A Fort Smith native published an anthology of her short stories that pilloried society in small southern towns. Thyra Samter Winslow published My Own, My Native Land, a collection of forty stories, in 1935. Some had been published in The New Yorker under a banner that became the title of the anthology.
Others had appeared in Smart Set, a publication subtitled “A Magazine of Cleverness.” Smart Set’s co-editor, H.L. Mencken, was a fan of Winslow’s writing since they each held negative opinions of the U.S. west of New York. Winslow’s articles centered on small towns and the aspirations of women to belong to the upper social classes. Some sought to hold onto their status as “the best families,” while others sought to conceal unsuccessful family members.
One chronicles a man similar to Jewish merchant Louis Samter, Winslow’s father. Her Hugo Dahmer mentors younger men who drive him out of business. Eulogized as “the best man in town,” someone says “And a lot of good it did him.”
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