Welcome to the Grande Voiture of Virginia

History:

Grande du Virginia was chartered in 1923 as the Honor Society of the American Legion. In 1959 The Forty and Eight severed ties with the American Legion. There had been ripples of discontent for several years.  The organizations were fundamentally different.  The American Legion was large, easy to join and non-fraternal.  The Forty and Eight was elite, by-invitation only and racially restrictive. 

The Forty and Eight had monetary resources many in the Legion deemed theirs.  Conversely, The Forty and Eight objected to funding Legion programs with large amounts of money without adequate recognition in return.  The Legion pressed The Forty and Eight to change its constitution to be racially inclusive.  These differences brought the two organizations to an impasse.  Eventually, the American Legion refused to allow The Forty and Eight to hold its Promenade Nationale in the same city as the American Legion National Convention.

The Forty and Eight thus became independent, but with many vestiges of its parent organization remaining intact. Including the prerequisite of American Legion membership.

The Forty and Eight, by a vote of 1,280 to 467, amended its constitution to prohibit any Voiture from restricting its membership on the basis of race.

The Forty and Eight revised its Preamble to reflect its charitable, non-profit nature. — ”For God and country we associate ourselves together for the following purposes: To create a charitable and non-profit veterans organization; to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America; to assist and promote the welfare and well-being of those who served in the Armed Forces of the United States, during all wars and conflicts, recognized the Congress of the United States, and their widows and orphans; to participate in all memorial services for and to be part in and to encourage others to participate in the proper observance of all days honoring veterans’ to preserve the memories of our Services in the Armed Forces of our Country; to actively participate within our membership in projects relating to (a) the welfare of the children of America; (b) the health of our Nation by fostering a nurses training program; and (c) selected charitable endeavors.” 

In 2006, Women veterans become eligible to join The Forty and Eight. The debate on this issue was between honoring the all-male past that created the founders of this organization and honoring today’s male-and-female veterans who make up America’s modern military.  It was decided that the best way to honor the past, is by recognizing all of America’s veterans

Grande du Virginia consists of nine Voiture Locales and over 330 members at various locations throughout the commonwealth.