Local UDC chapter receives awards
Members of Hot Springs Chapter 80, United Daughters of the Confederacy, received 16 awards from Arkansas Division officers and committee chairmen for their work in the community, such as collecting and donating supplies for veterans in need through the McClellan VA Hospital in Little Rock, giving American flags to students, placing flags on military graves, marking graves of Confederate veterans, preserving historic sites, promoting local Southern poets, authors, music and artists. Members contribute to food banks, local and national charities, The Red Cross and The Salvation Army, to name a few. The chapter gives a scholarship to a graduating student nurse at National Park College.
The objectives of this division of the UDC is memorial, historical, benevolent, educational and patriotic. It is against UDC bylaws to support political and subversive organizations or groups. The UDC was founded on the needs of women, children and veterans who struggled during and after The War Between The States. Starvation, brutality and death wrought by bushwhackers and Union soldiers were rampant. Soldiers returned without limbs and without homes. Their families decimated. The strength of the Southern women prevailed. Veterans’ homes were built or family homes were donated for this purpose. Prosthesis were provided for those in need. The hospital standards for treating veterans were changed by their influence. Children returned to school and scholarships were established. Cemetery plots were given so that all veterans had a resting place.
It took many years for them to collect funds to erect a monument in honor of their husbands and fathers. Hot Springs Chapter, UDC was organized in 1896 by prominent women of society. Restoring the families and providing care for its veterans were utmost in their objectives. Hot Springs had literally been rebuilt from the ashes of war. Today, UDC continues upholding its objectives and supports veterans and active military.
The next meeting will be 11 a.m. Saturday. The program will include music and dances of the 1800s performed by local musicians.