In 1984, her diary was published posthumously under the title Growing Up in the 1850s, and was considered one of the first detailed accounts the private lives of the Lee family at Arlington.

[2] As a member of the planter class, Lee had a privileged upbringing at Arlington House on her family's plantation in Virginia.

[5][7][6] She also wrote poetry, including the poems Motherhood, A Statue in the Garden, On the Jail Steps, Peace, A Roman Doll, Her Going, and Convention.

[5] While at home, she helped her mother and sisters teach enslaved children on their plantation, despite it being illegal to do so in Virginia.

[1] That spring, they joined her mother and sister at White House, another relative's plantation along the Pamunkey River.

[1] The family were placed under house arrest by the Union Army but were released after General George B. McClellan arranged for them to be sent across Confederate lines to join Robert E. Lee in Richmond.

[4] After the Civil War had ended, she moved to Lexington, Virginia with her family, where her father accepted the position as president of Washington University.

During this time, she had a number of suitors, including an astronomy professor from the Virginia Military Institute, but she declined their offers for marriage.

[1] In 1870, upon the advice of the family physicians, Lee accompanied her father on an extended trip to Georgia to help care for him.

[1] In August 1862, Anne contracted typhoid fever, and Lee moved with her to Jones Springs in Warren County, North Carolina to help her with treatment.