Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants Junior Membership

Massachusetts Launches a Junior Membership Program

The Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants is pleased to announce the formation of a Junior Membership Program. The MSMD will now join 47 other states offering the Junior Member Affiliation. You may ask “What is a Junior Member?” The Junior Pennsylvania Mayflower has addressed this question in its Winter 2009 newsletter. 

The General Society of Mayflower Descendants has a whole section (Section 6 of Article III) in its Constitution covering Junior Memberships. It states that State Societies may establish Junior Memberships for juniors of any age up to18 years of age and that these memberships may continue until the age of 25.  Any member in good standing in any State Society having such a category of membership may make application for (i.e. may sponsor) a Junior Membership in behalf of any person under 18 who is related to a present or past member of the Society by blood through which line the sponsor was proved for membership. These Junior Members are not members of the General Society; they themselves have not filed documented lineage papers. They are not assigned a General Society or regular State Society number, only a Junior State Number (e.g. MSMD J-52).  The State Society determines what annual dues or fees are charged.  No fees are paid to the General Society.  Junior members do not receive the Mayflower Quarterly [but they do receive the Mass. The Compact newsletter].

Junior members may convert to Life Membership at any age as long as the usual lineage papers are executed by the sponsor member on their behalf and the papers are approved by both the State and General Historians. They may not vote or hold office until they reach 18.  At age 18 a Junior Member may transfer to Regular membership in the State Society where Junior Membership is held provided the usual lineage papers are completed and approved. Transfer is encouraged at least by age 25 because if they don’t, at that age they will be dropped by the State Society.

While full life membership is available to every lineal descendant, the formation of this program will allow a member of the Society  to apply for Junior Membership on behalf of any minor who is a blood relative of any member of the General Society past or present. There will be a one time fee of $75.00 to enroll a Junior Member.  Activities for juniors, sponsored by the MSMD and/or the GSMD, will be advertised regularly in the Compact. Since children in our public schools generally study the Mayflower Story in the primary grades, this program will help foster an early interest in their ancestry and also foster an interest in life membership in the Society. A Junior Membership Application Form is found here. Please direct any questions to either of the following:

Alice Mohnkern @ (781) 337-9597 or alicenruel@verizon.net
Cynthia Tinney @ (781) 878-5273 or cmtinney@yahoo.com

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Page updated 20 September 2011