Blogging from A to Z April 2013 Challenge

T is for Tradition

What better way to preserve history and honor those who have come before than to be an active member in societies? I never understood what societies did until I became a member of a few. What they do is preserve and honor tradition. They don’t allow ritual and sacrifice be forgotten. The groups I belong to are service organizations, dedicated to promoting patriotism and history, and they follow strict rules of tradition.

I belong to the United States Daughters of 1812 under my 4th great grandfather Hays Rodgers who fought for the Mississippi Militia. He was assigned to Capt Evan Austill’s company of volunteers in Maj Sam Dale’s Battalion to fight against the hostile Creek Indians.

Here is the U.S.D. of 1812’s purpose copied from their website:

The U.S.D. of 1812, founded in 1892, is a volunteer women’s service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving and increasing knowledge of the history of the American people by the preservation of documents and relics, marking of historic spots, recording of family histories and traditions, celebration of patriotic anniversaries, teaching and emphasizing the heroic deeds of the civil, military, and naval life of those who molded this Government between the close of the American Revolution and the close of the War of 1812, to urge Congress to compile and publish authentic records of men in civil, military, and naval service from 1784 to 1815 inclusive, and to maintain at National Headquarters in Washington D.C., a museum and library of memorabilia of the 1784-1815 period.

(photo: Hays Rodgers)

I also belong to the Daughters of the American Revolution under my 5th great grandfather Joseph Culpepper who fought for the 3rd South Carolina (Rangers) Regiment.

A little piece of their purpose from their website includes: The DAR, founded in 1890 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a non-profit, non-political volunteer women’s service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America’s future through better education for children.

If that’s not enough to do, I also belong to the United Daughters of the Confederacy under my 2nd great grandfather Joel B Culpepper who fought for the 63rd Alabama Infantry Co K .

The UDC exists to (from their website):

• 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 survivor 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

(photo: Joel B Culpepper)

I am honored and blessed to be a small part of these organizations and to carry on the traditions of the women who served before me.