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The Society was organized on December 21, 1908, by Dr. Thomas W. Bicknell, and incorporated one year later under the laws of the Commonwealth of Rhode Island, as a National Society empowered to form subordinate Branches within the various states.
Dr. Bicknell applied the term Pilgrim broadly to all those who arrived in the American colonies prior to 1700 as "emigrants from restricted rights and privileges to a land of large opportunities and larger freedom."
Through the years Branches have been formed in thirty States and the District of Columbia, each with its own officers, and governed by By-laws modeled after those of the National Society. Since organization in 1908, the Society has had over 10,200 members, with current membership being approximately 1,500.
Eligibility
Any adult of good character, endorsed by two members of the Society, may obtain membership by
submitting an application with proven lineal descent from any immigrant to the American Colonies
prior to 1700, provided the application wins the approval of the Society's Registrar General.
Membership includes the semi-annual Pilgrim News-Letter.
A non-voting Junior Membership is also available for those under age 18, upon similarly submitted
application. Branches allow husbands and wives of members to have Associate Memberships.
For further information, contact Registrar General, NSSDP
Objectives
First - To perpetuate the memory and to foster and promote the principles and virtues of the
Pilgrims.
Second - To commemorate publicly, at stated times, principal events in the history of the
Pilgrims and to erect durable memorials to historic men, women and events.
Third - To encourage the study and research of Pilgrim history, especially as related to the
foundation of civil government on the principles of religious freedom.
Fourth - To foster and establish such departments of study and organizations as shall seem
best to promote social rights, civic virtue, industrial freedom, political equality, the supremacy
of just laws, the value and sacredness of the ballot, the purity of the home, temperate and
godly living, and the dependence of individuals, communities, states and nations on the
guidance of Almighty God, as taught by the Pilgrims.
Fifth - To the above objects stated by the Founder has been added another interest, that of
work in Reforestration.
Projects
The major projects have been:
1). Support given to the General John J. Pershing Memorial Fund in Georgia;
2).Support given to the Cathedral of the Pines, in Rindge, NH, a National Memorial to all
American War Dead;
3).Aid through scholarships and awards to the Cook Christian Training School for Indians, at
Tempe, AZ;
4).And an award for excellancy in the study of Colonial History currently given to a student at
William and Mary College in Williamsburg, VA.
Motto
Land of our Fathers! Ours to Preserve, Ours to Transmit. Liberty in Union; Now and Forever.
Insignia
The Official Seal of the National Society provides the model for its Insignia, which depicts John
Alden and Priscilla Mullins on their way to be married at Olde Forte Church on Burial Hill. The
design is depicted in royal blue and gold, the Society's colors, and appears on the membership
certificates. Rosettes, in the Society's colors, identify members.
Links to Other Sites
The Confederate Network
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Military Order of the Stars and Bars
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
New Jersey Department, SUVCW
General Society, Sons of the Revolution
Sons of the American Revolution
Daughters of the American Revolution
Hereditary Blue Book Society
National Genealogical Society
There have been 
Pilgrims to this site.
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Email the Registrar General, NSSDP
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