The age-herald., 1902-04-27
History Giving Origin of the Ladies' Memorial AsSOCia-
 tiOn of Montgomery NOBLE WORK IODINE BY WOMEN
Part Played by Them In the Restora- ton of Peace-The All Souls Day of the
 South.
BY ANNIE KENDRIcK WALKER.

BY ANNIE KENDRIcK WALKER.
 With the story of the Confederacy be- ing retold by battle scared veterans marching again under tattered banners and while the flowers placed by loving ,'hands upon the graves of the fallen ! heroes of the south are still fragrant there comes appropriately a wealth Of memories in the pages of little volume compiled by Marilou Armstrong Cory, (Mrs. Chappell Cory) entitled "The La dies Memorial Association of Montgom- cry: Its Origin and Organization. 1S6O- 1870"
 Mrs. Corys work is a most valuable historical contribution to Alabama. She has given a most faithful description of the conditions that presented themselves to the women of the south at the close of the great conflict and has been most stalking in her researches. She has naturally relied on the printed records of that period. The author says that no inn portant fact has been chronicled with out going to the prime sources for the first and last proof.
 That the compiler fully appreciated
 
 evident in the thorough Investigation she has made and the reliable sources from which she has gathered her material.
 She has made an exhaustless search of official records and the old files of the Montgomery papers have been studied, \the author having recourse to all rec ofSds not destroyed during the vandalism of Eederal soldiers in April and May, 1865
 Of pArticular interest is the little vol ume. which draws true @ picture of the cradle of the Confederacy, and which seeks to recau the patriotic work of its women and their loyalty to a cause they loved After perusing this resume Of that period, one, feels the full significance of the authors words: ''The study of these old annals has been to me melancholy pleasure. It has brought me face to face and heart to heart with many noble men and women, whose un- selfish and untiring patriotoric fortitideF and courage throughout those gloomy times has not been excelled in all the history 9f the worldA-I
 7-h1 preface to this volume Is writ +sh by Sidney Harris Phelan in which he relates the incident when the point was raised as to the originator and found
 
 and in which he states that the founder of the association was his mother Mrs. J. D. Phelan. This honor is also claimed for Mrs. B. S. Bibb, who was the first president of the association.
 It is unmistakably shown that the first steps toward organization were due to the efforts of Mrs. Phelan. and that she with Mrs. Bibb, and other patroitic wo- men put into execution the plans for forming a memorial aSSOciatiOn
 The compiler reviews the glorious work done by Montgomery women for the wounded and dying soldiers. She has gilded with undying glory the work of those noble women in the hospitals of the many societies organized for the al- lienation of suffering.
 The Ladies' Hospital was at the corner of Commerce and Bibb streets (the pres ent site of the Clancey hotel and Me Donald theatre) This hospital was the first Soldiers Home in the Confederacy and was originally established on Bel finger Heights.
 The author recalls most touchingly the mournful incidents that bear directly up- on the organization of the association, and in summing up the facts, says:
 There was formed in Montgomery a Monumental and Historical Association as early as November 1865 for the pur- pose of perpetuating the memory of the Confederate dead, that the appeal of the women of Virginia was the first to arouse Montgomery women's interest in the proper burial of Alabama soldiers: that several hundred dollars were sent to the state agent at Selma, more than a month before the Memorial Association was formed, that the letter from Virginia awakened new interest in the Monument tai and Historical Association and caus- ed to be formed it's active executive com mittee, which soon took steps toward the proper burial of Alabama dead and the proper care of graves in our cemetery; that the letter of Mrs. Mary Anne Will Hams, .embodying the memorial idea of Mrs. Lizzie Rutherford Ellis written on March 12 1866. was the first to arouse the active energies of the suffering and pa- triotic women of Montgomery, who on April 16, 1866, answered the appeal of -