The following-named persons, to wit: Gussie Laile Morin, Seattle, Washington; Margaret Hopkins Worrell, Ironton, Ohio; Twannette Paull, Kansas City, Missouri; Nellie D. Howe, Grand Rapids, Michigan; Sarah J. Ehrmann, Orange City, Florida; Mabel S. Taylor, Providence, Rhode Island; Edwina P. Trigg, Kansas City, Missouri; Cora M. Rowling, Indianapolis, Indiana; Irene Mangle, Woodruff, Wisconsin; Catherine G. Schroeder, Los Angeles, California; Mabel Y. Coffey, Colorado Springs, Colorado;
Helen M. Lehman, Jersey City, New Jersey; Margaret Grandle, Pittsburg, Kansas; Frances M. Kuhns, Greensburg, Pennsylvania; Gladys W. Newton, Charleston, West Virginia; Olive Vanwagenen, Washington, District of Columbia; Luella Orr, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Edna S. Lindsey, Portland, Oregon; Rosalie E. Leonard, Boise, Idaho; Lura B. Frye, Peoria, Illinois; Theo McCallum, Neenah, Wisconsin; Eloise E. Whitmer, Washington, District of Columbia; Harriet E. Hughes, New York City, New York; Margaret G. Urban, Oakmont, Pennsylvania;
Bertha Hunt, Des Moines, Iowa; Marie E. Godda, Omaha, Nebraska; Anna Hausman, Washington, District of Columbia; Frances C. Linnell, Plymouth, Massachusetts; Alma M. Blitz, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Lila Lovett, Portland, Maine; Eveh M. Ervin, Keene, New Hampshire; Mildred Puckett, Louisville, Kentucky; Ada Anderson, Wilmington, Delaware; and all past national presidents, and their successors, are created and declared to be a body corporate of the District of Columbia, where its legal domicile shall be, by the name of the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic (hereinafter referred to as the corporation), and by such name, shall be known and have perpetual succession and the powers, limitations, and restrictions herein contained.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §1, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 76.)
Section, Pub. L. 86–47, §2, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 77, related to procedure for completion of organization of corporation.
The purposes of the corporation shall be: To perpetuate the memory of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the men who saved the Union in 1861 to 1865; to assist in every practicable way in the preservation and making available for research of documents and records pertaining to the Grand Army of the Republic and its members; to cooperate in doing honor to all those who have patriotically served our country in any way; to teach patriotism and the duties of citizenship, the true history of our country, and the love and honor of our flag; to oppose every tendency or movement that would weaken loyalty to, or make for the destruction or impairment of, our constitutional Union; and to inculcate and broadly sustain the American principles of representative government, of equal rights, and of impartial justice for all.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §3, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 77.)
The corporation shall have power—
(1) to have succession by its corporate name;
(2) to sue and be sued, complain and defend in any court of competent jurisdiction;
(3) to adopt, use, and alter a corporate seal;
(4) to choose such officers, managers, agents, and employees as the activities of the corporation may require;
(5) to adopt, amend, and alter a constitution and bylaws; not inconsistent with the laws of the United States or of any State in which the corporation is to operate, for the management of its property and the regulation of its affairs;
(6) to contract and be contracted with;
(7) to take by lease, gift, purchase, grant, devise, or bequest from any public body or agency or any private corporation, association, partnership, firm, or individual and to hold absolutely or in trust for any of the purposes of the corporation any property, real, personal, or mixed, necessary or convenient for attaining the objects and carrying into effect the purposes of the corporation, subject, however, to applicable provisions of law of any State (A) governing the amount or kind of property which may be held by, or (B) otherwise limiting or controlling the ownership of property by, a corporation operating in such State;
(8) to transfer, convey, lease, sublease, encumber and otherwise alienate real, personal, or mixed property;
(9) to borrow money for the purposes of the corporation, issue bonds therefor, and secure the same by mortgage, deed of trust, pledge or otherwise, subject in every case to all applicable provisions of Federal and State laws; and
(10) to do any and all acts and things necessary and proper to carry out the objects and purposes of the corporation.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §4, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 77.)
(a) Eligibility for membership in the corporation and the rights, privileges, and designation of classes of membership shall, except as provided in this chapter, be determined as the constitution and bylaws of the corporation may provide. Eligibility for membership in the corporation shall be limited to female blood relatives of persons who served between April 12, 1861, and April 9, 1865, as soldiers or sailors of the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Revenue-Cutter Service, and of such State regiments as were called into active service and were subject to orders of United States general officers between the dates above mentioned and were honorably discharged therefrom at the close of such service or who died in such service.
(b) Each member of the corporation shall have the right to one vote in each matter submitted to a vote at all meetings of the members of the corporation.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §5, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 78.)
Coast Guard established in lieu of Revenue Cutter Service and Life-Saving Service by act Jan. 28, 1915, ch. 20, §1, 38 Stat. 800. That act was repealed by act Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393, §20, 63 Stat. 561, section 1 of which reestablished the Coast Guard by enacting Title 14, Coast Guard.
The supreme governing authority of the corporation shall be the national convention thereof, composed of such officers and elected representatives from the several States and other local subdivisions of the corporate organization as shall be provided by the constitution and bylaws: Provided, That the form of the government of the corporation shall always be representative of the membership at large and shall not permit the concentration of control thereof in the hands of a limited number of members or in a self-perpetuating group not so representative. The meetings of the national convention may be held in any State or Territory or in the District of Columbia.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §6, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 78.)
The officers of the corporation shall be selected in such manner and for such terms and with such duties and titles as may be prescribed in the constitution and bylaws of the corporation.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §7, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 78.)
(a) The principal office of the corporation shall be located in Washington, District of Columbia, or in such other place as may later be determined by the corporation, but the activities of the corporation shall not be confined to that place and may be conducted throughout the various States, Territories, and possessions of the United States.
(b) The corporation shall have in the District of Columbia at all times a designated agent authorized to accept service of process for the corporation; and notice to or service upon such agent, or mailed to the business address of such agent, shall be deemed notice to or service upon the corporation.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §8, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 78.)
(a) No part of the income or assets of the corporation shall inure to any of its members or officers as such, or be distributable to any of them during the life of the corporation or upon its dissolution or final liquidation. Nothing in this subsection, however, shall be construed to prevent the payment of compensation to officers of the corporation or reimbursement for actual necessary expenses in amounts approved by the council of administration of the corporation.
(b) The corporation shall not make loans to its officers or employees. Any member of the council of administration who votes for or assents to the making of a loan or advance to an officer or employee of the corporation, and any officer who participates in the making of such loan or advance, shall be jointly and severally liable to the corporation for the amount of such loan until the repayment thereof.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §9, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 78.)
The corporation and its officers and agents as such shall not contribute to any political party or candidate for public office.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §10, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 79.)
The corporation shall be liable for the acts of its officers and agents when acting within the scope of their authority.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §11, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 79.)
The corporation shall have no power to issue any shares of stock or to declare or pay any dividends.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §12, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 79.)
The corporation shall keep correct and complete books and records of account and shall keep minutes of the proceedings of its national conventions and council of administration. All books and records of the corporation may be inspected by any member, or his agent or attorney, for any proper purposes, at any reasonable time.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §13, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 79.)
Section, Pub. L. 86–47, §14, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 79, related to audit of financial transactions and report of such audit to Congress. See sections 1101 to 1103 of this title.
On or before March 1 of each year the corporation shall report to the Congress on its activities during the preceding fiscal year. Such report may consist of a report on the proceedings of the national convention covering such fiscal year. Such report shall not be printed as a public document.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §15, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 79.)
The corporation and its subordinate divisions shall have the sole and exclusive right to use the name, “Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic”. The corporation shall have the exclusive and sole right to use, or to allow or refuse the use of, such emblems, seals, and badges as have heretofore been used by the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §16, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 79.)
Upon dissolution or final liquidation of the corporation, after discharge or satisfaction of all outstanding obligations and liabilities, the remaining assets, if any, of the corporation shall be distributed in accordance with the determination of the council of administration and in compliance with the constitution and bylaws of the corporation and all Federal and State laws applicable thereto.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §17, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 80.)
The right to alter, amend, or repeal this chapter is expressly reserved.
(Pub. L. 86–47, §18, June 17, 1959, 73 Stat. 80.)