Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal Awarded To Local Author, Dale Cox

June 5, 2008

In a surprise presentation at the Harmony Masonic Lodge in Marianna on May 19, local author Dale Cox was presented the Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal by Mrs. Nadine Standland and Mrs. Newton Brooks, representatives of the Daughters of the Confederacy. This award is given for excellence in history, essay writing, declamation, and other points of special attainment in keeping with the historical aims and purposes of the Organization.
The medal design was adopted by the group in 1941 at their national convention in Los Angeles. The medal is designed with a red enamel Maltese Cross in the center, bearing the UDC monogram surrounded by a circular band of white enamel. Etched above the cross is Jefferson Davis famous clarion command at Buena Vista, "Stand Fast", and below the cross is the phrase of no less important meaning to those with Confederate ancestors, "Our Heritage". The outer edge of the medal is encircled with a hero’s wreath of laurel leaves in gold.
The accompanying letter from the UDC headquarters in Richmond Virginia, from Mrs. Sybil Willingham the Historian General for the Organization awards the medal to Dale Cox for "preserving Confederate history by researching, writing, and publishing books on Confederate history including ‘The West Florida War’, The West Florida War, and New Look at the 1864 Battle of Marianna’, ‘The Battle of Marianna, Florida’ and ‘The Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida, the Confederate Defense of Tallahassee’.
Congratulations to Dale Cox, contributing writer to the Jackson County Times, and distinguished Jackson County citizen.