Dot Moore to Speak at Margaret Mitchell Research Center Nov 21

The Fayette County Historical Society is pleased to announce that regional, award-winning author, Dot Moore, will be the speaker at the Sunday, November 21st meeting at the Margaret Mitchell Research Center, 195 Lee Street in Fayetteville from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

“Never was there a more famous seer than Mayhayley Lancaster of Heard County, whose role in the 1948 John Wallace murder trial secured her local reputation and launched a national one.” — Rheta Grimsley Johnson, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

This award-winning biography, and creative work of non-fiction, deals with the unusual and eccentric life of Mayhayley Lancaster. Moore’s childhood memories and encounters with Lancaster spurred her to write Oracle of the Ages: Reflections on the Curious Life of Fortune Teller Mayhayley Lancaster.

She is following Oracle of the Ages with a modern Jekyll and Hyde tale: No Remorse: The Rise and Fall of John Wallace. Her newest book is set for release in December.

Should a man be defined by his worst deed? This is the question explored by Dot Moore in No Remorse: The Rise and Fall of John Wallace, an examination of the notorious trial, conviction and execution of Wallace for the 1948 murder of William Turner in a small Georgia town. In this compelling work Moore paints the portrait of a complex man, capable of great compassion yet haunted by a demonic temper. Painstakingly researched, the book presents new information about the life of John Wallace and the trial that convicted him of murder.

The story of John Wallace was pieced together from records discovered in courthouses, at the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles in Atlanta; from Confession of a Criminal Lawyer by Wallace’s chief attorney A. L. Henson, and stories told by popular news writer Celestine Sibley. In the course of her investigation, Moore also discovered accounts of the trial in three major crime magazines and in accounts from the newspapers of LaGrange, Newnan, Columbus and Atlanta, Georgia. The book, Murder In Coweta County by Margaret Anne Barnes, provided additional information. But the most important new source discovered by Moore was a cache of letters written by Wallace and kept by a neighbor for more than fifty years. Through his correspondence with friends and family, the story of this emotionally conflicted man emerges.

Dot Moore grew up in Heard County, Georgia. She is a retired educator and political activist, and lives in Montgomery, Alabama.

The Fayette County Historical Society monthly meetings feature a speaker of local interest and the community is welcome. The Margaret Mitchell Research Center at 195 Lee Street in Fayetteville is open to the public weekly: Tuesday 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., Thursday, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. and Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Margaret Mitchell documentary draws heavily from UGA library collection; airs Oct. 10

Change in the Wind, a documentary about famed author Margaret Mitchell’s quest to improve conditions for African Americans in her home state, will air Oct. 10 from 4-6 p.m. on WSB-TV.

Drawn largelyfrom research in an unexplored collection of Mitchell correspondence at the UGA Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the documentary—produced by civil rights veteran Andrew Young—traces Mitchell’s evolution from debutante to someone determined to improve the educational opportunities and ultimately the lives of Atlanta’s African-American citizens.

Mitchell’s patronage of private, all-male, historically black Morehouse College parallels her friendship with Benjamin E. Mays, president of Morehouse from 1940 to 1967. It was this relationship that Young and director CB Hackworth sought to explore with the documentary. Hackworth’s research at UGA with Mary Ellen Brooks, director emerita of the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, led to a much fuller portrait of the author.

Mitchell was able to see the world through her family’s black servants, Brooks believes. Mitchell became particularly disturbed when a beloved maid, Carrie, became ill and a hospital bed for her could not be found. After Carrie’s death, Mitchell sought to establish a scholarship in her name at Morehouse. Mays wanted the funds to cover students from the Southeast, but Mitchell held firm that it should be limited to Georgia in the hopes of helping her state.

“She often wrote respectful but endearing letters to the family’s employees, even when they were in the same house together,” Brooks said. “I think it shows Margaret Mitchell as a person who was sensitive and generous. It was as if they were her family, and they responded to her with letters as well. These materials do a great job of showing that side of her.”

Mitchell’s support of the Morehouse was kept secret for decades until Mays revealed to Georgia’s first African-American pediatrician that it was Mitchell who paid for his scholarship.

The friendship between Mays and Mitchell “grew increasingly warm and shows evidence of great mutual respect, but is based entirely on a mutual concern for the lack of adequate educational and medical resources for Atlanta’s growing African-American population,” Hackworth said.

Brooks notes the affection between Mitchell and the African Americans to whom she became close. Included in the correspondence is a telegraph in Mitchell’s handwriting to be sent to Hattie McDaniel, who played Mammy in Gone with the Wind, at 5 a.m. the day after the premiere telling her that Atlanta Mayor William B. Hartsfield called for a “big round of applause” for McDaniel. Their correspondence continued for years.

“The (entire collection of) letters shed a lot of light, especially when you read what (African Americans) have to say,” Brooks said. “It showed how they viewed whites. So at last we have two sides.”

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Sam Haskell at Margaret Mitchell House May 12th

You may have seen author Sam Haskell on national TV shows such as The Today Show, CBS This Morning, Fox and Friends, and Tavis Smiley over the past two weeks but Tuesday visitors will have the chance to see him live at the Lit Center at Margaret Mitchell House as he discusses his book, Promises I Made My Mother.

Watch Today's Matt Laurer talk to Sam Haskell.
Location and Time
Tuesday, May 12th; 7:00 PM
The Lit Center at Margaret Mitchell House
990 Peachtree Street
Atlanta, GA 30309
404.249.7015

Admission
$5 members; $10 non-members

About the Book
"What would my mother say?" Sam Haskell, former Worldwide Head of Television for the William Morris Agency, asked himself that question more than once in his life. During his long career, Haskell handled some of the hottest stars and packaged some of the highest-rated shows on television. A Mississippi native, Haskell's devoted and indomitable mother, Mary, instilled in him values of faith, integrity, and honor. As a result, this small-town boy became successful beyond his dreams and his roots and values guide him to this day. In Promises I Made My Mother, Haskell reveals how the pledge he made his mother to live a decent life allowed him to thrive as both a husband and father as well as in the competitive, shark-infested waters of Hollywood.

Reservations are requested. To make a reservation or for additional information, call 404.814.4150.
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