparts, even elected officials.
They poured most of their money and energy into erecting monuments honoring fallen Confederate heroes, leaders, and soldiers. They were also ever present in the public schools pressuring educators to teach their brand of history, where Confederates veterans were lifted up as patriots, where Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis were honorable men, and where Abraham Lincoln should never be given the same accolades as founding fathers like George Washington. They were forever preserving white supremacy and the cultural norms and manners of the antebellum South.
They could not deny that the South had lost the Civil War, but they did not stop justifying its reasons for seceding from the U.S. It's one thing to surrender; it's quite another to admit being wrong. They continued to pound states' rights as the central cause of the split between North and South, refusing to recognize slavery as a major point of contention. Perhaps worst of all, they defended the "peculiar institution" and the benevolent masters who they claimed were paternalistic, kind, and protective of their slaves. They went so far as to say that slaves were better off in captivity in America than as free people in Africa because at least they were taught Christianity under the ownership of Southerners. It wasn't until World War I when ALL of America was under attack that the UDC began to back away from their most divisive positions and finally embrace the idea of a united nation.
My experience with our local chapter compels me to recognize that the UDC, locally and nationally, was an organization that sometimes did what I would consider good work, especially during my lifetime. They funded scholarships, supported libraries, sponsored educational public programs, and performed acts of charity in the community. However, even near the end of the 20th century, the UDC was still preserving myths, half truths, and propaganda about the Confederacy, states rights, the Civil War, and most egregiously, slavery.
In this excellent study first published in 2003 but recently reissued, Karen Cox traces the history of the UDC going back to its founding in the 1890s and the period of its greatest influence through the end of World War I. I was unaware how powerful these women were on a national stage, even before women achieved the right to vote. Tapping into the psychological and emotional wounds that would not heal in the South even decades following the fall of the Confederacy, the UDC was a money-raising machine for a variety of projects, and they were almost always more successful than their male counterparts, even elected officials.
They poured most of their money and energy into erecting monuments honoring fallen Confederate heroes, leaders, and soldiers. They were also ever present in the public schools pressuring educators to teach their brand of history, where Confederates veterans were lifted up as patriots, where Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis were honorable men, and where Abraham Lincoln should never be given the same accolades as founding fathers like George Washington. They were forever preserving white supremacy and the cultural norms and manners of the antebellum South.
They could not deny that the South had lost the Civil War, but they did not stop justifying its reasons for seceding from the U.S. It's one thing to surrender; it's quite another to admit being wrong. They continued to pound states' rights as the central cause of the split between North and South, refusing to recognize slavery as a major point of contention. Perhaps worst of all, they defended the "peculiar institution" and the benevolent masters who they claimed were paternalistic, kind, and protective of their slaves. They went so far as to say that slaves were better off in captivity in America than as free people in Africa because at least they were taught Christianity under the ownership of Southerners. It wasn't until World War I when ALL of America was under attack that the UDC began to back away from their most divisive positions and finally embrace the idea of a united nation.
April 2, 2023
The United Daughters of the Confederacy was founded on September 10, 1894 by Caroline Merriweather Goodlett and Anna Davenport Raines. The first chapter was formed in Nashville, Tennessee. (As a native Tennessean, that tracks.) The purpose of this was to offer support for other female descendants of Confederate veterans and support the construction of Confederate monuments throughout the United States. They also stuck their nose into the curriculum to ensure that "truthful history" was taught, which ultimately boils down to a whitewashed version that says the Union was simply wanting to suppress state's rights.
As a historian, I do feel that Civil War history is not properly taught, especially in the South. I think it is important to learn about key figures on both sides, because the military strategy and how logistics and other things affected the outcome of the war is valuable information. As a matter of fact, this very week I am going to be visiting Shiloh Battlefield, and I am looking forward to learning new information there. The main issue was, of course, slavery, but there were other issues that resulted in war as well. I do feel that there is a place for Confederate monuments, such as battlefields and museums, because they are great educational tools.
This book is currently available on Audible Plus if you have the subscription, which I was happy to see. This was a book that I had in my wish list for a while, and that saved me from using a credit on it. The Daughters of the Confederacy are still active, and they have a website if you are interested in seeing what they currently have to say about the removal of Confederate monuments. They are also still handing out license plates, at least in this state, for both the Sons and Daughters of Confederate Veterans. It is important to look at all aspects of an issue or historical event and learn as much as one can about it. I do not believe in the glorification of "Southern Values" or the "Confederacy" and I am sure I would feel that way even if I didn't live in Tennessee. This book was well written, and offered a lot of information about this organization. I didn't know very much about it, other than it was a thing that existed, so it was valuable to me for that alone. If you are interested in this topic, or the Civil War in general, I would recommend picking this up to learn about the post war period.
As a historian, I do feel that Civil War history is not properly taught, especially in the South. I think it is important to learn about key figures on both sides, because the military strategy and how logistics and other things affected the outcome of the war is valuable information. As a matter of fact, this very week I am going to be visiting Shiloh Battlefield, and I am looking forward to learning new information there. The main issue was, of course, slavery, but there were other issues that resulted in war as well. I do feel that there is a place for Confederate monuments, such as battlefields and museums, because they are great educational tools.
This book is currently available on Audible Plus if you have the subscription, which I was happy to see. This was a book that I had in my wish list for a while, and that saved me from using a credit on it. The Daughters of the Confederacy are still active, and they have a website if you are interested in seeing what they currently have to say about the removal of Confederate monuments. They are also still handing out license plates, at least in this state, for both the Sons and Daughters of Confederate Veterans. It is important to look at all aspects of an issue or historical event and learn as much as one can about it. I do not believe in the glorification of "Southern Values" or the "Confederacy" and I am sure I would feel that way even if I didn't live in Tennessee. This book was well written, and offered a lot of information about this organization. I didn't know very much about it, other than it was a thing that existed, so it was valuable to me for that alone. If you are interested in this topic, or the Civil War in general, I would recommend picking this up to learn about the post war period.
August 11, 2021
I listened to this an audiobook, and as I've come to discover with nonfiction books, that makes it a little harder to follow the author's points. I persevered, and in the end, this book really stuck with me as an important facet of the Lost Cause and the Southern culture mentality. I knew about the Daughters of the Confederacy and their role in creating monuments to the Confederacy long after the Civil War was over, but I didn't know quite how ubiquitous they were and how deep their ties ran. I liked the organization of the book and thought it led to a very clear explanation of the group and how it began and flourished. I also appreciated how the author discussed the intersection of gender with this group's goals. Not only were they defending and memorializing manhood as they felt it should be (the ideal man being a brave Confederate soldier who defended slavery and "Southern-ness" as a way of life), they were also setting up guidelines and goals for femininity, the ideal Southern, genteel woman.
I found myself wanted to see footnotes during this book, which of course is impossible to do with an audiobook, and I think it would have helped make this a deeper experience than the one I got. Nevertheless, I think it was a good book, because it combined things I've read in other places all into one source.
I found myself wanted to see footnotes during this book, which of course is impossible to do with an audiobook, and I think it would have helped make this a deeper experience than the one I got. Nevertheless, I think it was a good book, because it combined things I've read in other places all into one source.
March 28, 2025
Another haunting read. This title goes over the impact of wives connected to outdated ideals and allowed to mobilize into a thought virus that lives on to this day. The work done is admirable and the fact that slavery was thought to be beneficial to the negro is amazing and appalling. I always reflect on my schooling as lukewarm and tame compared to the shocking revelations being taken from these readings. This book shocked me just as much as the last read and the amount of facts I have to process grows. Every side will shout brainwashing but the true sight to spectate is religion itself and how it is the ultimate tool of subjugation. It holds all but is also used here in a weaponized way to empower the most despicable into shaping education itself. A woman's hand is fearsome because it can do more damage than a man's. This book shows how gentle guidance and motherly love can shape and keep supremacy going on and on generationally forever and even turn the recipients into radios and broadcasters for this race based superiority. It is sad to see but also worthy of admiration.
July 12, 2021
I had always heard about the "Lost Cause" but wasn't clear how it came about. This book explains it fully. Southern women took it upon themselves to try and rehabilitate the reputations of their fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons shortly after the ending of the Civil War and well past the turn of the century. They did it by writing articles for magazines and newspapers, raising funds for the placement of Confederate monuments in nearly every small, mid-size or large Southern town, supporting the establishment of "Confederate-only" retirement homes, etc... They focused on educational activities so that the children would understand "their" truth. The effects of this are still being felt today....but with the statue of Robert E. Lee being taken down in Charlottesville, VA this past weekend hopefully, things are changing..
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March 19, 2024This definitely gives a lot of food for thought, especially when it comes to seeing signs of history repeating itself. The parallel between the Daughters of the Confederacy's strategy to ensure promoting a particular narrative (nakedly white supremacy, but sometimes gussied up to appear more genteel and patriotic) and current efforts to control narratives to avoid criticizing narrow-minded perspectives on history is shockingly relevant and current. My takeaway was that empowered women worked hard to promote their classism and racism, and we continue to reap the effects. As the author pointed out, Strom Thurmond and Bull Connor were just a few of the children in the generations influenced by the tailored stories and histories the UDC promoted, and they did a lot of damage with their hateful world views.
September 29, 2023
Having grown up in Virginia where I attended public schools in the 1960-70’s, I can attest that the history of the Civil War and Slavery were taught as the War of Northern Aggression and a war about state’s rights and not slavery. What I did not know then is how this came about as explained in this well researched and extensively documented book by Dr. Cox. The Daughters of the Confederacy controlled the narrative and re-wrote history. Brainwashed and hoodwinked, those of us who grew up south of the Mason Dixon must understand how this happened so that we may protect future generations from what happens when the narrative is controlled by those with an agenda to promote ignorance and intolerance to justify their cause.
January 28, 2024
I went into this hoping for a good deal more detail on how exactly the Daughters meddled in schools and slogged through only to find a single chapter at the end that barely talked about anything. I had watched a video interview with the author where she had said that the monuments were nothing compared to what they did with the children (paraphrasing, I think?), putting the emphasis more on their influence in schools rather than their early years and this book was not that. I really, really want something more of a deep dive into the textbooks and Children of the Confederacy and this absolutely should have contained it.
July 15, 2020
I can’t say enough how much I appreciated this book. As someone who lives in the south, there have been so many times I have encountered the Civil War monuments in my life without giving it a second thought. In the last couple years, that has changed. Even so, I found myself shocked, angry, sad and even amazed by Karen Cox’s account of the UDC and how a dedicated group of talented, motivated, intelligent but obviously misguided group of women led so many people astray and sowed the seeds of much of the racial strife we experience today.
January 15, 2021
Essential reading for Americans to understand how Lost Cause mythology spread throughout the United States. Further explains the role of the United Daughters of the Confederacy played in the promotion and entrenchment of a mythic Old South along with their reinforcement of cultural beliefs and practices rooted in white supremacy. Excellently researched and backed by innumerable primary sources. Dr. Cox connects the dots with scholarly integrity while maintaining reader accessibility. Highly recommend.
August 5, 2025
I would have preferred a print book instead of the audio simply because there were so many statistics and dates to keep up with. Unfortunately, my library only offered the print book for library use only.
I was interested in the book because one of my great-aunts was a member of the UDC and at one point (when I was a teenager and didn't know any better) she attempted to interest me in it.
I would read this again if I came across a print copy. I would most likely give this book another star if I read the print copy.
I was interested in the book because one of my great-aunts was a member of the UDC and at one point (when I was a teenager and didn't know any better) she attempted to interest me in it.
I would read this again if I came across a print copy. I would most likely give this book another star if I read the print copy.
March 12, 2020
Excellent book on the role of women in the preservation of Confederate Culture and the Lost Cause narrative. While I’m sad that these women were directly responsible for the continued corruption of children’s minds with racist ideologies, I love that they are finally getting acknowledged for their work. Is that weird? I didn’t give it five stars because some times the author repeats things a few too many times.
May 14, 2021
I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning the origins of the Lost Cause mythology through the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). Cox talks about how the organization formed, how they controlled education in the South to fit the lost cause narrative, and how they created a mythology. This is a definite read for anyone interested in the Civil War and the aftermath it caused in the late 1800s/early 1900s.
March 6, 2021
A wonderfully well written book about the UDC and the indoctrination campaign they set out on to corrupt the minds and understanding of the south and the Civil War. This book really helps to shed light on why people so fervently believe the war was not about slavery. Really looking forward to reading Doctor Cox's next book.
May 15, 2022
If you have wondered how all of those Confederate monuments came to be built this is a book you need to read. History shows that it was the Confederate women of the South who raised the money for the statutes. A very interesting account of the Women's movement that headed up the projects, found the sponsors and raised the money to get the work done.
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