South Carolina Division
United Daughters of the Confederacy®
Historical – Educational – Benevolent – Memorial – Patriotic
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
Thank you for visiting the website of the South Carolina Division United Daughters of the Confederacy®. We welcome prospective members. If you are interested in joining the UDC, please use the contact form on our home page to request information. Be sure to include where you live (city and state) and we will direct you to the appropriate contact person in a chapter near you for guidance on joining.
MEMBERSHIP ELIGIBILITY
Those eligible for membership are women at least 16 years of age who are lineal or collateral blood descendants of men and women who served honorably in the Army, Navy, or Civil Service of the Confederate States of America, or who gave Material Aid to the Cause. Women who were adopted are eligible only through the bloodline of the biological parent. Also eligible are those women who are lineal or collateral blood descendants of members or former members of UDC.
No Confederate ancestor who took the Oath of Allegiance before April 9, 1865, shall be eligible to be used for application for membership. If proof of further Confederate service is available, thereby nullifying the Oath of Allegiance, the ancestor shall be considered for approval.
PROOF OF ELIGIBILITY
Proof of lineage to Confederate ancestor and proof of ancestor's Confederate service must be submitted with each application. Descendants of a former or current UDC member must prove their relationship to said member, submit a copy of their relative's approved application, and prove the military service if it was incomplete or inaccurate on their relative's application.
​
Proving An Ancestor's Military Service
You can check the entire roster of soldiers and sailors who served by looking in the free, online Soldiers and Sailors System of the Civil War. If you find your ancestor listed there, use the film and roll number as a reference when ordering your ancestor's complete service record from the National Archives or from other sources.
Pension records may also be a source of proof for your ancestor's service, if no other proof is available.
Proving Your Lineage To Your Ancestor
Acceptable documentation for the UDC is that obtained from primary sources (made at the time of the event) that are as reliable and unbiased as possible. Some examples of these proofs are:
Census records (include date, county, film, roll and page number of record)
Birth certificates
Death certificates
Marriage licenses
Newspaper obituaries (include newspaper header and date on copy)
Tombstone photos (include name of cemetery and location)
Annotations in family Bible (copyright date of Bible must be concurrent with or predate event you are proving)
Previously approved UDC or CofC applications
​
ADMISSION
Admission to the UDC shall be by invitation through a Chapter. The application shall bear the endorsement of two members of the accepting Chapter to whom the applicant is personally known. She shall be accepted for membership as described in the UDC Bylaws.
​
DUES
Dues are determined by Chapter Bylaws and usually include Division and General per capita fees.