The Good & The Guilt

The good:

http://www.aolnews.com/philanthropy/nc/article/proud-mama-oral-lee-brown-sends/1069265?icid=main|htmlws-sb-n|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fphilanthropy%2Fnc%2Farticle%2Fproud-mama-oral-lee-brown-sends%2F1069265

The guilt:

http://www.slashfood.com/2010/05/19/at-burgerville-order-up-a-burger-fries-and-a-guilt-trip/?icid=main|htmlws-sb-n|dl5|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slashfood.com%2F2010%2F05%2F19%2Fat-burgerville-order-up-a-burger-fries-and-a-guilt-trip%2F

Comments about either article are appreciated!



Who Am I?

Yesterday's answer was Margaret Bourke-White.

Born in 1844 in West Virginia and died in Wisconsin at the age of 56. Operating from my father's hotel I provided information to General Jackson during The Civil War. I was the eldest child of some rich folks and as a teenager was a fun-loving debutante. I became a spy strictly by chance when a band of Union army soldiers saw the Confederate flag hung outside my home. They tore it down and hung a Union flag in its place. This made me angry enough, but when one of them cursed at my Mom, I was enraged. I pulled out a pistol and shot the man down. A board of inquiry exonerated me but sentries were posted around the house and officers kept close track of her activities. I profited from this enforced familiarity, charming at least one of the officers into revealing military secrets. "To him," I wrote "I am indebted for some very remarkable effusions, some withered flowers, and a great deal of important information." I conveyed the secrets to Confederate officers via my slave who carried the messages in a hollowed-out watch case. On my first attempt at spying I was caught and told I could be sentenced to death but was not, then I realized I needed to find a better way to communicate. I was not blessed with a pretty face, but a fine body. I was particularly noted for having the best looking ankles known—and I used them to my advantage. I evidently had a "winning way" with the Union troops and was most obliging in taking care of their needs. Then one evening in 1862 a Union General and his staff gathered in the parlor of the local hotel. I hid in the closet in the room, eavesdropping through a knothole I enlarged in the door. I learned that the general had been ordered east from Virginia, a move that would reduce the Union Army's strength at Front Royal. That night I rode through Union lines, using false papers to bluff my way past the sentries, and reported the news to a Confederate scout. When the Confederates advanced on Front Royal, I ran to greet General Stonewall Jackson's men, braving enemy fire that put bullet holes in my skirt. I urged an officer to inform Jackson that "the Yankee force is very small." I said to tell him to charge right down and he will catch them all. Jackson did and that evening penned a note of gratitude to me: "I thank you, for myself and for the army, for the immense service that you have rendered your country today." For my contributions I was awarded the Southern Cross of Honor. Jackson also gave me captain and honorary aide-de-camp positions. After my lover gave me up I was arrested and brought to the Old Capitol Prison in Washington. There was an inquiry concerning violations of orders that I be kept in close custody. I was held for a month before being released. I was later arrested and imprisoned a third but again was set free. I went to England where I met and married a Union naval officer. After the war I became an actress in England before returning to the United States. I divorced the officer and married someone else a year later. I began touring the country giving dramatic lectures of my life as a Civil War spy. While touring I died of a heart attack. Why am I reminded of the woman Cleopatra and the word secession? Answer that question and you can also answer the question, Who Am I?