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History of the
Society
For
nearly one hundred years, the National
Society Sons and
Daughters of the Pilgrims has been dedicated
to
preserving both the genealogies and
histories of our
Pilgrim ancestors. From the foundations of
American
religious freedom, to Thanksgiving, to early
Colonial
history itself, the individuals from whom
our members
descend played a vital role in the
development of our
national identity.
Founded in 1908 by Thomas Williams Bicknell,
NSSDP is
dedicated to perpetuating the memory and
fostering and
promoting the principles and virtues of the
Pilgrims.
For the purpose of the Society, the term
"Pilgrim"
denotes any immigrant who settled before
1700 within the
territory which began the forty-eight
contiguous states
of the United States of America without
regard to
religion or place of origin.
At the time the Society was founded, on
December 21,
1908, ten gentlemen met in Providence, Rhode
Island, at
the invitation of Dr. Thomas Williams
Bicknell. There
they organized the Society, which was
incorporated in
Rhode Island on December 21, 1909. Dr.
Bicknell died in
1925 at the age of ninety-one. He was
a teacher,
lecturer, member of the Massachusetts
Legislature, and
the father of three children. The
Society struggled for
a time immediately after Dr. Bicknell's
death, until the
time of the third Governor General, Mrs.
Catherine
Stewart Kulling. The first lady to
hold office, it was
under her oversight that the strength of the
Society
grew significantly.
Many years have passed since those early
years, and
NSSDP has continued to grow and
prosper.
The
objects of the Society are philanthropic,
religious,
educational, and scientific. Members
commemorate events
in the history of the Pilgrims, erect
durable memorials
to historic men, women, and events, and
encourage the
study and research of Pilgrim history,
especially as
related to the foundation of civil
government on the
principles of religious freedom. In
addition, they
strive to promote social rights, civic
virtue,
industrial freedom, political equality, and
the
supremacy of just laws, the value and
sacredness of the
ballot, the purity of the home, temperate
and godly
living, and the dependence of individuals,
communities,
states and nations on the guidance of
Almighty God, as
taught by the Pilgrims.
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