MDSSAR Constitution
MARYLAND SOCIETY OF THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION CONSTITUTION
Approved April 30, 2005 at Bowie, MD
ARTICLE I Name
The name of this Society shall be the “MARYLAND SOCIETY OF THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.”
ARTICLE II Objects
The objects of this Society shall be to perpetuate the memory of the men and women who, by their services or sacrifices during the War of the American Revolution (1775-1783) achieved the independence of the American people; to unite and promote fellowship among their descendants; to inspire them and the community at large with a more profound reverence for the principles of government founded by our forefathers; to encourage historical research in relation to the American Revolution; to acquire, preserve and publish the records of the individual services of the patriots of the War, as well as documents concerning the same; to conserve relics and landmarks; to mark the scenes of the Revolution by appropriate memorials; to celebrate the anniversaries of the prominent events of the War; to foster true patriotism, and to maintain and extend the institutions of American freedom.
ARTICLE III Membership
Any male person who has met the requirements for membership in the National Society shall be eligible to membership in this Society.
ARTICLE IV Officers and Managers
The Officers of the Society shall be a President, a First Vice-President, a Second Vice-President, a Third-Vice President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Registrar, a Historian, a Genealogist, a Chaplain, a Chancellor, an Organizing Secretary, a Trustee of the National Society, an Alternate Trustee of the National Society, any or all of Assistant Secretary, Assistant Treasurer, Assistant Historian, and Assistant Registrar (as deemed necessary and approved by the Board of Officers and Managers), and fifteen Managers, who together with the Past Presidents and the current Presidents of the Chapters of the Society, shall constitute the Board of Officers and Managers. They shall have charge of the affairs of the Society and shall be chosen by the ballots, if called for, of a majority of the members present at the annual meeting of the Society. The Board of Officers and managers shall consist of the officers above named and fifteen Managers. The Managers shall be arranged in three classes of five members each, and each class will serve three years with the most senior class retiring each year and a new class elected. At the expiration of any term of three years no Manager shall be eligible for re-election for the space of one year. Chapter Presidents shall serve on the board for the duration of their chapter incumbency.
ARTICLE V Quorum and Proxies
A quorum of the Society, for the transaction of business, shall consist of twenty members, and of the Board of Officers and Managers, five members, but a less number may adjourn. Proxies shall not be voted at any meeting of the Society or of its Board of Officers and Managers.
ARTICLE VI Headquarters
The Headquarters of the Society shall be the residence of the State Secretary, but meetings shall be held at such other place or places within the Sate as may be designated by the Board of Officers and Managers or by a vote of the Society.
ARTICLE VII Insignia
The insignia of the Society shall comprise (1) a cross surmounted by an eagle; (2) a rosette.
Section 1. The Cross shall be of silver, with four arms, covered with white enamel and eight gold points, same size as the Chevaliers’ Cross of the Legion of Honor of France, with a gold medallion in the center, bearing on the obverse a bust of George Washington in profile, and on the reverse, the figure of a Minuteman, surrounded by a ribbon enameled blue with the motto “Libertas et Patria” on the obverse, and the legend, “SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION” on the reverse, both in letters of gold. The cross shall be surmounted by an eagle in gold, and the whole decoration suspended from a ring of gold by a ribbon of deep blue with white and buff edges, and may be worn by any member of the Society on ceremonial occasions only, and shall be carried on the left breast, or at the collar, the active or past officers general of the National Society, by the active or past Presidents of the State Society, and by the active or past Presidents of a local Chapter.
Section 2. The rosette shall be seven-sixteenths of an inch in diameter or the size available and approved by the National Society, of usual pattern, displaying the colors of the Society, and may be worn by all member at their discretion in the upper left hand lapel of the coat, except on formal wear.
ARTICLE VIII Seal
The Seal of the Society shall be charged with the figure of a Minuteman grasping a musket in his right hand, and surrounded by a constellation of thirteen stars, who shall be depicted in the habit of a husbandman of the period of the American Revolution, and as in the act of deserting the plough for the service of his country; the whole encircled by a band, within which shall appear the legend, “MARYLAND SOCIETY OF THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, organized April 20, 1889."
ARTICLE IX Amendments
This Constitution may be altered or amended at any meeting of the Society by a vote of three-fourths of the members present; provided a copy or the substance of such proposed alteration or amendment shall be sent by mail to each member at least ten days in advance of the meeting at which it is to be acted upon.
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