Tent History
Author: Shirle Williams
Oklahoma’s Elizabeth Bacon Custer Tent #19 did not come into being quickly or easily. In 1983 a group of lineage organization members in Tulsa decided they wanted to honor their Union ancestors. Tent #10 was already in Tulsa, not very active and not anxious to add new members.
The new group, led by Organizing Tent President Shirle Williams, held many kitchen table meetings, gained more interest, more prospective members and the support of National President Agnes Brooks. Not until the final disbanding of Tent #10 in December 1985 was this new group able to move forward.
Application papers were obtained and when the required number was completed a petition was sent to the Department President for the formation of a new Tent in Tulsa. Thirteen applications were included with that petition on 12 February 1986.
Ten days later, Department President Mary Crow and some of her members from Bartlesville met with this aspiring group at the Camelot Hotel in Tulsa and Tent #19 was instituted on 22 February 1986. Immediately the more active Tent #10 members were contacted to transfer to Tent #19 and more new members were sought. A name was one of our first items of business. From the very beginning, all had leaned toward Elizabeth Bacon Custer because of her strength and determination. When Josie Peters transferred in from Tent #10 and we learned that she was a real daughter and her father, John E. Moseley, was delivering government supplies to General Custer on the battlefield when he was killed, the name was accepted by unanimous decision. It was decided to have four meetings each year with annual dues of $7.00 to cover Tent, Department and National dues.
By April a total of twenty-two names were affixed on the Tent Charter in calligraphy by Organizing Tent President Shirle Williams. The charter for Elizabeth Bacon Custer Tent #19 was signed by Department President Mary Crow at the Department Convention in Bartlesville on 19 April 1986. The new Tent hosted the 1987 Department Convention at the Trade Winds in Tulsa.
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Description |
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Tent #19 Charter. |
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Tent #19 application for new Tent. |
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DUV Department Convention
April 19, 1986
Bartlesville, OK |
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First Regular Tent #19 Meeting
May 10, 1986
Camelot Hotel in Tulsa, OK
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First Regular Tent #19 Meeting
May 10, 1986
Camelot Hotel in Tulsa, OK
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Tent #19 Meeting
November 8, 1986
Shirle Williams' Home in Tulsa, OK |
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Color Pictures. |
