Saturday, October 4, 2014

Daughter of the Confederacy, Winnie Davis

Jefferson and Varina Davis's sixth child and second daughter was born in June of 1864. She was known most her life as the "Daughter of the Confederacy". The first published biography of her is titled :Winnie Davis: Daughter of the Lost Cause" written by Heath Hardage Lee.

Heath Lee comes from a museum education, historic preservation and writing background. She is currently working as the Coordinator of the History Series for Salisbury House and Gardens, a 1920s house museum in Des Moines, Iowa. Her hometown is Richmond, Virginia. This is her first book, well documented and researched.

Montgomery author, now deceased, Judith Oliver wrote a novel about Winnie, "Devotion" which has sold well at our First White House of the Confederacy gift shop. Winnie never married and became an icon of the "Lost Cause" often accompanying her famous father in his later years when he spoke to Confederate Veterans and other Southern groups.

I am anxious to read this highly praised biography by Ms. Lee. The forward is written by J.E.B. Stuart IV. Winnie was born a month after the death of the beloved Confederate hero, General J.E.B. Stuart.