United Daughters of the Confederacy - Definition and Overview

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”.

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.

During a radio interview the Civil War historian James M. McPherson offended many southern heritage organizations 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 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.[1] (http://users.erols.com/va-udc/mcpherson.html)