American Gold Star Mothers lay wreath at Tomb of the Unknowns, Gold Star Mothers Sunday, 09/26/05 Soldiers looking at Vietnam Wall Memorial Francis Turley at a funeral for a forgotten veteran. One of the many markers at Arlington Cemetery remembered by a mother Perpetuating the noble principles for which they fought and died.


What do they say??? Just buy the Book!!!

DID YOU KNOW? AGSM's first official publication for the membership made its debut in September 1936. It was called the AGSM Bulletin and was sent out every other month. It was an immediate hit with the membership who appreciated being kept informed of what was happening in other chapters. In the late 1940s the name of the publication was changed to The Gold Star Mother.
DID YOU KNOW? The AGSM Headquarters building on Leroy Place was purchased by AGSM in 1954 for $25,000. The mortgage was paid off in just six years and there was a ceremonial "burning of the mortgage" at the 1961 national convention.
DID YOU KNOW? In the late 1970s, AGSM was barely making ends meet. In 1978, national president Emogene C. Cupp initiated a greeting card sales program that lasted for five years; at the end of that time the organization was financially stable with money in the bank!
DID YOU KNOW? AGSM's founder, Grace Darling Seibold, was named for a Victorian era heroine, Grace Darling. Celebrated in poetry, song and story, Miss Darling helped with the daring 1838 rescue of passengers from a ship that had broken apart after foundering on rocks in a terrible storm. Braving winds and storm, Miss Darling took to the sea in a rowboat to help the survivors who were desperately clinging to rocks in the frigid sea.
DID YOU KNOW? World War II gold star mothers Aleta Sullivan, who lost five sons with the USS Juneau was sunk in 1942, and Gunda Borgstrom, who lost four sons within five months in various theaters of war, were both members of AGSM.
DID YOU KNOW? The US Post Office issued a gold star mothers postage stamp on September 21, 1948. The 3 cent stamp is gold and displays a five-pointed star superimposed on a palm leaf with the words "Gold Star Mothers" inscribed below.
DID YOU KNOW? In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt officially designated the last Sunday in September as Gold Star Mothers Day. AGSM took a position against such a day being designated, stating that gold star mothers already had Mother's Day and that was sufficient. However, when the proclamation was signed, AGSM formally thanked the President for his action.
DID YOU KNOW? AGSM received a Congressional Charter in 1984. The organization had been periodically pursuing such a charter since the early 1930s without success. When the charter was finally granted, many members of Congress admitted that they thought the organization had been chartered decades before.
 

More burning questions the book will help answer

  • What was the first chapter to join AGSM?
  • What is the most terms ever served as national president by one individual?
  • How many national AGSM presidents have died while in office?
  • At the 1955 national convention in Miami Beach, Florida, what did the hotel management provide fresh each day as souvenirs for the attendees?
  • At the 1947 national convention in Long Beach, California, what movie star/war hero appeared as a guest at the convention?
  • In what year was white designated as the official dress code color for AGSM events?
  • There is an official recipe that dates back to the 1950s for AGSM Headquarters: was it for cookies, pot roast or coffee?

Our History Book will answer the questions and then some. Those members on the National Board had a preview of the chapters and are mesmerized with all the information Holly Fenelon has collected from our archives and from libraries all over the country.

You too can capture our history. See the order form above.