Rutherford, Mildred Lewis, 1852-1928

Mildred Lewis Rutherford (1852-1928), author and educator, resided in Athens, Georgia.

Mildred Lewis Rutherford was born in Athens on July 16, 1851, into a wealthy patrician family with deep roots. Prior to the Civil War (1861-65), her father, Williams Rutherford, and her maternal uncles, Howell Cobb and Thomas R. R. Cobb, were among the state's slave-owning elite. Rutherford attended the Lucy Cobb Institute, a finishing school for girls in Athens, and after graduating in 1868, she taught history and literature in Atlanta. In 1880 she returned to Athens and became the principal of the Lucy Cobb Institute. A tireless advocate of the "Lost Cause" version of southern history, Rutherford served as the president of the Georgia division of the UDC from 1899 to 1902, and as the historian-general of the national organization from 1911 to 1916... Rutherford fell ill in 1927... She died the following year, on August 15, 1928. -- "Mildred Lewis Rutherford (1851-1928)" New Georgia Encyclopedia. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/ (Retrieved March 23, 2009)