The civilization of the Old South was truly unique; nothing like it can be found before or since. The author, formerly Historian General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, draws on her own childhood memories to paint a vivid word picture of antebellum plantation life, focusing on the amiable relations that once existed between White and Black and discussing the dramatic changes in Southern culture brought about by the War Between the States.

Author Biography

Mildred Lewis Rutherford was born on July 15, 1861 in Athens, Georgia. Her father, William Rutherford, and her maternal uncles, Thomas R.R. Cobb and Howell Cobb, were among the slave-holding elite of the State. Mildred was enrolled at the Lucy Cobb Institute, a finishing school for girls in Athens, and after graduating in 1868, she taught history and literature in Atlanta. In 1880 she returned to Athens and became the principal of the Lucy Cobb Institute. A tireless advocate of the Confederate cause, Mildred served as the president of the Georgia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy from 1899 to 1902, and as the historian general of the national organization from 1911 to 1916. She wrote twenty-nine widely read books and pamphlets, many of which recounted her early childhood plantation experiences, and she also lectured extensively across the South. Mildred fell ill in 1927 and died on August 1, 1928.