Myrta Lockett Avary


Myrta Lockett Avary was an American author and journalist. Her books include Dixie After the War, The Recollections of Alexander H. Stephens and Uncle Remus and the Wren's Nest. She died on February 14, 1946 in Atlanta.

Life

Myrta Lockett was born in Halifax County, Virginia on December 7, 1857. She was born to Harwood and Augusta Lockett. She married Georgian physician James Corbin Avary in 1884 and moved to Atlanta, Georgia. They had a son who died in infancy.
In Atlanta, Avary wrote for multiple publications, including the Atlanta Journal, Atlanta Constitution, and Atlanta Georgian. In 1880, she with Dr. Avary moved to New York and they separated in 1911. Avary wrote for more publications there, such as the Christian Herald.
Avary mostly wrote on Southern history in addition to metropolitan charities. She is the author of the book A Virginia Girl in the Civil War published in 1903. She was also one of the editors for Mary Boykin Chesnut's Diary From Dixie . In 1906, she wrote Dixie After the War. She also helped in relief work in India, China, and Cuba.
In 1908, she returned to Atlanta, and continued working in journalism. She published The Recollections of Alexander H. Stephens in 1910 and Uncle Remus and the Wren's Nest, and of Joel Chandler Harris and his Home in 1913. She died on February 14, 1946 in Atlanta.

Avary's works

Avary's earliest novel was Dixie After the War, published in 1906. The book is a portrayal of the Reconstruction-era South based on firsthand accounts. The novel details different hardships that Southerners faced as a result of the Civil War's outcome, and also includes information on the rise of secret Southern groups.
Four years later, in 1910, the next work that Avary published was The Recollections of Alexander H. Stephens. Alexander Hamilton Stephens was the Vice President of the Confederate States of America and, while in Union custody, he kept a journal, which is what Avary would later publish.
Myrta Lockett Avary's final work was Uncle Remus and the Wren's Nest, which was an account of Joel Chandler Harris's famous and controversial collection of Uncle Remus stories.