Southern Women: Black and White in the Old South

by Sally G. McMillen

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0882959638
• ISBN13: 9780882959634
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Should Be Required Reading in Antebellum South Undergraduate Courses

As Sally G. McMillen puts it, "scholars... long assumed that events defined and participated in by men were all that counted" (2). McMillen was very thorough in her research to find out more about the oft overlooked roles of women, and she presents her findings in her book, "Southern Women: Black and White in the Old South." Although historians have been studying women's roles in early American history since the early 1970s, McMillen's "Southern Women" was first published just fifteen years ago, evidence that the study of women's history is still in its infancy. The goal of her study is to examine the lives of black and white southern women from 1800 to the end of the Civil War in 1865. Although all southern women shared similar responsibilities as wives, mothers, laborers, and churchgoers, their individual female experiences varied significantly depending on their race, class, and the region of the south in which they lived. If you're interested in the roles of women in the pre-Civil War southern colonies, this book is a great resource.