Sallie Rhett Roman

Sarah "Sallie" de Saussure Taylor Rhett Roman (1844–1921) was an American journalist and writer. Born into Southern aristocracy as the daughter of South Carolina congressman Robert Barnwell Rhett, she started a writing career to support her family after the death of her husband. Her writing focused on nostalgia for the Lost Cause and glorification of the plantation system. She was a contributor to the New Orleans Times-Democrat newspaper for nearly three decades.

Biography

Sarah "Sallie" Rhett was born in Washington, DC on February 3, 1844, while her father was serving as a congressman from South Carolina. When not living in Washington, Sallie Rhett grew up in Charleston, South Carolina at the family's manor, today known as the Robert Barnwell Rhett House. Her mother was a descendant of Henry William de Saussure, of the prominent De Saussure family. The De Saussure family arrived in South Carolina originally from Lucerne, Switzerland. Due to her mother's influence, Sallie Rhett was educated at home by a French governess, becoming well educated in music and the French language.

Marriage and move to New Orleans

In 1863, Sallie Rhett became the second wife of Colonel Alfred Roman, a lawyer who was the son of Louisiana Governor André Bienvenu Roman. The match was a strong political and economic one for Rhett's family. Alfred Roman was well connected in Southern society. His first wife (and first cousin) was the daughter of Valcour Aime, one of the richest Creole planters in Louisiana. At the time, Alfred Roman was a Confederate officer who served in the staff of P.G. T. Beauregard.

In New Orleans, Rhett Roman became part of the city's social elite, joining the Geographics and the Quarante Club, literary societies for women in the city. The family's income from the Roman family's sugar plantation was decimated by reconstruction, and the property was eventually lost to creditors. In her writings, Sallie Rhett Roman lamented about the fall of the former Southern way of life, and the Southern ruling elite. She did so in order to protect her family from public critique, as well as to insulate her support for the ruling elite.

In 1920, Rhett Roman returned to South Carolina. She died in Columbia, South Carolina on November 2, 1921.