Captain James Madison Sparkman Chapter, # 2363, is honored to present the name of Nell Gary (Thompson) Fitzgerald to receive the Jefferson Davis Medal.
History in Maury County, Tennessee, has been greatly enriched due to her efforts.
Mrs. Fitzgerald has for many years been active in the preservation of Lasting Hope Cemetery, which is far better maintained and the burials documented because of her efforts. She has recorded the names of some fifty Confederate soldiers who are buried there, and has also recorded the names of veterans of World Wars I and II and the Korean War who are buried there.
She has read old newspapers on microfilm and copied the obituaries of more than two hundred people who are buried there.
In addition to her work in that cemetery, she has recently written a book, As I Remember Theta , which she allowed the chapter to publish and use all of the proceeds to purchase microfilm of military records from the National Archives for our local county archives.
Besides all of this good work, she has helped many members join this chapter, doing all of the research for many of them, who had no idea of how to prove that they descended from a Confederate Soldier. The membership of the chapter has remained high because of her efforts.
Mrs. Fitzgerald is well into her eighties and still contributing to the history of this area and we feel she is highly qualified to receive this honor.