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Subject: Re: [SUVCW] membership longevity (thread off of "We still ll havelots of wor...
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:59:53 EDT
In a message dated 4/30/2008 3:27:58 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
writes:
" A well respected brother of the Order said to me not two weeks ago that he
fears that if the Order doesn't double
it's membership over the sesquicentennial of the Civil War the SUVCW will
not be here to observe the bi-centennial. I looked around the room and saw
more grey hair than not. Of thirty brothers at the meeting 3 were under 40.
Of those three one was in his 20s and the other was a junior. This is not
a good statistic for an organization that once numbered 200,000 men." Doug
McMillin JVC
First, we never had 200,000 members. The greatest number of members was
129,000 at the turn of the century (20th).
If you think the average age of the Order is bad now, you should have been
here 20 years ago. We actually did an unofficial survey and found an average
age of Brothers in the low 70's. Since that time and with a great deal of
work, the age has been lowered to the late 40's early 50's. This is not
uncommon for organizations such as ours. Many men do not take an interest in their
personal heritage until their 40's and the availability of time to give to
such organizations is limited with the responsibilities of raising children
and developing a career. So don't be so discouraged by the few number of
members in their 20's and younger. The Junior program was created to instill a
knowledge of the GAR and personal genealogy in the young with the understanding
that we would loose most of them from high school until their 40's. But at
least we are laying the ground work for future members. This phenomenon can
best be seen in the Boy Scouts where young men leave, pursue their lives and
return as volunteers with their own sons in their 30's and 40's.
All this is not to say we do not need to be vigilant in seeking new members
and increasing our membership. But we must be weary of increasing membership
for the sole purpose of increasing a number. We need quality members who
are going to carry on the work of the Order not just names on a roster.
Rich Orr
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