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Atlanta's Jewel: The Margaret Mitchell House and Museum

© Susan Jensen

Nestled among Atlanta businesses and skyscrapers sits a small red house. The building has been saved from the wrecking ball, set on fire and completely restored. Why? Because it houses the apartment in which Margaret Mitchell lived when she wrote Gone With the Wind. The house is now a museum, which is open to the public.

I recently visited the Margaret Mitchell House and was impressed by its collection of GWTW memorabilia. My tour began in the museum's main building, which is lined with black and white photographs of Mitchell, as well as some items from her childhood. After looking around, I watched a short video about Mitchell's life. I especially enjoyed the interviews with some of her friends and family. They seemed to emphasize what a fun person she was, always energetic and ready for a good laugh.

After watching the video, we headed into the house itself. The parlor and upstairs rooms contain photographs and other items pertaining to Mitchell's life. Our tour guide then led us downstairs to the apartment Margaret shared with her husband, John Marsh. The first thing I noted was that the apartment was indeed downstairs; I had mistakenly read that Marsh hauled books upstairs to his wife, which would not have been true. The second thing that stood out to me and others in the group was how tiny the apartment was. It consists of a small living room, a cramped bedroom and a closet-sized kitchen. Perhaps this presented no problem to petite Margaret, but how did her very tall husband cope with the low ceiling and tight space? We'll never know . . .

The apartment is furnished with little of the Mitchells own possessions. However, it contains furniture and other items from the period, which allow visitors to visualize what it might have been like to visit during the time the Marshes lived in the apartment.

After visiting the apartment, we entered another section of the museum, which housed a collection of letters written by Margaret and John. They tell of happenings in Atlanta as well as events in their own lives. I read one letter written by John which described how taxing fame was on Margaret, who found it difficult to go to the bank or the grocery store without being recognized. The letters have been collected in a book, but it was too pricey for me to even consider buying!

We then stepped inside the small gift shop, which offers a large array of GWTW souveniers and memorabilia. Besides postcards, magnets, dolls, plates, etc., the shop does have several first editions of the book available for purchase.

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