Southern Women as Record Keepers

The diary of Alice Williamson, a 16 year old living in Union-occupied Gallatin, Tennessee in 1864. There is little mention of her personal life in the diary; Alice’s short life is instead consumed by the war. Despite the Southern social standard that women had no place in politics, Alice daily expresses her disdain for the Union occupation and the presence of “black contraband.” At only 16, Alice’s knowledge regarding the politics of the war servea as a record with which modern readers can counter the myth that Southern women were unconcerned with anything outside of the domestic sphere. Although they did not hold direct political power, women certainly considered the implications of the war in a broad context and hundreds of Southern women’s diaries have since been published. Today these works offer an important glimpse into the lives of the Southern women who made it a point to record their personal histories for future generations.