This Canopy, built at a cost of $20,000.00, covered Plymouth Rock from 1866 until the Rock was returned to its original location in 1920. Behind the Canopy is Cole’s Hill, and just to the right of it is the Mayflower Society House
THE GENERAL SOCIETY OF MAYFLOWER DESCENDANTS
NOT until 1894 did descendants of the passengers of the Mayflower organize to perpetuate the ideals and commemorate the memory of their ancestors. The first Society was formed 22 December 1894 in New York, followed by societies in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania within 18 months. These societies founded the General Society 12 January 1897. The General Society now consists of 40 State Societies, with a membership of over 7600 men and women.
19 February 1923 the General Society was incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts. Among those signing the petition to the Great and General Court were Major General Leonard Wood, William Howard Taft, and Henry Cabot Lodge. The Mayflower Society is not interested in the wealth of its members, or their social standing, or their politics, although two Presidents of the United States have been members. Two others were eligible but passed on before its organization. It is proud, however, of the notable achievements of many of its members.
Some of the patriotic Societies were in early days largely social in character. Many joined solely of pride in their ancestry. Democracy was not then under attack and needed no defenders. The country’s growth since the turn of the century has brought to the United States a tremendous number of persons fleeing from Old World conditions. Our melting pot did well for a time; of recent years our freedom has been attacked. The Society now has a mission—that of spreading the wisdom and ideals of our ancestors to the masses who have come to our shores.
The Society has accomplished much in its effort to discover and publish matter relating to the Pilgrims. It has aided in establishing memorials and has contributed over $100,000.00 toward the Bradford Memorial Tablet, the Provincetown Monument, the Monument to the Pilgrims at Southampton, England, the Sarcophagus on Cole’s Hill, Plymouth, the Aptuxet Trading Post, at Bourne, the Mayflower Index, and to lesser memorials throughout the country. One of the most important things accomplished is the purchase and restoration of the Mayflower Society House. This is more than a National Headquarters. It is propaganda for Americanism. It is a landmark that will inspire those who visit Plymouth to increase their knowledge of the Pilgrims and thus help make better citizens of them, and it is a contribution to patriotism. Plymouth welcomes another museum house, particularly an 18th century one, where visitors may learn more of Colonial life and customs. The important thing is that visitors to the Mayflower Society House, who number thousands each year, coming from every state in the Union, find there exists an organization to perpetuate the memory and carry forward the ideals of the Pilgrims.
When the General Society of Mayflower Descendants was organized, it adopted a declaration of purpose, the most important part of which is to commemorate and honor the Pilgrims, to defend the principle of civil and religious liberty, as set forth in the [Mayflower Compact], to discover and publish original matter pertaining to the Pilgrims, and to authenticate, preserve, and mark spots of Pilgrim association.
These things the historian, orator, and poet have helped do. In our libraries are carefully prepared writings on the subject by Fiske, Dexter, John Quincy Adams and Daniel Webster, Choate, Everett and Sumner, and so on down to Henry Cabot Lodge, Calvin Coolidge, and the third Governor Bradford. So diligent have writers and speakers been, it is difficult to find and add new facts.
There are those who say, “It’s not what my ancestors did, it’s what I’ve done. I live in the present, not the past.” One must make good, but statistics prove those most successful are the first to preserve the best of the past.