Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

United Daughters of the Confederacy. Southern Cross of Honor records, ca. 1900-1950. Organization records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond.

Acquisition Information

Lent for filming by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, June 2007.

Although not interfiled within the collection listed below are related United Daughters of the Confederacy Southern Cross of Honor records located in the Organization records collection:

United Daughters of the Confederacy. Virginia Division. Cross of Military Service and Southern Cross of Honor applications, 1900-1944. (LVA Acc. 22646, 22756)

United Daughters of the Confederacy. Richmond Chapter (Richmond, Va.). Cross of Military Service applications, 1909-1949 (bulk 1942-1949). (LVA Acc. 23489)

United Daughters of the Confederacy. Records, 1905-1941. (LVA Acc. 38061, Misc. reel 2312)

Biographical Information

The United Daughters of the Confederacy is the outgrowth of many local memorial, monument, and Confederate home associations and auxiliaries to camps of United Confederate Veterans that were organized after the Civil War. It is the oldest patriotic organization in the country because of its connection with two statewide organizations that came into existence as early as 1890 -- the Daughters of the Confederacy (DOC) in Missouri and the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Confederate Soldiers Home in Tennessee.

The National Association of the Daughters of the Confederacy was organized in Nashville, Tenn., on 10 September 1894, by founders Mrs. Caroline Meriwether Goodlett of Nashville and Mrs. Anna Davenport Raines of Georgia. At its second meeting in Atlanta, Ga., in 1895, the organization changed its name to the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The United Daughters of the Confederacy was incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia on 18 July 1919.

The Southern Cross of Honor award originated on 13 October 1862 as an act of the Confederate Congress to recognize the courage, valor, and good conduct of officers, non-commissioned officers and privates of the Confederate Army. Later, this award became the Cross of Military Service, which is awarded to men who, in addition to having a Confederate ancestor, served in the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, World War I, or World War II.

Scope and Content

The Southern Cross of Honor records includes certificates of eligibility, correspondence, and record of recipient ledgers. The bulk of the collection consists of the Record of Recipient ledgers and an index to the ledgers. The ledgers were compiled by Mrs. Anna Davenport Raines during her seven-year term as Custodian of Crosses of Honor. Mrs. Raines recorded the recipients of every Cross bestowed, beginning with Number 1, until she resigned in 1913 (Books 1-10). After 1913 the ledgers continued, Book 11 (1914-1916), Book 12 (1916-1919), Books 18 and 22 (ca. 1920-1941), and an unnumbered Book containing information on those descendants who fought in the Spanish American War (1898), Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902), and World War I (1914-1918). The ledgers provide the name and unit of each recipient and may in some cases give the date and place of the award. An cumulative index was developed by the Caroline Meriwether Goodlett Library Committee in the 1980s to cross reference the information contained in the ledgers.

The collection also includes loose sheets of Records of Recipients arranged alphabetically by state. It is assumed that these were awards issued by the various state chapters. The loose sheets contain more information than the bound ledgers- some contain names of descendants or widow, list rank, company, enlistment date, discharge date, camp, and date. Also included are a few folders of certificates of eligibility arranged alphabetically by soldier name.

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Originals located at the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia.