Southern Women: Black and White in the Old South

by Sally G. McMillen

Unlike their Northern counterparts, Southern women lived in relative obscurity, giving rise to, and often making them victims of, myth and exaggeration. In Southern Women, Professor McMillen considers diaries, letters, and other personal accounts as well as the latest scholarly research to present an alternate view into the lives of antebellum Southern women, helping to dispel myths about how these women lived. This intriguing narrative assesses similarites and differences among the various classes of Southern women, as well as interracial and class relationships. A wholly new chapter on Southern women and the Confederacy--including rare scholarship on yeoman and poor farmwives--and photographic essay help make the second edition of this versatile text ideal as supplementary reading in the U.S. History survey as well as in courses on Southern, Social, and Women's, and African American History.

Genres: History, Feminism, Nonfiction, American History

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Sally G. McMillen is the Mary Reynolds Babcock Professor of History at Davidson College in North Carolina, where she has taught since 1988.

Reviews

[Tamara Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book--captivating, informative and not overly academic. This book is crucial for any family researcher with roots in the South. And for those with interest in women's history and feminism, it provides an engrossing portrait of the earliest relationships between black and white women, and also illustrates the differences in our histories. Highly recommend.