Longstreet Society's Joe Whitaker dies at 85; he welcomed visitors, defended general

Joe Whitaker greeted Piedmont Hotel guests for years.

I met Joe Whitaker in the summer of 2009 when I first visited the headquarters of the Longstreet Society in Gainesville, Ga. I shuffled up the steps of a one-story wooden building -- all that remained of the Piedmont Hotel, which was operated for years by Confederate Gen. James Longstreet in his retirement.

Whitaker greeted me and proceeded to be an affable and helpful guide to the building. He was very knowledgeable about the general and his legacy.

Word that Whitaker, 85, died on Wednesday saddened me.

C.J. Clarke IV, president of the society, told members in an email that Whitaker “was the best and will never be forgotten.”

Whitaker was the former society treasurer and manager of the hotel. He greeted visitors and showed them the building’s rooms and items linked to Longstreet. He continued to serve on the board until his death.

“Joe was a loyal and enthusiastic supporter of General Longstreet and a thoroughly knowledgeable historian,” Clarke said.

Since we met, Whitaker occasionally sent emails about society events and the annual memorial service for Longstreet.

By then, I had published two articles about the controversial Longstreet and the society’s efforts to honor him and help reestablish his reputation.

On the hotel porch in 2009 (Picket photos)

Longstreet moved to Gainesville from New Orleans about six years after the end of the Civil War. The controversy about his conduct at the Battle of Gettysburg and his postwar support of the Republican Party, Reconstruction and suffrage for blacks dogged him to his grave at Gainesville's Alta Vista Cemetery and for years afterward. 

But time – and many historians – have been kind to the general in recent decades, with many arguing he was a scapegoat for the Southern defeat and failures by Gen. Robert E. Lee.

In 2009, Whitaker said the general’s reputation has been “partially salvaged” in recent years.

Whitaker believed Longstreet was a bit naïve about how his post-war politics would play with fellow Southerners. "He did not understand. He thought everyone was pragmatic, having the common sense he had."

Richard Pilcher and Whitaker last summer.

I saw Whitaker last summer while visiting the Longstreet Society for the first time in several years. He was there with Richard Pilcher, a longtime member and former president of the group. Pilcher told me this week that his colleague was still volunteering at the hotel once a week, despite health problems.

“Joe was our rock and I guess I thought he would never leave us and now he is gone. I have cried several times today,” Pilcher told the Picket in an email. “Joe was a graduate of Gainesville High School and North Georgia College (UNG), a US Army veteran, a patriot, a Christian, the first director of the Piedmont Hotel Museum and my dear friend.”

Clarke told the Gainesville Times that visitors who returned to the Piedmont Hotel would remember Whitaker's face, but not his name. Clarke said they would ask, “Is that (the) man that knows everything here?”

The funeral for the Gainesville native and former wholesaler and warehouse manager is Saturday. A memorial for Whitaker will be held by the society at a future date.