After Mrs. Willoughby’s death, her daughter offered the property for sale. It is fortunate that it passed into the hands of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (31 December 1941). It might have become a Tea Room, a Road House, or something worse. The Society immediately took up the work of restoration and preservation where Mr. Chandler had left off, but before work could even be started, World War II broke out and the entire Winslow House was turned over to the Plymouth Chapter of the American Red Cross for the duration without charge of any kind. Due to confusion, especially of legal nature, likely to arise, and which in fact had arisen, by the existence of a Winslow House in nearby Marshfield, it was decided at the Seventeenth Congress of the General Society held in Plymouth September 1946, and so voted, to change the name of the Edward Winslow House to the Mayflower Society House. [Illustration: THE PIAZZA WITH IMPOSING PILLARS. A BEAUTIFUL VIEW ACROSS THE BAY] [Illustration: CANOPY OVER PLYMOUTH ROCK. A VISTA THROUGH THE TREES. DEDICATED IN 1920] The house today is far different from the one Edward Winslow built in 1754, but, as the headquarters of a large society, it is better adapted. The interior is being brought back to something of its original appearance with paint and replicas of old wall paper and by gifts and purchases of furniture of the 18th Century period. Members of the Mayflower Society and any interested in preserving the best of the 18th century are asked to contribute items of furniture, wearing apparel, books or other items of the period. All gifts and loans, before being accepted, are passed on by a competent committee. To have an item accepted and exhibited in the Mayflower Society House will some day be a distinction. [Illustration: SIMILAR VIEW TO THE FRONTISPIECE BUT SHOWING SOLARIUM] The Mayflower Society House is not only a show place of Plymouth, but of the entire country. This lovely and famous house is owned, free and clear of indebtedness, by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants. To insure its perpetual care through generations to come, an endowment is sought to which the public is asked to and should contribute. [Illustration: FROM THE FRONT GATE—LOOKING TO THE LANDING] [Illustration: This Canopy, built at a cost of $20,000.00, covered Plymouth Rock from 1866 until the Rock was returned to its original location in 1920. Behind the Canopy is Cole’s Hill, and just to the right of it is the Mayflower Society House] THE GENERAL SOCIETY OF MAYFLOWER DESCENDANTS