Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth

Shirley A. Leckie

ISBN 10: 0806125012 / ISBN 13: 9780806125015

Published by University Of Oklahoma Press Mai 1993, 1993

About this Item

Neuware - George Armstrong Custer's death in 1876 at the Battle of the Little Bighorn left Elizabeth Bacon Custer a thirty-four-year-old widow whose debts greatly out-weighed her financial resources. By the time she died - fifty-seven years later, on Park Avenue - she had achieved economic security, recognition as an author and lecturer, and the respect of numerous public figures. Furthermore, she had built the Custer legend, an idealized image of her husband as 'a boy's hero': a brilliant military commander, a solid Christian, a patriot, and a family man without personal failings. Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth explores this complex woman and her role in creating the Custer myth. A true nineteenth-century woman whose religious fervor had been reinforced by attendance at two female seminaries, Elizabeth (known to friends and family as 'Libbie') entered her marriage determined to convert her flamboyant husband and raise children who would become 'cornerstone(s) in the great church of god'. But the marriage, while passionate, brought neither the children she desired nor the idyllic happiness she later described. Military life was a struggle: at times the couple suffered lengthy separations; other times Libbie endured the privations of life on frontier posts to be near her husband. Libbie tolerated his marital infidelities and gambling, though not without complaint or flirtations of her own. Through it all, Libbie contributed to George Armstrong Custer's advancement far more than has been recognized. After his death, Libbie's crusade to honor him affirmed the middle-class domestic and patriotic values she held, and these were, in turn, used to justify the conquest of AmericanIndians. Not until Libbie died did historians and military leaders feel free to re-evaluate the actions and character of General Custer. Extensively researched and unflinchingly honest, this is the first comprehensive treatment of Elizabeth Bacon Custer's remarkable life. She wil.

Seller Inventory # 9780806125015

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth
• Publisher: University Of Oklahoma Press Mai 1993
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0806125012
• ISBN 13: 9780806125015
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 229W x 152H x 34D millimeters 229 millimeters width by 152 millimeters height by 34 millimeters depth
• Weight: 831 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Georger Armstrong Custer’s death in 1876 at the Battle of the Little Big Horn left Elizabeth Bacon Custer a thirty-four-year-old widow who was deeply in debt. By the time she died fifty-seven years later she had achieved economic security, recognition as an author and lecturer, and the respect of numerous public figures. She had built the Custer legend, an idealized image of her husband as a brilliant military commander and a family man without personal failings. In Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth, Shirley A. Leckie explores the life of "Libbie," a frontier army wife who willingly adhered to the social and religious restrictions of her day, yet used her authority as model wife and widow to influence events and ideology far beyond the private sphere.

 

About the Author

Shirley A. Leckie, Professor of History at the University of Central Florida, is the author of Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth and Angie Debo: Pioneering Historian.