Helen Dortch Longstreet Birth Anniversary 2011

Today is April 20, 2011. On this day back in the year 1863, Helen Dortch Longstreet was born. Helen was the second wife and widow of Confederate General James Longstreet. Helen was known as the "Fighting Lady" because she was involved in a number of causes including the creation of Confederate monuments, civil rights and the protection of the environment. In addition, she was a Rosie The Riveter during World War II.

In honor of her birthday, I thought I would dig into the archives and pull out a few items ...

Here is an Associated Press photograph, most likely from the year 1958:


Here is a Life Magazine from December 27, 1943 with an article about her ...











With her husband, James:


Here are a three letters and a check. This blog entry can also be considered a brief signature study since there are three variations of her signature in this collection ...

There is VERY interesting content in this letter:










My video tribute to Helen Longstreet: