Editing Margaret Mitchell (section)

==Reporter for ''The Atlanta Journal''==
{{anchor|Reporter for The Atlanta Journal}}
While still legally married to Upshaw and needing income for herself,<ref>Edwards, A., ''Road to Tara: The Life of Margaret Mitchell'', p. 91.</ref> Mitchell got a job writing feature articles for ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|The Atlanta Journal]] Sunday Magazine''. She received almost no encouragement from her family or "society" to pursue a career in journalism, and had no prior newspaper experience.<ref name=autogenerated40>Wolfe, M.R., ''Daughters of Canaan: a saga of southern women'', p. 149.</ref> Medora Field Perkerson, who hired Mitchell said:

<blockquote>There had been some skepticism on the Atlanta Journal Magazine staff when Peggy came to work as a reporter. Debutantes slept late in those days and didn't go in for jobs.<ref name=autogenerated40 /></blockquote>

Her first story, ''Atlanta Girl Sees Italian Revolution'',<ref name=reporter />{{rp|3–5}} by Margaret Mitchell Upshaw, appeared on December 31, 1922.<ref name=reporter />{{rp|xi}} She wrote on a wide range of topics, from fashions to [[List of American Civil War Generals (Confederate)|Confederate generals]] and [[King Tut]]. In an article that appeared on July 1, 1923, ''Valentino Declares He Isn't a Sheik'',<ref name=reporter />{{rp|152–154}} she interviewed celebrity actor [[Rudolph Valentino]], referring to him as "Sheik" from his [[The Sheik (film)|film role]]. Less thrilled by his looks than his "chief charm", his "low, husky voice with a soft, sibilant accent",<ref name=reporter />{{rp|153}} she described his face as "swarthy":

<blockquote>His face was swarthy, so brown that his white teeth flashed in startling contrast to his skin; his eyes—tired, bored, but courteous.<ref name=reporter />{{rp|152}}</blockquote>

Mitchell was quite thrilled when Valentino took her in his arms and carried her inside from the rooftop of the [[Georgian Terrace Hotel]].<ref name=reporter />{{rp|154}}

Many of her stories were vividly descriptive. In an article titled, ''Bridesmaid of Eighty-Seven Recalls Mittie Roosevelt's Wedding'',<ref name=reporter />{{rp|144–151}} she wrote of a white-columned mansion in which lived the last surviving bridesmaid at [[Theodore Roosevelt]]'s mother's wedding:

<blockquote>The tall white columns glimpsed through the dark green of cedar foliage, the wide veranda encircling the house, the stately silence engendered by the century-old oaks evoke memories of [[Thomas Nelson Page]]'s ''On Virginia''. The atmosphere of dignity, ease, and courtesy that was the soul of the Old South breathes from this old mansion...<ref name=reporter />{{rp|144}}</blockquote>

In another article, ''Georgia's Empress and Women Soldiers'',<ref name=reporter />{{rp|238–245}} she wrote short sketches of four notable Georgia women. One was the first woman to serve in the [[United States Senate]], [[Rebecca Latimer Felton]], a suffragist who held [[White supremacy|white supremacist]] views. The other women were:  [[Nancy Hart]], Lucy Mathilda Kenny (also known as Private Bill Thompson of the [[Confederate States Army]]) and [[Mary Musgrove]]. The article generated mail and controversy from her readers.<ref>Bartley, N.V., ''The Evolution of Southern Culture'', p. 96.</ref><ref name=reporter />{{rp|xiii}} Mitchell received criticism for depicting "strong women who did not fit the accepted standards of femininity".<ref>Felder, Deborah G. ''A bookshelf of Our Own: works that changed women's lives''. New York, NY: Citadel Press, 2006. p. 108. {{ISBN|978-0-8065-2742-0}}</ref>

Mitchell's journalism career, which began in 1922, came to an end less than four years later; her last article appeared on May 9, 1926.<ref name=reporter />{{rp|xx}} Several months after marrying John Marsh, Mitchell quit due to an ankle injury that would not heal properly and chose to become a full-time wife.<ref name=autogenerated4>Jones, A. G., ''Tomorrow is Another Day: the woman writer in the South, 1859–1936'', p. 314.</ref> During the time Mitchell worked for the ''Atlanta Journal'', she wrote 129 feature articles, 85 news stories, and several book reviews.<ref name=reporter />{{rp|xv}}