Politicians and businesses of all kinds are trying to capitalize on the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, and busloads of tourists already are invading battlefields, museums and cemeteries in Georgia.
Tourism means money, but that’s not the mission of the National Society of U.S. Daughters of 1812, a philanthropic group interested in commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812, not the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.
Which is not to say it doesn’t need money, because its 250 Georgia members are always spending it — on books, school supplies and projects aimed at keeping the memory of the War of 1812 alive.
Its main effort now is trying to come up with $100,000 to buy an elaborate sword used by Daniel Appling, a Georgia hero of the War of 1812, whose famous blade, awarded for heroism by the state Legislature, somehow found its way to an arts dealer.
The 1812 group is about $40,000 short, but leaders Dianne Cannestra of Sandy Springs and Susan Lemesis of Roswell plan to put the pinch on wealthy donors and philanthropic groups to save the “priceless relic.”
David Carmicheal, director of the Georgia Archives, says the recession-strapped state doesn’t have the cash and is counting on the 1812 group to rescue the sword.
It was found by fluke in 2010 when an archives employee saw it in Antiques magazine. The owner wanted $250,000 but agreed to give it back for $100,000.
“These women, all volunteers, do a lot of work because they have a passion for our history,” he says. “That’s their only motive”
The group’s members in Georgia are planning soon to mark the graves of Georgians who fought in the War of 1812. Its mission is to preserve, study and teach about the history of all Georgians —living and dead, black, white and American Indian.
Its members, many of them Atlantans, visit veterans in hospitals, put flowers on military graves, send gifts and holiday cards to those serving overseas and give lectures in schools and to civic groups on the War of 1812.
Recently, the organization teamed up with an African American church near Macon for a $2,400 marker to commemorate Camp Hope, an enlistment site in the War of 1812 that became a religious gathering meeting place for blacks before the Civil War, and is now the Camp Hope A.M.E. Church.
The members of the society found the site, contacted church leaders and teamed up to erect a two-sided plaque, each paying $1,200.
One side tells the story of the church, the other about the area’s role in the War of 1812, says Lemesis. Church member Gloria Singleton says “the marker is beautiful, telling a lot about our area.” Member Carolyn McCrary says the whole area is “an important part of African American culture in Georgia.”
She says the marker “honors the people in the community, including soldiers, and it gives people evidence that helps recapture history.”
Cannestra says her group’s members “give our time, talents and money” to support and maintain historical groups and sites and help out libraries and museums.
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