The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is a sororal association dedicated to honoring the memory of those who served and died in service to the Confederate States of America (CSA). UDC began as the National Association of the Daughters of the Confederacy, organized in 1894 by Caroline Meriwether Goodlett and Anna Davenport Raines. It traces its lineage to older associations such as the Daughters of the Confederacy in Missouri and the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Confederate Soldiers Home in Tennessee. The National Association changed its name to the UDC in 1895 and was incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia in 1919. Its motto is “Love, Live, Pray, Think, Dare”.

Membership in UDC is open to women at least 16 years old who are of lineal or collateral blood descent from men and women who served honorably in the Army, Navy, or Civil Service of the CSA or are current or former members of UDC.

The objectives of the organization are Historical, Educational, Benevolent, Memorial and Patriotic: [1]

1. To collect and preserve the material necessary for a truthful history of the War Between the States and to protect, preserve, and mark the places made historic by Confederate valor
2. To assist descendants of worthy Confederates in securing a proper education
3. To fulfill the sacred duty of benevolence toward the survivor of the War and those dependent upon them
4. To honor the memory of those who served and those who fell in the service of the Confederate States of America
5. To record the part played during the War by Southern women, including their patient endurance of hardship, their patriotic devotion during the struggle, and their untiring efforts during the post-War reconstruction of the South
6. To cherish the ties of friendship among the members of the Organization

During a radio interview the Civil War historian James M. McPherson offended many southern heritage organizations when he associated the (UDC) with the neo-confederate movement and described board members of the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia as "undoubtedly neo-Confederate.". He further said that the UDC and their equivalent for male descendants, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, have "white supremacy" as their "thinly veiled agendas." The incident outraged members of the UDC and the SCV, who accused McPherson of using a slur against them. Some SCV and UDC chapters subsequently urged their members to boycott his books and engaged in letter-writing campaigns.[2]