Mildred Lewis Rutherford (1851-1928) 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. Within
the Georgia division, Rutherford promoted educational During a
time of shifting gender roles, Rutherford harkened back to "Old
South" ideals about a woman's proper sphere. Although she defied
conventional female behavior both by beco