1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:09,879 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is production of iHeartRadio. Hello 2 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: and welcome to This Day in History Class, a show 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: that flips through the pages of history to deliver old 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: news in a new way. I'm Gabe Lucier, and today 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,080 Speaker 1: we're talking about the story behind the story of Gone 6 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: with the Wind. The day was June thirtieth, nineteen thirty six. 7 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,479 Speaker 1: The novel Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell was 8 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,520 Speaker 1: first published by the McMillan Company. The first time author 9 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: had been nervous about how her book would sell in stores. 10 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: The Great Depression had slowed consumer demand across all businesses, 11 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: and the American publishing industry had been no exception not 12 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: to mention that it was Mitchell's debut novel, and at 13 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: a whopping one thousand and thirty seven pages, it was 14 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: quite a commitment to make to an unknown author. Mitchell 15 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: kept her expectations low, hoping at best to sell five 16 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: thousand copies, enough for McMillan to at least break even. 17 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: It turned out, though she needn't have worried. By the 18 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,319 Speaker 1: time Gone with the Wind hit bookstores, it had already 19 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 1: been made a selection of the Book of the Month 20 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: club and advanced sales had far exceeded predictions. More than 21 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: fifty thousand copies were sold that summer alone, and more 22 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:38,479 Speaker 1: than a million were in print by Christmas. The book 23 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: would go on to become one of the best selling 24 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 1: novels of all time, with more than thirty million copies 25 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: sold worldwide to date. Despite all its success, Gone with 26 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: the Wind was and still is a subject of controversy. 27 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: The book sweeping story takes place in Georgia, both during 28 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: the American Civil War and in the reconstruction era that followed. Mitchell, 29 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: a Georgia native herself, chose to tell the story from 30 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: an exclusively white Southern perspective, resulting in a shallow, sanitized 31 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 1: depiction of enslaved black people. Critics flagged the book from 32 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: the start for its whitewash depiction of slavery and its 33 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: many racial stereotypes, and those objections have never gone away. Still, 34 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: the novel found an audience regardless, captivating readers with the 35 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: epic survival story at its center, and while white Americans 36 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,399 Speaker 1: have been an outsized portion of the book's readership, it's 37 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: worth noting the novel's international appeal. Gone with the Wind 38 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: has now been translated in at least forty different languages 39 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,800 Speaker 1: and sold in nearly fifty countries around the world. The 40 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:54,800 Speaker 1: book's themes of survival and perseverance clearly have universal resonance. 41 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,680 Speaker 1: It's just a shame they're tied to a story that 42 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,919 Speaker 1: perpetuates such a warped view of history. As for why 43 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: Margaret Mitchell wanted to tell the story in the first place, 44 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: it all goes back to her childhood. She was born 45 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:13,399 Speaker 1: in Atlanta, Georgia, on November eighth, nineteen hundred. The reconstruction 46 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: era was a fresh memory for her parents and other relatives, 47 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 1: and Mitchell grew up listening to stories about life in 48 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: the Old South. She also encountered many Confederate War veterans 49 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: as a young girl, and when she was six years old, 50 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: her mother even took her on a tour of some 51 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 1: of the plantations that had been burned or otherwise ruined 52 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: by the Union Army. Mitchell absorbed all that regional history, 53 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: one sided though it may have been, and filed it 54 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: away for future use. In nineteen twenty two, she took 55 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: a job at the Atlanta Journal and spent the next 56 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 1: four years writing articles for its Sunday magazine. Then, in 57 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty six, the twenty five year old reporter fell 58 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: victim to a series of physical injuries, including a car 59 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: crash and a fall from a horse. Mitchell was forced 60 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: to quit her job in order to recover, and it 61 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: was during the boredom of her house bound summer that 62 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: she hatched the idea of writing a romantic novel. Bedridden 63 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: with a busted ankle, Mitchell relied on her second husband, 64 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 1: John Marsh, to provide her with a steady stream of 65 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 1: reading material. One day, perhaps hoping to avoid another trip 66 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: to the library, Marsh suggested that she write a book 67 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: of her own instead. His restless wife liked the idea, 68 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: so a few days later he presented her with a 69 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: Remington typewriter. Mitchell wasn't sure what to write at first, 70 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 1: but then she thought back to the tales she'd heard 71 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: as a child, and the story of a strong, willed 72 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,159 Speaker 1: Southern bell began to take shape in her mind. The 73 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: character's name was Pansy O'Hara. More on that later, and 74 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: Mitchell traced her life from the ante Bellum South, through 75 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:56,039 Speaker 1: the Civil War and into the Reconstruction era. Part romance, 76 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 1: part coming of age. The story centered on O'Hara's struggles 77 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: to s the hardships of war and to claw her 78 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: way out of poverty following the destruction of her wealthy 79 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: father's plantation. Along the way, her fate intertwines with a 80 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 1: charming playboy named Rhet Butler, sparking a torrid and tumultuous 81 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: marriage that threatened to destroy them both. Even if you've 82 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: never read the book, you may be familiar with its 83 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:26,159 Speaker 1: last line, Tomorrow is another day. That was actually the 84 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 1: novel's original title, though Mitchell also considered calling it not 85 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 1: in our Stars or bugles sang true. In the end, 86 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: she settled on Gone with the Wind, a phrase taken 87 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: from an eighteen ninety six poem by British poet Ernest Dowson. 88 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: It has a rather unwieldy Latin title, but many know 89 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 1: it simply as Sinara, the name of the lost love 90 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: turned object of obsession to whom the poem is directed. 91 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: In the third stanza, Dowson writes, quote, I have forgotten 92 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: much Sinara, Gone with the wind flung roses roses riotously 93 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: with the throng, dancing to put thy pale lost lilies 94 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:12,040 Speaker 1: out of mind. In an interview after the book's release, 95 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:15,839 Speaker 1: Mitchell explained her choice of title, saying, quote, I just 96 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:19,600 Speaker 1: lifted the phrase from its context because it had the faraway, 97 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: faintly sad sound I wanted. Mitchell may have been satisfied 98 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: with the title, but she seems to have had serious 99 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:30,920 Speaker 1: doubts about the book itself. She wrote it in secret 100 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 1: over the course of a decade, allowing only her husband 101 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:37,919 Speaker 1: to read it as she progressed. Mitchell was so secretive 102 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: about her writing that she hid her manuscript under the 103 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 1: bed whenever friends or family came to visit, and if 104 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: someone popped in unexpectedly while she was working, she would 105 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: frantically shove the pages under the sofa or even under 106 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: a rug. As you may have gathered, Mitchell had no 107 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: real intention of ever publishing her book, but what you 108 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: may not know is that she only changed her out 109 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: of spite. In nineteen thirty five, after nine years of 110 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 1: working on her novel, Mitchell finally told some friends that 111 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: she was thinking of writing a book. One of their 112 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: responses was something to the effect of, oh, sure, imagine 113 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: you writing a book. Annoyed and determined to prove them wrong, 114 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: Mitchell took the only copy of her manuscript to Harold 115 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: Latham a vice president of the McMillan Publishing Company in 116 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: New York City. She later second guessed herself and sent 117 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: him a telegram saying, have changed my mind. Send manuscript back, 118 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: but he didn't. Latham encouraged her to finish the novel, 119 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: which didn't have a proper beginning yet, as Mitchell had 120 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: started with the last chapter and hadn't yet circled back 121 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: to the first. He also insisted that she changed the 122 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: heroine's name from Pansy to Scarlett. Mitchell happily agreed, saying, quote, 123 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: we could call her Garbage O'Hara for all I care. 124 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: I just want to finish this damn thing. Not long after, 125 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: Mitchell signed a contract with McMillan and spent the next 126 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: six months revising and rounding out her manuscript. Gone with 127 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:13,240 Speaker 1: the Wind was released in bookstores on June thirtieth, nineteen 128 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: thirty six, and became an instant bestseller in the South. 129 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 1: The book wasn't as well received by critics as it 130 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: was by the public, but it hardly mattered. The following year, 131 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and two years 132 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 1: after that she sold the movie rights to Gone with 133 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: the Wind for a record setting fifty thousand dollars, the 134 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: largest sum ever paid for film rights at the time. 135 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: The movie version of Gone with the Wind was shepherded 136 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:44,880 Speaker 1: through a troubled production by legendary producer David O. Selznick. 137 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: It starred the British actress Vivian Lee in the role 138 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:52,040 Speaker 1: of Scarlett and the King of Hollywood himself, Clark Gable 139 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: played her dashing love interest, rhet Butler, You probably don't 140 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: need me to tell you that Gone with the Wind. 141 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,200 Speaker 1: The movie went on to become an even bigger success 142 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 1: than the book. It shattered box office records and won 143 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:10,679 Speaker 1: eight Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Hattie McDaniel, 144 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: making her the first black actor to win an Oscar 145 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: As for Mitchell. She didn't take part in the film 146 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: adaptation of her book, but she did attend its premiere 147 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 1: at the Loewe's Grand Theater in Atlanta, and she reportedly 148 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: liked what she saw. Given the ending of the book 149 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:30,440 Speaker 1: and the movie, which I won't spoil here, many fans 150 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: had hoped the author would one day write a sequel, 151 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: but sadly, Gone with the Wind turned out to be 152 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:41,200 Speaker 1: her first and only book Margaret Mitchell died just ten 153 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:44,440 Speaker 1: years after the film's premiere at the age of forty eight, 154 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: when she was struck by a drunk driver while crossing 155 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:51,559 Speaker 1: Atlanta's Peachtree Street with her husband. It was a sudden, 156 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: tragic end for a woman with more stories to tell, 157 00:09:55,160 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: But to quote Scarlett O'Hara, death, taxes and childbirth, there's 158 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:07,839 Speaker 1: never any convenient time for any of them. I'm Gabe 159 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 1: Lucier and hopefully you now know a little more about 160 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:15,439 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. You can learn even 161 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and 162 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 1: Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have any 163 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: comments or suggestions, feel free to pass them along by 164 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:31,440 Speaker 1: writing to this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to 165 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: Chandler Mays and Ben Hackett for producing the show, and 166 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: thank you for listening. I'll see you back here again 167 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 1: soon for another day in History class.