Making History on
the Mayflower
Ira Bradford of The Western Colony
of the Society of Mayflower Descen-
dants in Pennsylvania at a monu-
ment to William Bradford, Governor
of the Plymouth Colony.
The Western
Colony, Society
of Mayflower
Descendants in
Pennsylvania
takes a moment
to celebrate their
ancestors’ arrival
in 1620.
BY W.B. FRESA
P
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,
Society of Mayflower Descendants in
Pennsylvania (Western Colony), 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. They were walking by,
more or less, and joined in the feast.”
It’s important for the Western Colony
to ensure history is correct about their
descendants, especially on the cusp of
celebrating the 400th anniversary of their
landing in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
They organized 75 years ago in 1944
as an extension of the regional colony
organization in Philadelphia.
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