The Southern Lady: From Pedestal to Politics, 1830-1930

by Anne Firor Scott

The variety and fevor of comment that greeted Anne Scott's The Southern Lady in 1970 can now be seen as a foreshadowing for its lasting impact. In her wide-ranging new Afterword to this edition of a work not infrequently called a classic, the noted historian describes the way it came to be written, asks what she would do differently now, and suggests areas for further exploration.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Anne Firor Scott, a pioneer historian of American women, was W. K. Boyd Professor Emerita of History at Duke University. Scott joined Duke's history department in 1961 on a visiting appointment. Nineteen years later she was named William K. Boyd Professor of History and appointed chair of the department. Professor Scott was the first woman to chair the Duke history department, and was also the first professor at Duke to include women's scholarship in her teaching and research. She was educated in her home state at the University of Georgia, as well as at Northwestern University and Radcliffe College. In addition to her tenure at Duke, she taught at Haverford College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Reviews

[Lobstergirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happened to be reading A Room with a View concurrently with this book and this passage from it could just as easily apply to the situation of the upperclass 19th century American southern woman:

It was not that ladies were inferior to men; it was that they were different. Their mission was to inspire others to achievement rather than to achieve themselves. Indirectly, by means of tact and a spotless name, a lady could accomplish much. But if she rushed into the fray herself she would be first censured, then despised, and finally ignored. Poems had been written to illustrate this point.

The Civil War helped push southern women "into the fray." Wives ran farms, plantations, and businesses while their husbands were away fighting. After the war was over, so many men had died that widows had to learn to do things on their own. Suffrage was a natural ambition for women who discovered new capabilities in themselves, at the same time that educational opportunities were opening up for females and finding employment was often a financial necessity.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book presented a good overview of very specific regional evolution of feminist politics. It covered an amazing amount of history and story in a short time, while citing a broad range of sources that give the reader further avenues of exploration. It tends to focus on women who had the privilege to live up to the image of the Southern Lady, assuming the reader understands that they were the group who had access to such an aspiration. And it definitely paints a too-rosy picture of relationships between black and white women both during antebellum times and post. On the other hand, it celebrates the often overlooked support many Southern women had for the abolitionist movement and later for civil rights. The book is a great historical foundation and it covers a much deserving topic.

[Maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for comps

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for uni. Definitely important for it's time, but rather outdated now.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

For my thesis - Last read of the year!!