General Meade Society Membership

All are welcome! Membership in the General Meade Society of Philadelphia is open to all who are devoted to history and value patriotism.

As a member of the General Meade Society of Philadelphia, your annual membership dues and contributions support the nation’s only organization devoted to “promoting and preserving the memory of the life and service of Major General George Gordon Meade.”

Members receive our quarterly newsletter The Dispatch via email, and also an invitation to all Society events and monthly meetings, including the annual business meeting in April.

Annual dues are:

  • $25.00 per year for individuals
  • $15.00 per year for students
  • $35.00 per year for families
  • $250.00 for individual lifetime
  • $450.00 for a family of two (2) lifetime.

To join the society, please complete the following membership form:


The General Meade Society of Philadelphia encourages all supporters to contribute to our General Fund. 

This fund is primarily used to enable us to conduct our everyday operating expenses such as stationery, printing of flyers and brochures, postage and mailing expense to keep in touch with members and supporters; maintain and  update our website: www.generalmeadesociety.org  ;pay our annual commercial liability insurance premiums; procure refreshments , wreaths , and compensate the Philadelphia Brigade Band for their service for our traditional honor ceremonies at Laurel hill Cemetery and other venues; and to make general and memorial  donations and sponsorships  to specific organizations or individuals in keeping with our mission of historic preservation.

The General Meade Society is a 501c 3 non-profit, charitable organization under the rules of the Internal Revenue Service, and all contributions and donations are tax deductible.

In 2008, the General Meade Society Board of Directors established a memorial preservation fund in honor of the late William H. Boehmer, longtime supporter and board member of the Society.

In keeping with his passion and involvement in historic preservation concerning the Civil War, and to find and honor by placing flags, those who rest in cemeteries throughout the area, the fund grew due to many donations to it from individuals.

As a result, the General Meade Society was able to contribute from this fund to the following: the Delaware Valley Civil War Round Table Preservation Fund; The Frankford Soldiers’ Monument Fund and restoration of the Frankford Monument; the George Leisenring memorial & monument ceremony at Palmer Cemetery.

In 2013, Mr. Boehmer (Billy) was honored with his name inscribed on the base of the restored Silent Sentry monument at Laurel Hill Cemetery as a result of a $1,000.00 donation from this fund.

In 2021, upon the passing of longtime supporter, contributor, and organizer of the General Meade Society, Betty L. McCormick, and in keeping with the wishes of her and her husband, Treasurer Jerry McCormick, donations in her memory were requested for the General Meade Society. Like the Boehmer Fund, donations were abundant.

Earlier this year, the General Meade Society board of directors decided to combine the two memorial funds into one, named as The Wm. H. Boehmer/Betty L. McCormick Preservation Fund, or “The Billy & Betty Fund”.

Billy & Betty were very close personal friends, and each were very passionate about historic preservation (Billy) and education (Betty) . As a result, there are many ways we can honor their legacy by contributing from this fund to their individual or combined causes.

The combined fund continues to grow, and many thanks are extended to all those who contribute.

The General George G. Meade School, 1600 North 18th Street, has grades PK, K to 8th.  It is part of the School District of Philadelphia. The building was designed by Irwin T. Catharine and built in 1936. It is a three story, 11 bay, yellow brick building with a five-bay addition.  It features rounded corners, ribbon bans of windows, and low relief Greek figures.  The stone over the doors have the carved names of the battles that General Meade commanded troops during the Civil War.

The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a contributing property to the Lower North Philadelphia Speculative Housing Historic District.  A contributing property adds historical integrity and architectural qualities that make the District significant. The District encompasses 855 contributing buildings primarily built between 1859 and 1875 that includes the Wagner Free Institute of Science.

Many of the Meade Society members have attended Philadelphia public schools and several are graduates of the Meade School.

For several years the Meade Society’s Meade Foundation has been funding the General George G. Meade School’s Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) program.  PBIS funds are used to acknowledge positive behaviors – being respectful, responsible and safe.  Students earn tickets that are used to make purchases at the school store. The PBIS program is run by the Meade School faculty and has been a great success in providing a collaborative environment where students can thrive.

The Program is administered by the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia, an independent 501(c)3 not for profit organization that serves as a fiscal intermediary between the private sector and the Philadelphia public education system.  The Fund is the only philanthropic organization that works directly with school leadership to align the investments of partners – private foundations, corporate and businesses, community organizations and individual donors – with the strategies that will impact the success of students attending our neighborhood public schools.

The Fund plays a pivotal role in strengthening public education in Philadelphia by securing and managing private investments that augment public dollars.  The private donations that the Fund gives to the district do not supplant government monies.  Rather, they introduce new funds to start or sustain cutting-edge, evidence-based models that improve student outcomes.