In his fictional autobiography of Nicholas Worth, Walter Hines Page depicts the unsuccessful attempts of a Harvard- educated Progressive and Southerner to usher in education reforms in his native state. Page used Worth’s character to discuss his region’s struggles when transitioning from the Old South to the New South. In doing so, Page provides a critique of a people unwilling to undertake progressive ideals and content to remain entrenched in a foregone era. Throughout the work, Page intertwines his opinions regarding the social and economic reconciliation of the North and South with his vies concerning the educational system and the difficult evolutionary journey toward Progress.
The Southerner provides a fictitious account of the establishment of the New South and the cultural clash that emerged when the Old South met the New. Although a fiction, The Southerner provides readers with insight into the mind of a Southern Progressive during the late 1800s. Page’s other work include The Rebuilding of the Commonwealth and A Publisher’s Confession.