United Daughters of the Confederacy
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The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is a sororal association dedicated to honoring the memory of those who served and died in service to the Confederate States of America (CSA). UDC began as the National Association of the Daughters of the Confederacy, organized in 1894 by Caroline Meriwether Goodlett and Anna Davenport Raines. It traces its lineage to older associations such as the Daughters of the Confederacy in Missouri and the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Confederate Soldiers Home in Tennessee. The National Association changed its name to the UDC in 1895 and was incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia in 1919. Its motto is “Love, Live, Pray, Think, Dare”.
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[edit] Membership
Membership in UDC is open to women at least 16 years old who are of lineal or collateral blood descent from men and women who served honorably in the Army, Navy, or Civil Service of the CSA or are current or former members of UDC.
[edit] Objectives
The objectives of the organization are Historical, Educational, Benevolent, Memorial and Patriotic: [1]
- To collect and preserve the material necessary for a truthful history of the War Between the States and to protect, preserve, and mark the places made historic by Confederate valor
- To assist descendants of worthy Confederates in securing a proper education
- To fulfill the sacred duty of benevolence toward the survivors of the War and those dependent upon them
- To honor the memory of those who served and those who fell in the service of the Confederate States of America
- To record the part played during the War by Southern women, including their patient endurance of hardship, their patriotic devotion during the struggle, and their untiring efforts during the post-War reconstruction of the South
- To cherish the ties of friendship among the members of the Organization
[edit] Headquarters
The headquarters of the UDC, Memorial Hall, is located in Richmond, Virginia. The United Daughters of Confederacy collects and preserves rare books, documents, diaries, letters, and other papers of historical importance that relate to the American Civil War period. The collection is kept in Goodlett Memorial Library at the headquarters.
[edit] Activities
During World War I, they supported 70 hospital beds at the American Military Hospital at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France and contributed $82,069 for French and Belgian orphans. At home, the United Daughters of the Confederacy's members purchased $24,843,368 worth of war bonds and savings stamps. They also donated $841,676 dollars to the Red Cross.
The United Daughters of the Confederacy have placed memorials to General Robert E. Lee and General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. They were placed in 1957. These memorials consist of two tracery windows depicting episodes in the lives of each of the generals.
During World War II the organization assisted the National Nursing Association by donating financially to the student nurses until the Bolton Act, which created the first Cadet Nurse Corps, was passed by the United States Congress . The United Daughters of Confederacy also donated ambulances for use at European battle sites and a blood plasma unit through the Red Cross. They were commended for their outstanding contributions to the war by the Red Cross.
The United Daughters of the Confederacy offers a number of scholarships including the Annabella Drummond McMath Scholarship, which helps women over the age of 30 begin or continue their education, to those who meet certain criteria.
[edit] James M. McPherson controversy
During a radio interview in 1999 the Civil War historian James M. McPherson offended many southern heritage organizations[2] when he associated the (UDC) with the neo-confederate movement and described board members of the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia as "undoubtedly neo-Confederate". He further said that the UDC and their equivalent for male descendants, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, have "white supremacy" as their "thinly veiled agendas." The incident outraged some members of the UDC and the SCV, who accused McPherson of using a slur against them. Some SCV and UDC chapters subsequently urged their members to boycott his books and engaged in letter-writing campaigns.[3]
[edit] Confederate Memorial Hall
Recently, the United Daughters of the Confederacy has been engaged in a legal battle with Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. The name of a building, entitled Confederate Memorial Hall, was removed despite the protests of the UDC, which had funded approximately a third of the cost. However, after a lengthy legal process, it was ruled that Vanderbilt University would be forced to pay a sizeable sum to the UDC if the 'Confederate' aspect of the name was removed from the building. However, Vanderbilt continues to refer to the building as simply Memorial Hall.
[edit] See also
- Military Order of the Stars and Bars
- Southern Cross of Honor
- Grand Army of the Republic
- Naming the American Civil War
