Margaret Mitchell was born on November 8, 1900. Pequot Library holds the last four chapters of the final typescript copy of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gone With the Wind. Mitchell's seminal work has deservedly been rebuked for its invocation of racial slurs and its romanticism of the Old South, as this New York Times article explains; the film version met widespread protests starting upon its 1939 release and continuing today. Another Times article provides additional context for the criticism here. The book has sold over 30,000,000 copies.

EXHIBITION CONNECTION

William Shakespeare, Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories & Tragedies (First Folio)
(Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed. Blount, 1623)
Pequot Library Special Collections

Margaret Mitchell cited Shakespeare as a major influence, and she invoked the Bard multiple times in Gone with the Wind; she even contemplated titling the novel Tomorrow and Tomorrow after Macbeth's speech from beyond the walls of Dunsinane. As this paper explains, in the novel, Mitchell marries Shakespeare to fantasies about traditional values and the planter aristocracy. Ashley and Melanie Wilkes are the two characters most closely identified with Shakespeare. Melanie, for example, leads a Shakespeare Reading Circle. In addition, it's Scarlett, who—despite her self-professed disdain for books and learning—purchases for the Wilkes "a complete set of Shakespeare"' while honeymooning in New Orleans with Rhett Butler. Hence, "[t]he 'highbrow' gift of Shakespeare is the expected present for the litterateur, symbolizing the gentility, sophistication, and refinement of the planter aristocracy... [a group of people that] possesses the leisure time to dabble in Shakespeare and the arts. This dilettantism coincides with the antebellum myth of cavalier gallantry, worldliness, and urbane decorum." Rhett, too, knows Shakespeare, even as he's otherwise portrayed as a hellion who was expelled from West Point for drunkness. He quotes from The Tempest when he admonishes Scarlett for making deals with the Yankees, for instance. 

View Shakespeare's First Folio and companion texts in our current exhibition, How William Became Shakespeare: Four Hundred Years of the First Folio, on view through February 10, 2024.

BOOK PICKS FOR ADULTS

The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution
By Eric Foner

An authoritative history by the preeminent scholar of the Civil War era, The Second Founding traces the arc of the three foundational Reconstruction amendments from their origins in antebellum activism and adoption amidst intense postwar politics to their virtual nullification by narrow Supreme Court decisions and Jim Crow state laws. 

>>Check me out

The Wind Done Gone
by Alice Randall

This provocative parody explodes the world created in Gone with the Wind, taking sharp aim at its romanticized, whitewashed mythology. Randall has ingeniously conceived a multilayered, emotionally complex tale of her own. This passionate love story paints a wrenching portrait of a tangled mother-daughter relationship and "celebrates a people's emancipation not only from bondage but also from history and myth, custom and stereotype" (San Antonio Express-News).

>>Check me out

BOOK PICK FOR KIDS AND TEENS

The Outsiders
by S.E. Hinton

S. E. Hinton's classic story of a boy who finds himself on the outskirts of regular society remains as powerful today. Two of its main characters, Pony and Johnny, discuss Gone with the Wind and exchange the book as a present, and the book represents the power of art as an alternative to violence in a convulsive world. Ages 11+.

>>Check me out

Harriet Tubman: Toward Freedom
by Whit Taylor

This modern account of Harriet Tubman's trip to save her brothers is detailed and authentic. Illustrated with care for the historical record, it offers insight into the life and mind of Tubman, displaying her as a woman with an unshakable desire to break the chains of an unjust society. It is a perfect anti-racist narrative for our times and deepens an understanding of just what freedom means to those who must fight for it.

>>Check me out

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SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind
Typeset manuscript
Pequot Library Special Collections

Pequot Library's Special Collections holds the last four chapters of the final typescript version of Gone With the Wind. The manuscript had allegedly been burned by Margaret Mitchell's grief-stricken husband following her death at age 49, as per her instructions to him. From a 2011 New York Times article: "The chapters, which contain some of the novel’s most memorable lines — like, 'My dear, I don’t give a damn' and 'After all, tomorrow is another day' — were given to the Pequot [Library] in the early 1950s by George Brett Jr., the president of Macmillan, Mitchell’s publisher, and a longtime benefactor of the library." Library staff members discovered them in response to a query from Ellen F. Brown when she was writing Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind: A Bestseller’s Odyssey. 

DEVELOPMENT DISPATCH

It's November! Time to start thinking about your end of year annual giving.

Use your IRA to support what matters to you.

When you make a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from your IRA to Pequot Library before December 31, your gift will help Pequot Library provide professional library services and vibrant and diverse programming for all ages.

TO QUALIFY:
You must be at least 70 1/2 years old when you make the transfer to Pequot Library.
The transfer must be directly from your IRA to Pequot Library.
You may donate up to $100,000 (individual) or $200,000 (couple).
Pequot Library must receive your gift before December 31 to qualify for 2023 tax benefits.

YOUR BENEFITS:

This otherwise taxable distribution will not count as taxable income.*
Your donation can count toward your required minimum distribution for the year.

To notify us of your gift and ensure timely acknowledgment, please contact us at 203-259-0346 ext. 125 or [email protected]. Our tax ID is 06-0672790.

Please seek advice from your financial advisor regarding the tax implications of your gift.

SPOTTED AT PEQUOT LIBRARY

The Ross family won our Jack-O-Lantern carving contest, taking home a basket that included a $50 Gift Card to Sammy's of Southport and more!

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COMMUNITY CORNER

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
FLHS Auditorium
785 Unquowa Rd
Fairfield, CT

Fairfield Ludlowe Drama Club is giving Pequot Library users a $5 discount per ticket for their matinee performance TODAY, Saturday, November 4, (2:00 p.m.). This is Shakespeare's timeless classic with a twist. Set in 1968 San Francisco, against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, and heading into the Summer of Love, our two star-crossed lovers must choose between their love for each other or their loyalty to their families. This play features original music by Mel Dreizen (FLHS Class of '24), and a small live onstage band. Make it a Shakespeare-themed day by stopping by our Shakes-beer Festival after the show, starting at 4:00 p.m.!