The daughter of a suffragette, Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949) was a debutante. She wrote one of the world’s best-selling, most-translated novels, Gone with the Wind. And she called her home “The Dump.” Today it’s anything but.
Atlanta, Georgia’s, historic Peachtree Street is the city’s main north-south arterial. At 990 Peachtree Street, a Tudor Revival mansion built in 1899 was once the home Mitchell lived in. Twenty years after its construction, the house was converted into a 10-unit apartment building.
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| The Tudor Revival mansion at 990 Peachtree St. was once home to Pulitzer Prize-winning author Margaret Mitchell. |
While in apartment Number 1, Mitchell wrote her Pulitzer Prize–winning novel Gone with the Wind, published in 1936. Set in Georgia during the Civil War, the novel tells of Southern belle Scarlett O’Hara and her stormy relationship with debonair Rhett Butler.
Today the home is the Margaret Mitchell House & Museum, and it’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Apartment Number 1 is shown as a residence; the rest of the space is used for exhibits about Mitchell.
Visitors to the museum can expect a 60- to 90-minute docent-guided overview of the life of one of America’s greatest novelists. The tour begins at the Visitor Center, adjacent to the mansion, where guests explore self-guided exhibits, including “Before Scarlett: The Childhood Writings of Margaret Mitchell” and photos of the writer.
A video showcases Mitchell and her famous epic novel. Next up is a visit to apartment Number 1, where the tile foyer and furnishings hearken back to Mitchell’s life and era.
After touring the wordsmith’s abode, guests may review an exhibit of photographs in a separate building that chronicle the Civil Rights Movement and the life of Dr. Martin Luther King. Mitchell was an avid civil rights activist. She gave anonymous scholarships to fund medical-school educations for as many as 50 African-American students.
Continued: Gone with the Wind: Atlanta’s Margaret Mitchell House Museum
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