The Long Roll

Mary Johnston (1870 - 1936) was an American novelist and women's rights advocate from Virginia. She was one of America's best selling authors during her writing career and had three silent films adapted from her novels. Her best-selling 1911 novel on the American Civil War, The Long Roll, brought Johnston into open conflict with Stonewall Jackson's widow, Mary Anna Jackson. Beyond her native America, Johnston's novels were also very popular in Canada and in England. During her long career Johnston wrote, in addition to 23 novels, numerous short stories, two long narrative poems, and one play. She used her fame to advocate for women's rights and strongly supported the women's suffrage movement.