Daughters of the American Revolution

The Daughters of the American Revolution, or DAR, is a lineage-based membership organization for the descendents of those who aided the fight for American independence. Organized in 1890, the society is dedicated to historic preservation, education, and the promotion of national patriotism. DAR educational divisions are often involved in raising funds for local scholarships and educational awards, and work to preserve various historical properties and artifacts that foster patriotism. DAR maintains chapters in all fifty of the United States as well as in the District of Columbia. There are also DAR chapters within Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Famous members have included Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, and Grandma Moses.

Mission

The DAR is a female volunteer organization aimed at promoting patriotism, preserving American history and aiding America’s future through the betterment of youth education. The organization raises monetary funds to provide financial aid and educational scholarships to deserving and underprivileged students. Members of the organization also work toward the accurate preservation of history and various historical artifacts. The organization is home to one of the United State’s premier genealogical libraries, and displays one of the largest collections of pre-industrial American decorative arts. The organization’s annual national meeting, known as the Continental Congress, attracts more than 4,000 members to its Washington headquarters each year.

History

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Daughters of the American Revolution Monument to the Battle of Fort Washington, New York City. Erected in 1910.

The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded on October 11th, 1890 by Eugenia Washington, Mary Desha, Mary Lockwood and Ellen Hardin, all self-supporting single women devoted to the preservation of American independence. The organization was formed after the Sons of the American Revolution refused entry to women. DAR’s founding mothers responded by establishing a female chapter on the October 11th anniversary of the discovery of America. In the first year more than 800 women joined the organization. The women’s first project undertaken was to assist in the completion of the Mary Washington Monument, the mother of U.S. President George Washington. DAR contributions accounted for almost ¾ of the entire project funding.

A Congressional Charter recognized the society on December 2nd, 1896. By 1909 construction was completed on the first of the society’s three buildings, Washington’s D.C.’s Memorial Continental Hall. In 1910 DAR began work to stimulate national patriotism by aiding immigrants in becoming legal citizens, later publishing the DAR Manual for Citizenship. Throughout the 1920’s the Daughters also maintained a controversial but strict opposition to the American pacifist movement which followed World War I; the organization would also maintain a public anticommunist position throughout the Cold War. By 1923 construction was complete on the DAR administration building and by 1929 the renowned Constitution Hall was unveiled. In 1941 the society unveiled an extensive collection of historic manuscripts and imprints from the colonial and revolutionary periods entitled the Americana Collection. In 1973 Memorial Continental Hall was designated a national historic landmark, followed by Constitution Hall in 1985.

By the late 20th century, DAR membership totaled more than 180,000 with more than 3,000 local chapters marking it the largest women’s patriotic hereditary society in existence. Since it founding the organization has assisted in the preservation of various historic landmarks including the memorial of Jamestown, the marking of early pioneer trails and the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. The society has also preserved and collected more than 33,000 decorative and fine arts objects housed in the DAR Museum in Washington, D.C.

Organization

The headquarters of the Daughters of the American Revolution consists of three buildings housing three general divisions including an historical, educational and patriotic division. The DAR’s historical division places an emphasis on the study of U.S. history and the preservation of Americana. Its educational division provides scholarships and loans for eligible students, supports school efforts for underprivileged youth, sponsor numerous essay contests and offers scholarship awards. The DAR’s patriotic division is responsible for the publication of DAR Magazine and the DAR National Defender.

A President General and an executive board of 11 National Officers lead the national society. Social policies are organized by a National Board of Management which meets six times each year at the Washington, D.C. headquarters. The Continental Congress, or the DAR’s annual national meeting, attracts more than 4,000 members each year.

Membership in the Daughters of the Revolution is open to women at least eighteen years of age who can prove lineal bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving United States independence. Acceptable ancestors can include signers of the United States Declaration of Independence, military veterans of the American Revolutionary War, including French or Spanish soldiers who aided the American cause, civil servants of state governments or members of the Continental Congress. Acceptable ancestors may also include signers of the Oaths of Allegiance, participants in the Boston Tea Party, and any doctors, nurses, ministers and petitioners who aided the revolutionary cause. The DAR does not discriminate based on race or religion, and welcomes all women with a traceable bloodline to revolutionary ancestors. An adopted daughter of a revolutionary descendant does not qualify through an adoptive parent but only through the bloodline of a birth parent.

Marian Anderson Controversy

Today the DAR forbids discrimination in membership based on race or creed. However in 1932 the organization adopted a rule excluding African-American artists from the stage at Constitution Hall. In 1936, Sol Hurok, the manager of African-American contralto Marian Anderson, attempted to book the singer for a concert at Constitution Hall. Due to the organization’s discriminatory policy, the booking was refused. Anderson was instead forced to perform at a local black high school. In 1939, Hurok, along with the NAACP and Howard University, petitioned the DAR to make an exception to their discriminatory policy for a new booking of Marian Anderson at Constitution Hall. The DAR refused, forcing Hurok to attempt a second booking at an all white high school. The District of Columbia public school board responded by subsequently refusing to allow any black artists to perform there as well. When hearing of the incident, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, a longtime DAR member, publicly resigned from the organization and invited Anderson to perform before her and President Roosevelt at the Lincoln Memorial. Upon her resignation, the first lady sent the following letter to the society:

I am afraid that I have never been a very useful member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. I know it will make very little difference to you whether I resign, or whether I continue to be a member of your organization. However, I am in complete disagreement with the attitude taken in refusing Constitution Hall to a great artist. You have set an example, which seems to me unfortunate, and feel obliged to send in to you my resignation. You had an opportunity to lead in an enlightened way and it seems to me that your organization has failed. I realize that many people will not agree with me, but feeling as I do this seems to me the only proper procedure to follow. Very sincerely yours, Eleanor Roosevelt.

In later years the DAR would apologize to the singer and her manager, and welcome Anderson to Constitution Hall on a number of occasions including a benefit concert for World War II relief in 1942. In 1964 Anderson chose Constitution Hall as the place where she would launch her farewell American tour. On January 27, 2005, the DAR hosted a dedication ceremony of the Marian Anderson commemorative stamp with the U.S. Postal Service.

Contemporary Operations

DAR Constitution Hall

Today the DAR is home to more than 168,000 members worldwide, donates more than 55,000 volunteer hours annually, and awards more than $150,000 in educational scholarships and financial aid each year. Annual donations to the society regularly exceed $1 million dollars. The organization’s national headquarters in Washington D.C. houses a premier genealogical library, an extensive collection of early American art, manuscripts and imprints, and Washington’s largest concert venue, Constitution Hall.

Constitution hall is also home to the organization’s annual convention. Designed by architect John Russell Pope, the hall seats approximately 4,000 people and is used for concerts, touring Broadway shows, high school graduations, and the Washington edition of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Prior to the 1971 opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Constitution Hall was also the home base of the National Symphony Orchestra and the city's principal venue for touring classical musicians. Every U.S. president since Calvin Coolidge has attended at least one event at the theater.

Throughout its existence the society has aided in the Spanish-American War, certifying more than 1,000 female nurses, World War I, supporting more than 3,000 French war orphans, and World War II, providing more 197,000 soldiers with home care packages. The organization is also responsible for an extensive collection of annual publications.

Noteworthy Members

• Susan B. Anthony
• Clara Barton
• Lillian Gish
• Grandma Moses
• Ginger Rogers
• Caroline Scott Harrison

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Bailey, Diana. American Treasure: The Enduring Spirit of the DAR. National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. June 2007.
• Preserving the American Spirit in the DAR Museum. Donning Company Publishers. January 2006. ISBN 1578643562.
• Grundset, Eric C. American Genealogical Research at the DAR. Washington, D.C. Second Edition. 2004.
• The DAR Patriot Index. Millennium Revision. Third Edition. National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. 2004.
• African American and American Indian Patriots of the Revolutionary War. National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 2001. ISBN 1892237059.

External Links

• Britannica Encyclopedia. Daughters of the American Revolution. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006. Answers.com Retrieved May 29, 2007.
• Encyclopedia of American History. Daughters of the American Revolution. Answers Corporation, 2006. Answers.com Retrieved May 29, 2007.
• The Columbia Encyclopedia. Daughters of the American Revolution. Columbia University Press, 2003. Answers.com Retrieved May 29, 2007.
• Otte, Mary. A Brief History of the DAR. The Daughters of the American Revolution, Sasebo Chapter. Retrieved May 29, 2007.
• Daughters of the American Revolution Official Website. Retrieved July 21, 2007.
• Daughters of the American Revolution Americanrevolution.com Retrieved July 21, 2007.

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