Margaret Mitchell
Atlanta, GA -Born and raised a fifth generation Atlantan, Margaret Mitchell, author of "Gone with the Wind," is recognized as one of the South's most prominent citizens and noted authors. Born into a segregated Atlanta in 1900, her love of writing began when she was old enough to hold a pencil and stemmed from her mother's encouragement to read the classics and write her own stories.
Her father, Eugene Muse Mitchell, was a prominent Atlanta attorney and an Atlanta history Society curator. Her mother, Mary Isabelle "May Belle" Stephens, was a devout Catholic with proud Irish roots, which she instilled in her children. She was also very outspoken about women's rights and would take little Margaret to suffragette rallies. May Belle actually founded the more liberal wing of the suffragette movement that became the League of Women Voters.
... Margaret learned of the character and fortitude needed to overcome the ravages of war and misfortune, a theme she would later incorporate in her classic novel, "Gone with the Wind."
Margaret was continually inspired by patriotism. Her ancestors were warriors who fought in the Irish Rebellions, the American Revolution, the Mexican Wars, the Civil War and World War I. She would listen with rapt attention to her elder's remembrances of war. Through them, Margaret learned of the character and fortitude needed to overcome the ravages of war and misfortune, a theme she would later incorporate in her classic novel, "Gone with the Wind."
A "tomboy" as a child, Margaret would dress in Knickers and insisted on calling herself, "Jimmy." She would write, produce and direct plays, casting her friends and inviting the neighborhood over to her front parlor…the perfect staging area. She went on to study at Smith College in the fall of 1918. While there she received word that her "fiance," Lt. Clifford Henry, had died in France and soon thereafter, her mother became ill and died.
In 1920, Margaret made her debut and caused a scandal with her "Apache Dance!" The Junior league refused her admission because of the dance and because she chose to do charity work in the wards for the black and the poor at Grady Hospital. Nevertheless, she was surrounded by suitors and in the fall of 1922 she married Red Upshaw only to later discover that he was a bootlegger and an alcoholic. They eventually divorced and she landed a job as a reporter at the Atlanta Journal Magazine. She eventually became the first woman to cover hard news for the Atlanta journal.
Margaret married again on July 4, 1925 and reveled in telling her friends she was married on "Independence Day!" She was forced to quit her job at the newspaper because of arthritis in her ankles and feet. While at home, in bed, she became a voracious reader and after her husband felt she had read every book in the public library, he brought her a second hand portable Remington typewriter with the words, "Madam, I greet you on the beginning of a great new career." Margaret then began what her friends jokingly called, "the great American novel."
That novel was completed in 1929 but only two people, her husband and an editor at McMillan Publishing, knew the details of her writing, culled from the many stories her elders had told her as she was growing up. It was in 1935, after many catty remarks to her that she was not a serious writer that she finally gave in and threw her script at an editor from McMillan, saying, "take the damn thing" before I change my mind! The editor, Harold Latham, was spellbound by the manuscript and bought it from her after conferring with the head of the English Literature Department at Columbia University.
The book was published on June 10, 1936 and by October had sold over one million copies. The popularity of the book began to change her life and she was besieged by letters and telephone calls from all over the world. Everyone wanted to know if Scarlett got Rhett back…including producer, David O. Selznick, who bought the film rights to the manuscript for $50,000, top dollar at the time. Now, her callers became the many actresses who wanted a part in the film.
Once up in the air, a strange quiet calmness descends over the intrepid parasailor as you drift effortlessly over the aquamarine waters of the Gulf. From your 'seat' above the Gulf, you watch the water's changing face as you travel across the sandbars and out over blue water... then the turn back to the Beach, and a stunning panorama opens before you. As far as you can see, the Beach is covered by swimmers, sunbathers, families, and a range of frantic activity.
"Gone with the Wind" won the Pulitzer prize in 1937 and Atlanta rolled out the red carpet for Hollywood at the movie's premier in the heart of Atlanta. The black community, however, was outraged that the Georgian Terrace Hotel would not allow the movie's black actors to stay there.
Margaret Mitchell never wrote another novel but she remained active in many humanitarian causes until the end of her life in 1949. On August 11, she was hit by an off-duty cab driver while crossing Peachtree Street to go to a theater. She suffered severe internal injuries and died several days later at Grady Hospital and was buried at Oakland Cemetery in the Mitchell family plot.
Since her death, she has been awarded the
Shining Light Award by Atlanta Gas Light and WSB radio in recognition
of her contributions to humanity. In 1967, the Margaret Mitchell house,
birthplace of "Gone with the Wind," was dedicated to the city of Atlanta
in honor of the indomitable spirit of Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell. 
