Cola Barr Craig

Cola Barr Craig (, Barr; pen name, Benjamin H. Craig; March 17, 1861 – January 20, 1930) was an author of the American South who wrote short stories and a novel. Also a clubwoman, she served as president of several organizations including the United Daughters of the Confederacy (U.D.C.), the Memorial Association of Selma, Alabama, and United Charities of Selma.

Early life and education
Cola Amanda Barr was born March 17, 1861, at Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi. She was the daughter of Col. James and Frances (Donnell) Barr, the former a native of New York state, who early in life moved with his parents to Jackson, Mississippi, and during the American Civil War, served in Confederate States Army, as colonel of the 10th Mississippi Infantry Regiment and was killed at Kennesaw Mountain. She was the granddaughter of James and Margaret (Smith) Barr, of Patchogue, New York, and of William H. and Susan (Benthal) Donnell, natives of Wilson County, Tennessee, who resided at Jackson, Mississippi, for many years. Craig was a descendent of Capt. John Donnell, of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, known as the fighting parson during colonial times, and of John Benthal, a private in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Cola's siblings were: Georgia, Samuel and James.

She was educated at "Fair Lawn Institute", Jackson, Mississippi, graduating in 1879.

Career
Craig served as president of the U.D.C., of the Memorial Association, of the United Charities of Selma, vice-president Anti-Suffrage association of the U.D.C. With Mrs. James S. Pinckard, Craig attempted to co-organize a branch of the Southern Women's Rejection League, but the attempt failed.

She was the county chair, State council of defense, and chair, Dallas county committee on food conservation and production, during World War I. She was one of the originators of the movement which resulted in the first hospital in Selma, owned by the United Charities. She was a member of the Ossian Club, a literary organization, and secretary-treasurer of the "Scribblers", the first organized writers club in Alabama. She was a Presbyterian; and a Democrat.

Craig was the author of Was-She, and The Contrast (unpublished), and of numerous short stories and poems.

Personal life
On June 3, 1885, in Dallas, Alabama, she married Benjamin H. Craig. They had a son, Benjamin H. Jr. and a daughter, Cola Barr.

Cola Barr Craig made her home in Selma, Alabama, where she died January 20, 1930.

Selected works

 * Was She: A Novel, 1906 (text)