Daughters Preserving Confederate Heritage

This collection explores Confederate monuments, statues, and memorials that were funded by or preserved by the United Daughters of the Confederacy across the United States.

Who are the Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) and How Did They Form?

The first chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) was founded in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 10, 1894, by Caroline Meriwether Goodlett of Tennessee (Founder) and Lucian H. “Anna Davenport” Raines of Georgia (Co-founder). Women from many “hospital associations, sewing societies, and knitting circles” organized together to help soldiers in the South during the Civil War. After the war, they helped erect cemeteries, memorials, monuments, and associations dedicated to the memory of Confederate soldiers through the Lost Cause ideology. [1]

What is the Lost Cause Ideology?

The Lost Cause Ideology is a false claim and representation of the Confederacy as heroic and the Civil War as a war where the South “fought nobly and against all odds not to preserve slavery… [but for] the rights of states to govern themselves.” In other words, the Confederacy is seen in a positive light as just and simply acting in defense “against northern aggression.” [2]

This is the central message the UDC aims to preserve to honor their Confederate ancestors. [1]

The UDC’s Impact:

The organization currently has 41 chapters and divisions in the United States from New York to California. [3] To become a member of the organization, eligibility includes proof of lineage to “men and women who served honorably in the Army, Navy, or Civil Service of the Confederate States of America, or who gave Material Aid to the Cause.” [4]

In the 126 years since its formation, the UDC has helped to erect or preserve over 50 memorials and monuments. The UDC also seeks to preserve historical records that pertain to the Civil War (1861-1865), such as rare books, documents, diaries, letters, personal records, and more. 

Most recently, the UDC has turned their main objective to preserving Confederate monuments and memorials that were erected by members in the past. In response to much negativity towards the Confederacy, the UDC seeks to teach the historical and lineage connected to these statues.

More on the Collection: 

This collection contains five monuments: "Appomattox," "United Confederate Veterans Memorial," "Confederate Memorial Fountain," "The Lookout" and "Silent Sam." 

Unlike the other collections surrounding a specific location, this collection shifts the focus to one of the most influential supporters of the Confederate monuments throughout the US. The collection includes various monuments located in unique locations, and, more importantly, set a precedent for other Confederate monuments across the US. Within the collection, you will find one monument once located in Seattle, Washington, an unlikely state to have an UDC chapter. Plus, several monuments that the UDC helped to relocate in response to calls for removal or destruction.

1. Sullivan, Patricia. "131-year-old Confederate statue removed from Alexandria intersection." The Washington Post, June 2, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/decades-old-confederate-statue-removed-from-alexandria-intersection/2020/06/02/778369a0-a4d3-11ea-bb20-ebf0921f3bbd_story.html
2. "The Confederate Statue." The Harrington Genealogy Association, September 23, 2002.
3. “The Confederate Statue.” [pdf, brochure] Office of Historic Alexandria, pp.1-6, November 2002, accessed November 12, 2021, https://www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/historic/info/brochures/ConfederateStatueBrochure.pdf
4. “Ad Hoc Conference - UDC Letter 1-20-16.” [pdf, letter] City of Alexandria, Virginia Government, pp. 2, January 2016, accessed November 12, 2021. https://www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/manager/info/UDCletter-012016.pdf
5. Locke, Mamie E. “2020 Session: SB 183 War memorials for veterans; removal, relocation, etc.” LIS: Virginia’s Legislative Information System, February 2020, accessed November 12, 2021, https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB183
6. “The Appomattox.” [pdf, newspaper], Alexandria Times, pp. 1-2. June 18, 2020, accessed November 12, 2021, https://www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/historic/info/attic/2020/Attic20200618Appomattox.pdf