Dixie’s Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate ...

Pat Young

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Dixie’s Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture by Karen Cox published by Florida University Press (2003). Hardcover $55.00, Paperback $24.99.

At the beginning of the 20th Century, the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) was among the largest and most powerful women’s organizations in the South. While the Daughters lionized the mythical way of life of the Old South, they defied gender roles by aggressively pressed their views upon their society.

Karen Cox, in Dixie’s Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture, her groundbreaking study of the UDC, places these elite women on center stage in creating how the Civil War would be remembered for generations. According to Cox, “women were longtime leaders in the movement to memorialize the Confederacy, commonly referred to as the “Lost Cause,” and were active participants in debates over what would constitute a ‘new’ South.” The Daughters were never happy to merely remember the Confederacy. Cox writes that the Daughters “raised the stakes of the Lost Cause by making it a movement about vindication, as well as memorialization. “

The Daughters “erected monuments, monitored history for ‘truthfulness,’ and sought to educate coming generations of white southerners about an idyllic Old South and a just cause—states’ rights. They did so not simply to pay homage to the Confederate dead. Rather, UDC members aspired to transform military defeat into a political and cultural victory, where states’ rights and **** remained intact.”

Cox says that by “preserving and transmitting these ideals through…’Confederate culture,’ UDC members believed they could vindicate their Confederate ancestors.” This “Confederate culture” includes “those ideas and symbols that Lost Cause devotees associated with the former Confederacy,” writes Cox. “The images and beliefs are based on a hierarchy of race and class and often reflect the patrician outlook of Lost Cause leaders,” she says.

Note: Because of its length, this review will be posted in two parts.
 
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