Making History on
the Mayflower
The Western Colony
of the Society
of Mayflower
Descendants in
Pennsylvania
takes a moment
to celebrate
their ancestors’
arrival in 1620.
BY W.B. FRESA
P
Ira Bradford of The Western Colony of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in Pennsylvania at a
monument to William Bradford, Governor of the Plymouth Colony.
10
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ilgrims. Just the word conjures
thoughts of men and women
dressed in black and white
clothing with shiny gold
buckles on their shoes. But
according to Dr. Billie Gailey, a retired
Pittsburgh public school teacher and 25-
year member of the Western Colony of
the Society of Mayflower Descendants in
Pennsylvania, that would be a falsehood.
“Oh no, there were no gold buckles,
they did not dress in all black and they
also did not ‘invite’ the Native Americans
to Thanksgiving,” says Gailey. “They were
walking by, more or less, and joined in
the feast.”
It’s important for the Western Colony
to ensure that history is correct about
their descendants, especially on the cusp
of celebrating the 400th anniversary of
their landing in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
The group organized 75 years ago in
1944 as an extension of the regional
colony organization in Philadelphia.