History of the Order of Confederate Rose
The idea for the Order of Confederate Roseorganization came to Jane Latture of Birmingham, AL, after a Robert E. Lee birthday dinner in January 1993, when the speaker, Charles Lunsford, told Mrs. Latture of an Order of Robert E. Lee organization (Order of Robert E. Lee is the ladies’ auxiliary group of the Georgia Sons of Confederate Veterans.) that had been reactivated in Georgia. Knowing that other ladies in Alabama felt the need to help combat the growing attack on their Confederate Heritage, Mrs. Latture proposed the idea of their own order to some ladies who responded positively. The first name to occur to Mrs. Latture was the Order of the Confederate Rose, based on the television movie "The Rose and the Jackal" about Rose O'Neal Greenhow, a Confederate Spy.
On May 1, 1993, eleven wives and daughters of Alabama Division Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) members met in Alabama City during the Alabama SCV state convention and organized the order. The ladies amended and approved the name the Order of Confederate Rose (OCR). Borrowing ideas from the Georgia order, they mapped out the purposes and the structure of the organization. One evening late in May, Jane Latture met with other ladies and they wrote up a tentative constitution and by-laws for the organization. This was not to be a lineage organization. Love of the South and willingness to support the Sons of Confederate Veterans were o be the eligibility requirement.
In July 1993, the first application and a short history of the order appeared in the Alabama Confederate offering charter membership to those whose applications came in by August 1, 1993. As a result, 65 applications were received and a charter signing ceremony was scheduled at Cahaba, the first capital of Alabama, on 16 October 1993, to coincide with the fall muster of the Military Order of Stars and Bars (MOSB), a male heritage society of the descendants of Confederate officers.
Great interest in the Order of Confederate Rose was expressed by women from other states at the 1993 SCV National Convention in Lexington, KY. The Alabama ladies put up a sign and handed out applications. As a result, several State Societies were created. Texas OCR joined in 1995. The SCV gave approval of the organization as an “official auxiliary group” with the Director for the State being appointed by the State SCV Division Commander. In 1996 the SCV declared the group would not be an “auxiliary group” but always a “support group”.
The Order of Confederate Rose is an independent organization supporting the work of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. It is a Confederation of States and is composed of State Societies rather than a National organization composed of state divisions. There is no national organization.
The Texas Society Order of Confederate, Inc. is so charted by the Texas Secretary of State, is fully incorporated under the laws of the State of Texas, as well as being a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. It is an autonomous heritage organization dedicated to assist and support any group(s) that defends and vindicates the history of the Confederacy, the preservation of Confederate symbols, monuments and cemeteries. As a society; the organization fund raises year round for it’s Project Funding Grant - which any 501(c)3 Historical Organization can apply for; it’s Marilyn C. Sweeney Scholarship for any graduating High School Senior and participates in several hundreds of events with the local camps of the Texas Division - Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Alamo Rose, Chapter #4 is the oldest and largest chapter with in the Texas Society OCR, and fully supports, attends meetings, and events of all eleven (11) Camps of the 6th Brigade; Texas Division - Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Confederate Cemetery Association - San Antonio, TX.
