Erskine Preston Caldwell (December 17, 1903 – April 11, 1987) was an American author. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native South in novels such as Tobacco Road and God’s Little Acre won him critical acclaim, but also made him controversial among Southerners of the time who felt he was deprecating the people of the region. Caldwell was a supporter of eugenics at a time it was gaining in popularity in the United States, and his novels can be read as promoting new legislation requiring involuntary sterilization.