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Carla Lucille Whitehurst Odom, a native of Durham, North Carolina, is the daughter of the late Paul Donald and A. Lucille Martin Whitehurst.  She was married to Charles Robert Odom on June 6, 1964, at Grace Baptist Church, Durham. They have two daughters, Charlotte Martin Odom Lytle Perrin and Catherine Lynne Odom Quick, and three grandsons. Mrs. Odom was educated at Twadell School, Durham Schools and is a graduate of Campbell College. She is the former Co-Trustee and General Business Partner for extended family, an artist, business owner and consultant.

Memberships

  • Baronial Order of the Magna Charta

  • Colonial Dames of America (Former Member Missouri Chapter; Charter Member, Georgia Piedmont Chapter)

  • Continental Society Daughters of Indian Wars, (Honorary Governor, District of Columbia Society; Former Continental Society Chaplain General; Former Member, Virginia Society)

  • Descendants of American Prisoners of War

  • Descendants of Brian Boru (Co-Founder; Inaugural Chaplain General; Former Second Deputy Governor)

  • Descendants of Colonial Mothers 1607-July 4, 1776 (Co-Founder; Inaugural Advisor)

  • Descendants of Continental Colonial Officers (Founder; Inaugural Aide-de-Camp)

  • Descendants of Early Postmasters 1607-1900 (Founding Chaplain General; Former Deputy Postmaster General)

  • Descendants of Sheriffs & Constables of Colonial and Antebellum America (Charter Member; Former Chaplain General)

  • Descendants of the Knights of the Bath

  • Descendants of the Templar Knights (Charter Member)

  • Flagon and Trencher Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers

  • Founders Fellowship (Founder; Honorary President)

  • Guild of Colonial Artisans & Tradesmen 1607-1783 (Former Recording Secretary General)

  • Hereditary Order of Descendants of the Loyalists and Patriots of the American Revolution (Honorary Governor General)

  • Hereditary Order of the First Families of Massachusetts (Honorary Governor General)

  • Hereditary Order of the Presidents and First Ladies of America

  • Hereditary Order of the Red Dragon (Founder; Inaugural Cleric; Governor Retired)

  • Hereditary Society Daughters of Founding Fathers of America (Founding Vice President General)

  • Jamestowne Society (Former Member of the Council, Chairman, Alice Massey Nesbitt Fellowship; Former Lieutenant Governor, First North Carolina Company)

  • Legion of Vikings and Valkyries (Charter Member)

  • Military Order of the Crusades

  • National Gavel Society

  • National Guild of Saint Margaret of Scotland (Former Parliamentarian)

  • National Huguenot Society (Former President, Virginia Society; Member, North Carolina Society)

  • National Order of the Blue and Gray (Commanding General Retired)

  • National Society Children of the American Colonists (Life Promoter)

  • National Society Colonial Dames of the XVII Century (Former Corresponding Secretary, Richmond Chapter; Former First Vice President, Sir Humphrey Gilbert Chapter)

  • National Society Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century (Organizing Member, Oglethorpe Chapter; Organizing First Vice President, Honorary President, Crown Colony Chapter; Former National Councilor)

  • National Society Daughters of Colonial Wars (Former First Vice President, Virginia Society; Member, North Carolina Society)

  • National Society Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America' (Former National Councilor; Honorary President, Virginia Chapter; Former President, National Officers’ Club)

  • National Society Daughters of the American Colonists (Honorary Regent, Fort Henry Chapter; Honorary Regent, Virginia Society; National Regents' Club; Former National Chairman, National Radio and Television Committee; Honorary Member, Great Warrior Path Chapter; Former Member, Carolina Charter Chapter)

  • National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (Honorary Regent, Col. John Banister Chapter; District II Regents' Club; Former District II Chaplain; Former Virginia State Chairman, Virginia Veterans and Representative, VAVS; Charter Member, Heritage Club; Former Chaplain, Virginia Cameo Club)

  • National Society Descendants of American Farmers (Founder, Inaugural Advisor)

  • National Society Descendants of Early Quakers

  • National Society Descendants of Colonial Indentured Servants (Founding Chaplain General; Former Vice President General)

  • National Society of New England Women (Former Chaplain, Virginia Colony; Former Member, District of Columbia Colony; Charter Member, Albemarle Colony)

  • National Society of Old Plymouth Colony Descendants

  • National Society of Saints and Sinners

  • National Society of the Dames of the Court of Honor (Former Librarian, Virginia Society; Member of the North Carolina Society; Former National Defense Chairman)

  • National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters 1607-1861 (Honorary President General)

  • National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims (Honorary Governor, Virginia Branch; Honorary Governor, Virginia South Branch; Founding Parliamentarian; Former Recording Secretary General)

  • National Society Southern Dames of America (Organizing Honorary President, Virginia Society; Former National Registrar)

  • National Society United States Daughters of 1812 (Former Chaplain, Virginia Society; Former Vice President, Hampton Roads Chapter; Former Member Captain Johnston Blakeley Chapter; Former Vice President, North Carolina Society)

  • Order of Alba (Honorary President General)

  • Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry (Former Program Chairman)

  • Order of Bacon's Rebellion (Founder; Inaugural Gazetteer; Former Cleric)

  • Order of Descendants of Colonial Cavaliers 1640-1660 (Former Lady of the Council)

  • Order of First Families of North Carolina (Former Secretary)

  • Order of Founders of the Granville District 1663 - 1763 (Founder; Inaugural Palatine)

  • Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United State of America

  • Order of the Descendants of El Cid (Founder; Governor Retired)

  • Order of the Descendants of the Justiciars (Co-Founder; Inaugural First Vice Justiciar; Honorary Chief Justiciar)

  • Order of the First Families of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (Former Special Councilor to the Governor General)

  • Order of the First World War

  • Order of the Founders of North America 1492-1692 (Founding Deputy Viscountess General Italian Colonists; Charter Member)

  • Order of the Honorable Artillery Company

  • Order of the House of Wessex (Co-Founder; Inaugural First Vice President General; Honorary President General)

  • Order of the Kings and Queens in the Holy Lands (Founder; Inaugural Governor Retired)

  • Order of the Merovingian Dynasty

  • Order of the Monarchs of Rheims (Inaugural First Vice Regent)

  • Order of the Norman Conquest

  • Order of the Second World War

  • Order of the Sovereigns of Ancient Scandinavia (Founder; Inaugural Vice Regent; Former Regent)

  • Order of the Steel Magnolias (Co-Founder; Inaugural Historian; Contributing Editor)

  • Order of the Vietnam War (Founder; Inaugural Chaplain)

  • Order of Three Crusades 1096-1192 (Former Recording Secretary General)

  • Order of Washington

  • Order of William the Marshal (Founder; Inaugural Cleric)

  • Plymouth Hereditary Society (Past Governor General)

  • Presidential Families of America (Honorary President General)

  • Registry of Infamous and Famous Relatives in American Families

  • Scions of Freedom Signers (Charter Member)

  • Society of Descendants of Charlemagne

  • Society of the 1704 Virginia Quit Rents (Founder; Inaugural Vicar; Former Vice Governour)

  • Society of the Descendants of Founding Fathers of New England

  • Society of the Descendants of Lady Godiva (Founding Countess General; Former Second Lady in Waiting)

  • Sons and Daughters of Colonial and Antebellum Bench and Bar 1585-1861 (Honorary President General)

  • Sons and Daughters of Virginia Founding Fathers (Charter Member)

  • The IX (Founder; Inaugural Sergeant at Arms; Amicus Curiae)

  • Virginia Huguenot Society (Co-Founder: Former Registrar)

  • Winthrop Society (President Emerita)

Chivalric Orders

Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (Priory of Saint Thomas a Becket, Dame Chevaleresse)

Compiled 

  • More Grace, for the Virginia Society, DAR privately published, 2003.

  • Book of Prayers and Rituals, for the Descendants of Early Postmasters, 1607 - 1900, privately published 2020.

Editor 

  • Cardinal Commentary, Newsletter, Virginia Society, National Society Southern Dames of America, 2009-2012.

  • Pilgrims Progress, Newsletter, Virginia Branch, National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims, 2010-2011.

  • The Planter, a publication of the National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters 1607-1861, 2011-2013.

  • Justiciars Journal, a publication of the Order of Descendants of the Justiciars, 2012-2013.

  • Crown Colony Communiqué, Newsletter, Crown Colony Chapter, National Society Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century, 2012-2015.

  • The Gazette, a publication of Presidential Families of America, 2013-2014

  • The Barrister, a publication of Sons and Daughters of the Colonial and Antebellum Bench and Bar, 2014-2016.

  • The Star Dispatch, a publication of the Founders Fellowship, 2016-2018

  • Old Dominion Pilgrims, Newsletter, Virginia South Branch, National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims, 2017-2019.

  • Magnolia Messenger, a publication of the Order of Steel Magnolias, 2018-2021. 

  • Journal of Alba, a publication of Order of Alba, 2019-2021.

  • The Dragon's Tale, a publication of the Hereditary Order of the Red Dragon, 2020-2022; 2021-2024.

  • The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a publication of the Order of the House of Wessex, 2020-2021. 

  • Queen Anne's Herald, a publication of the Society of 1704 Virginia Quit Rents, 2020-2022; 2022-2024.

  • Bacon's Gazette, a publication of Order of Bacon's Rebellion, 2020-2022. 

  • The Puritan's Chronicle, a publication of the Hereditary Order of the First Families of Massachusetts, 2020-2022.

  • Scandi News, a publication of the Order of Sovereigns of Ancient Scandinavia, 2022-2024.

 

Co-Editor

  • Hereditary Society Daughters of Founding Fathers of America Herald, a publication of the Hereditary Society, Daughters of Founding Fathers of America, 2010-2013.
  • The Spinning Wheel, a publication of National Society Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century, 2018-2020; 2024-2027.

  • At Mother's Knee, a publication of Descendants of Colonial Mothers, 1607-July 4, 1776, 2019-2021.

  • The Colonial Dispatch, a publication of Descendants of Continental Colonial Officers, 2020-2022. 

  • The Bugler, a publication of the National Order of the Blue and Gray, 2021-2023.

  • Granville Gazette, a publication of Order of Founders of the Granville District 1663 - 1763, 2022-2024; 2024-2026.

Articles Published

  • Hereditary Society Daughters of Founding Fathers of America Herald, a publication of Hereditary Society Daughters of Founding Fathers of America, Founder Richard Whitehurst, 2010; Founding Planters, 2011; Hereditary Society Community, 2013.

  • Pilgrims Progress, Newsletter, Virginia Branch, National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims, Pilgrims, Pilgrims, Everywhere!; Vol. XVII, No. 2.

  • Noblesse Oblige, a publication of The National Society of the Dames of the Court of Honor, Early Heroines of American Defense, Vol. XVIII, Issues 1, 2, 3 and 4.; Vol. XIX, Clara Barton, Heroine of America's Defense, Issue 1; World War I Heroine Helen Cramer Shurtleff, Issue 2.  Volume XIX, Issue 3., American Heroines of World War II.

  • Old Dominion Pilgrims Newsletter, Virginia South Branch, National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims, Some Virginia Pilgrims, Vol. I, Number 2, Summer 2016; Pilgrim Facts, Vol. II, Number 1, Harvest Holiday Edition, 2016. Lady Defenders of Early American Liberty, abstracted from program topic presented at the 109th General Court of the National Society, Vol. II, Number 2, Summer Edition, 2017.

  • The Spinning Wheel, a publication of the National Society Daughters of the Seventeenth Century, Heroines of the Korean War, First Edition, June 6, 2019; Francis DeLaMare - Huguenot Refugee to the Province of Carolina, Second Edition, 2020.  

  • Journal of Alba, a publication of Order of Alba, Saint Andrew, Patron Saint of Scotland, Vol. 2, Issue 1, Summer 2019, Fifth Annual Gathering - Online, Special Edition, Vol. 2, Issue 2, Spring 2020.

  • At Mother's Knee, a publication of Descendants of Colonial Mothers, 1607 - July 4, 1776, Colonial Mothers - Daughters of Liberty and Others Engaged in the Political Roles of Tea, Homespun Yarn and Jewels, Inaugural Edition, Summer, 2019; Colonial Mothers' Christmases, Christmas Eve Edition, 2019; Colonial Herbs, Summer Edition, 2020.

  • Magnolia Messenger, a publication of Order of the Steel Magnolias, Heroines of the Confederate States of America- First in the Mini-Series (featuring Rose O'Neal Greenhow), Vol.1, Number 2, Winter 2020 Edition. Second in the Mini-Series (featuring Belle Boyd - "Siren of the Shenandoah, Cleopatra of Succession"), Vol. 1, Number 3, Summer, 2020 Edition. Third in the Trilogy (featuring Southern Spies by the author Antonia Ford, Aide-de-Camp to Major General J. E. B. Stuart), Vol. 5, Winter Edition 2022.

  • The Holy Lands Courier, a publication of the Order of the Kings and Queens in the Holy Lands, Special Edition, Winter 2020, Holy Lands Pilgrimage; Second Annual Convocation Online - Special Edition, Spring, 2020.

  • The Babieca Rider, a publication of the Order of the Descendants of El Cid, Second Annual Convocation Online - Special Edition, Spring, 2020.

  • Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a publication of Order of the House of Wessex, KING ALFRED THE GREAT: EARLY YEARS AND MILITARY ACCOMPLISHMENTS, Inaugural Issue, Summer, 2020; KING ALFRED THE GREAT, second in the Series Featuring: LEGAL REFORMS, FOREIGN RELATIONS, RELIGION AND CULTURE, EDUCATIONAL REFORMS AND COURT SCHOOLS, Christmas Issue, 2020.

  • The Dragon's Tale, a publication of the Hereditary Order of the Red Dragon, WELCH CUSTOMS, CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S CUSTOMS, Edition 2, Christmas 2020.

  • The Colonial Dispatch, a publication of the Descendants of Continental Colonial Officers, (first in the series), Who Were the Continental Colonial Officers ... Lieutenant Dempsey Powell and Captain Thomas Voss, Summer Issue, 2021.

  • The Bugler, a publication of the National Order of the Blue and Gray, Christmas During the War Between the States, Christmas 2021 Issue; The Early History of Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving During the War Between the States, Harvest Holiday Edition, 2022.

 

Book Reviews

  • Hereditary Society DFPA, THE CENTURIAN PRINCIPAL, by author Colonel Jeff O'Leary, 2004, Nelson Business, A Division of Nelsons Publishers, 2012. 

  • The Crown and Eagle, a publication of the Hereditary Order of the Descendants of Loyalists and Patriots of the American Revolution, Book Review, LAFAYETTE, LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP FROM THE IDEALIST GENERAL, by author Marc Leepson, March 2017; JONATHAN ODELL, Loyalist Poet Of The American Revolution, by author, Cynthia Dublin Edelberg, Duke University Press, 1987, Spring Issue, 2021.

  • Royals, Nobles, Warriors and Leaders of the Western World, The Ancestors of Pvt. Benjamin F. Lovelace, (1824-1926), Book 1, Generations 1-10, by author Judge Edward F. Butler, Sr., San Antonio, Texas, May 2021.

  • Descendants of Continental Officers, Company for Christmas, by author Christopher Geist, Colonial Williamsburg Journal, Autumn, 2008, December 2021.

  • Granville Gazette, MEN OF ALBEMARLE, by author Inglis Fletcher, Babbs Merrell Company, USA, (first edition) 1942, Volume II, Fall Issue 2024.

 

Dedication

Author James de Maris Birchfield dedicated his book, Some British Ancestors Of Capt. James Blount to Carla Lucille Whitehurst Odom whose adventures in medieval genealogy suggested his study.

Other Notes

Mrs. Odom is of the Baptist and Episcopal faith, and a former member of the vestry, choir, lector, co-leader of the Young Women's Association, and Sunday School teacher.  The Odoms are members of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.  She is also a former President of the Protestant Women of the Chapel at historic Mark Twain Village Chapel, Heidelberg, Germany.  She served as guide of a ladies regional Christian bible study for many years. The Odoms were awarded the Family Life Award that designated them as Family of the Year. 


The Odoms established the Hereditary Society Community LTC Charles Robert Odom and Carla Whitehurst Odom Scholarship at the College of William and Mary.  The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International named Carla Odom as a Paul Harris Fellow.  She received the 2009 Special Award of the National Society Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America, and Chartering Award of the National Society Southern Dames of America.  Three times she was named for the National Society Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century President's Award of Excellence.  Mrs. Odom also received the Gloriae Coronam cum Sceptro (Crown & Scepter) in recognition of her membership and outstanding support of numerous European royally-focused lineage societies.  Recently, she received Order of Descendants of El Cid Distinguished Merit Award and the Hereditary Order of the Red Dragon Dual Birthright Award. She has served as a judge for the Texas Genealogical College.

Mrs. Odom served the American Red Cross as a volunteer in military hospitals and local blood drives, as an Advanced First Aid Instructor, and as Vice President of a local Waiting Wives Club. As a Troop Leader for Girls Scouts of the USA she coordinated or assisted Scout activities in six countries.  She has served as a volunteer at Veteran Medical Centers in Virginia.

After living where duty called, the Odoms resided in Virginia 33 years before returning to Durham, North Carolina. She enjoys genealogy, and floral exhibiting.  She is the former President of two garden clubs and a life member of the Garden Club of Virginia.  She is former Vice President of Swamp Fox Board of Directors and a founding member of the Umstead Pines Book Club.. She is former President of the Byrd Family Association and former Vice President and Reception Coordinator of the Board of Directors of the Petersburg, Virginia  Music Festival.

Her National Society Daughters of the American Colonists Virginia Society Regent’s project was the commission and gift of a pair of paintings by Jamestown artist Caroline Taylor.  They are exhibited in the Visitors Center at Jamestown Island. To commemorate her service Virginia Daughters marked Meander Plantation at Locust Dale, Virginia.   She restored an antique marble plaque as her gift to Mason’s Hall.  The plaque had in the early 20thh century been dedicated in Richmond by Virginia United States Daughters of 1812 to the site that also served as a War of 1812 hospital.  At the conclusion of Mrs. Odom’s term as Governor, the DC Society of Continental Society Daughters of Indian Wars CSDIW marked the grave of Chief Pushmataha at the Congressional Cemetery.  During her administration, the National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters project was the casting of an official die for bronze markers.  She dedicated the first marker to Historic Stagville at Durham, NC.  Mrs. Odom initiated and presented the first Presidential Families of America marker to President John Tyler's family at Sherwood Forest, near Charles City, Virginia, and a second marker to the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library And Museum at Staunton, Virginia.

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