Springtime Tallahassee is always a chance for diverse cultures to march together, and this year’s parade is no exception.
http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080329/NEWS01/80329004/1010
For immediate release
March 16, 2008
Publicity Coordinator
410-829-7060
The resting place of every other soldier in the cemetery was honored with a marker, a flag, or both. Sergeant George Julian Robinson had neither until recently when the “Delaware Grays”, Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 2068, at the request of his ancestor Thomas Robinson, placed a VA marker and Confederate Cross of Honor at his gravesite at St. George’s Chapel, Rt. 23 – Beaver Dam Road - near Angola.
Sgt G.J. “Jules” Robinson was from Georgetown, Delaware and fought in many of the war’s most famous battles. He was severely wounded, shot through the face during the Battle of the Wilderness, VA in May 1864. After the war, lived in Texas for a number of years before returning to Georgetown in 1882. He died in 1887 and was buried at St. George’s Chapel.
End
John Echols doesn't mix business with pleasure.
If he did, he could teach a class on the life and times of Jefferson Davis and his final years at
Beauvoir in Biloxi.
board of trustees of Beauvoir, the Biloxi home of Confederate president
Jefferson Davis.
Echols, 66, a 42-year member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, has
served the group's Mississippi division for 20-plus years as a trustee of
Beauvoir, a historical landmark.
Full story:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/mar/24/beauvior-caretaker/
SCV In the Know is a place where we like to give information that helps the many SCV members, officers and volunteers. We also like to use it to brag on things that our members have accomplished, either with full stories or with links to stories on the blog (www.sonsofconfederateveterans.blogspot.com). We like to emphasize things that are going right, since there is so much negative in our world. This time, though, we need to address an internal matter of the SCV that has not functioned as planned.
The SCV History list has been down for a long time, and that’s no secret. Last year we put out a call for volunteers to moderate the list (this is a topic-limited, moderator pre-approved list, dealing with Confederate history subjects). A number of fine volunteers stepped forward. Over the next few months we went through a selection process to designate a moderator, and several times circumstances arose that the person selected wasn’t able to take the task as he had hoped to. So, the selection process would begin anew each time. It was thought that we were finally ready to go, and Commander-in-Chief Sullivan wrote about SCV communications, including the History List, in the latest Confederate Veteran, and sure enough there were a good number who used the website to sign up for the History List after reading that column. Then things got very strange.
The History List was activated by someone or something unknown, before it was ready to have the switch turned on, and hundreds of members who had not subscribed began receiving messages. It’s true that there were a number of members who signed up after seeing the Commander-in-Chief’s column, but that was a couple of dozen, not hundreds. The immediate result was people placing posts saying that they hadn’t signed up and requesting to be removed (which cannot be done through the list itself, but only by going to the website), and others – not aware of what had happened – began responding that of course they had signed up, otherwise they wouldn’t be receiving messages. Without the moderator in place, these back-and-forth “remove me” messages escalated, just causing even more to send requests to be removed.
A quick investigation revealed what had happened (though not precisely how), and the Commander-in-Chief ordered the plug pulled on the list until it could be resolved. Certainly a matter of curiosity was whether this was a technical glitch, or intentional mischief. An ultimate answer may not ever be known with complete certainty, but there are a few things we do know: the history list is operated by software known as Mailman, a fairly sophisticated list management program. While there were some security issues that could result in attacks against a list in versions of Mailman prior to version 2.0, the SCV operates version 2.1.9.cp2 and there are no known major security issues in the current version. There did appear to be a pattern with those who had been added to the list without signing up in that they were members whose email addresses had been on file with the SCV for a long time; people who had signed up recently for SCV News, for example, were not getting the unwanted History List messages. Also, SCV News is operated completely separate from the History List; it doesn’t even use Mailman software (and current SCV databases were not compromised in this incident). While all evidence is only circumstantial, the evidence points to someone working off an old list of emails and member numbers and somehow gaining access to the mailman subscriptions password (which is normally only used by personnel at general headquarters). While there is a temptation to entertain conspiracy theories, instead the focus will remain on what is being done to rectify things.
First, the password was changed and strengthened. Also, Webmaster Dr. Sandy Keathley is developing a verification process for the list subscription forms, to prevent possible form spamming (a way to sign up people without their knowledge). The entire History List subscriber list has been scrapped; there isn’t an easy way to tell who meant to subscribe and who didn’t. Members who are known for certain to have been on the list will be added to the new one; however, most members will need to resubscribe. Finally, the list will go live again later this week with Allen Sullivant serving as moderator (list administrator in Mailman parlance). If you aren’t receiving messages from the History List by this weekend and you subscribed previously, that would be your sign that you’ll need to subscribe again at http://www.scv.org/maillistSubscription.php
To those who would like to see the SCV have an active, productive History List, I apologize that it has taken so long to get it going, and that it has gone through such difficulties. To those who never wanted the messages with which they were inundated, I apologize for the inconvenience you experienced. And to those gentlemen who offered their services to serve as moderator, thank you for being willing to serve.
Don Shelton
Chief of Staff, SCV
Keeping part of Arkansas' history alive, folks gathered in honor of Confederate Flag and Heritage Day.
Mark Kalkbrenner, 2nd Lt. Commander, said "The Confederate battle flag was a flag, an American flag the men were fighting for, what they believed in and it was the symbol they rallied around and we continue to use that."
Full story:
COCOA, FL - The American Veteran's Color Guard has drawn salutes, applause and appreciation from spectators at the parades and special events it has participated in since the group formed in 2001.
Now the marchers are preparing for what could be their biggest parade yet -- the National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C. Last year, some 250,000 spectators lined the streets.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1387 sponsors the group, some of whose members are Civil War re-enactors. Members range in age from 18 to 71 years.
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080218/NEWS01/802180320/1006
The General Executive Council met today (Saturday, March 8th) at Elm Springs, the SCV’s beautiful antebellum headquarters. A few items from that meeting:
Deadline set for printing constitutional amendments in Confederate Veteran: April 1st is the latest that headquarters can receive proposed amendments to the constitution in order to have them printed in the Confederate Veteran.
Our affinity card program (SCV Visa Card) is ending, and the issuing bank is refusing to continue with the agreement as it has been. A search for a new card issuer was authorized.
The Friends of the SCV program certificate design was presented, and the minimum initial contribution requirement set at $40 (and $30 annual for ongoing). This is a program to recognize non-member supporters (they receive the Confederate Veteran and a nice certificate).
A sesquicentennial SCV logo was adopted that will be used on decals and pins.
$6,000 was authorized to pursue a Foundation Search Database Program. This will allow the SCV to pursue foundation grants for the many projects that are proposed each year. The SCV spends tens of thousands and more each year supporting historical and memorial projects, but there are always more. It is hoped this program will allow us to tap into much larger financial resources.
A total of $49,000 was voted from designated funds to support four projects: Confederate Memorial Park in Maryland, trail markers in Missouri, CSS Neuse II in North Carolina, and the Confederate Museum in Greenville, South Carolina.
Concepts for the future development of the Elm Springs property were presented by the Elm Springs Task Force.
The Public Relations/Media committee presented a number of areas of outreach, including www.confederateheritgemonth.com, which shows anyone how to get government proclamations for Confederate Heritage Month, and multimedia projects that will shortly be released on the internet on an SCV Video site (think Confederate YouTube).
The GEC recommended the report of the Time & Place committee that the 2011 reunion be held in Montgomery, Alabama.
$3,000 was voted from Heritage Defense funds to erect a large battle flag near a busy U.S. highway (that it slated to become an interstate), near Uniontown, Tennessee.
These are just a few highlights; for more details, contact your department commander or councilman.
Jefferson Davis was born 200 years ago and 2008 will be a special year for the Sons of Confederate Veterans as we honor the memory and legacy of the one and only Confederate President. As your Commander-in-Chief, I will ask every Compatriot, Camp and Division to do whatever is necessary to see that the Davis record is honored both as a Confederate President, patriotic soldier, loving family man, and as an American statesman.
The General Executive Council has decided that something unique needs to be done to truly honor Jefferson Davis. By a unanimous vote, the SCV will commission famed sculptor Gary Casteel to create a statue of Jefferson Davis which will be here 100 years from now as a token of the respect of the membership of the SCV in 2008. This will be our token of affection and gratitude for what Jefferson Davis did and what he stood for. It is hoped that the statue will be completed this year.
Our monument will emphasize the humanity of Jefferson Davis. It will consist of three figures, Jefferson Davis, his son Joseph, and their adopted black child Jim Limber, a person lost in history by revisionist historians who felt his existence would impair their contrived notions of Davis. The statue will serve as an educational reminder that Davis was much more than the villain today's politically correct historians castigate.
The statue will be paid for through individual contributions. There will be no corporate or municipal shakedowns such as when the Abraham Lincoln statue was forced into a Confederate landmark, the Tredegar Ironworks. A careful fundraising program will be created for SCV contributions and freedom loving Americans who understand what Davis represents. The SCV statue will represent the love of the Southern people who Davis bore much of the suffering for. We have not determined the exact location of the statue but will determine a suitable spot during the time the statue is being constructed.
I ask all members to be a part of this historical endeavor. Our statue will be the first public statue of Jefferson Davis in a century. Every member, Camp and Division are asked to contribute to this when we begin fundraising. The SCV may be the only organization in this country who will honor the memory of Jefferson Davis and that includes many Southern organizations. Next year will be the bi-centennial of Abraham Lincoln. I am sure you can guess the hoopla that will entail. This year is the bi-centennial of our President. Let's show the world that Jefferson Davis was not only a man of his times but a man for the ages.
Christopher Sullivan
Commander-in-Chief
Sons of Confederate Veterans
