Keepers of History, Shapers of Memory

From 1895 to the 1930s, The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) established itself as one of Florida's foremost interpreters of Confederate heritage. By examining the organization at the time of its greatest influence in Florida, this thesis demonstrates the ways in which the Daughters sought to forge a "usable past" from their Confederate legacy: to produce heritage from history. Specifically, it explains the Daughters' attempts to influence school curriculum to teach their favored historical narrative and to shape public consciousness of the Civil War through monuments and commemorative ceremonies. Since heritage always straddles the gap between past and present, it also explores how the Daughters' activities and rhetoric addressed the social issues of their own time such as race and gender. Sources used include the minutes of UDC conventions, newspaper records, and document collections at the State Archives of Florida, Florida State University, University of Florida, and Emory University.