Widow of James Longstreet named to Brenau Hall of Fame

GAINESVILLE - Helen Longstreet, the widow of General James Longstreet has been posthumously named to the Brenau University Alumni Hall of Fame.

Debbie Thompson of the university says the general married Helen late in his life.

"They were married for seven years and then he passed away." Thompson says. "She spent the rest of her lifetime promoting his accomplishments during the war."

Helen Dortch Longstreet was a 1918 graduate of the school and attendant along with James Longstreet granddaughter.

She became a champion for civil rights for blacks, decades before the civil rights movement.

She died in 1962 at age 99.

General Longstreet died in 1904.

During the American Civil war, he served as second in command of the Confederate States Army.