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Margaret Mitchell's birth
On November 8, 1900, Eugene Muse Mitchell and May Bele Stephens brought their daughter into the world. They named her Margaret. -
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Margaret's life
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Childhood
During her childhood, Margaret was a spunky and creative little girl. Ever since she could write, she made up little stories for her parents to read. -
Atlanta Race Riots
Mitchell and her family lived on Jackson Hill. At the bottom of Jackson Hill was an area called "Darktown" which was an area of homes and businesses to many African Americans. In September 1906, riots broke out in this area. It has been said that Margaret convinced her dad to stand guard with a sword since he didn't own a gun. -
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School years
Mitchell attended Atlanta's Washington Seminary, now called The Westminster Schools. Mitchell's mother saw an education as Margaret's key to survival. She was homeschooled by her mother until she was 14. Then she attended a public school until she left for Smith college. After her mother's death, she returned home and never went back to school. -
Mother's Death
May Belle Stephens Mitchell passed away due to the flu epidemic that swept the nation. -
Great Atlanta Fire
Margaret's former Jackson home was destroyed in this fire. -
First Marriage
Despite her family's disapproval, Mitchell married "Red" Upshaw -
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Writing in the Atlanta Journal
Mitchell began writing for The Atlanta Journal Sunday magazine. She would continue writing for the paper until an injury forced her to quit so that she could recover at home. -
Divorce
Upshaw's violent temper and alcoholism proved to be too much for Mitchell to endure. After months of physical and emotional abuse, both parties went their separate ways. -
2nd Marriage
Margaret Mitchell and John Marsh married. Marsh had been the best man at her first wedding and a former suitor. He was also the editor at the paper. -
Gone with the Wind was published
Gone with the Wind is still one of the most known books of all time. It ranks number two (under the Bibile) in the most purchased book. -
Pultizer Prize
Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1937. -
Gone with the Wind film released
Only four years after it's publication, Gone with the Wind was made into a film that would soon become one of the nation's most beloved movies of all time. It was so popular, people would do almost anything to see it. For example, my great grandmother stood up in the back of the theater with a crying baby (my grandma) for the entire movie. Now that's dedication! Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable starred as Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler. -
Margaret's death
On August 11, 1949, Mitchell and her husband decided to go to a movie, A Canterbury Tale, at the Peachtree Art Theatre. Just as they started to cross Peachtree Street, a speeding taxi crested the hill. The driver applied the brakes, skidded, and hit Mitchell. During the five days before she died, crowds waited outside for news. U.S. president Harry Truman and Atlanta mayor William B. Hartsfield all asked to be kept informed of her condition. She died on August 16, 1949. She was 49 years old. -
Lost Laysen published
Lost Laysen was written by Mitchell in 1916. It was found in her collection of works in her home and published in 1996.
