Is anyone a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution?

[billysmommy]

I have a couple of questions...

What made you decide to join?
Are you active in volunteering?
If yes, what do you do?
Have you participated in any events?

Thanks :)

[Cam&Clay]

I haven't joined but I could. I would love to hear from some who are members.

[AnnieW625]

I can join but I haven't because my great aunt (who is a hoarder but also has bipolar disorder) has all of the information in a house she bought just to use as storage (she lives some place else) and it's honestly easier as horrible as this sounds to wait until she passes on (she is 87) to get it or try to find it.

[crl]

I might be. My grandmother, I think, signed me up when I was a teenager? (She died several years ago.) It was this or something similar. She didn't ask me first I have never done nothing with it. And if you need to pay annual dues I am sure they kicked me out loooonnng ago.

Catherine

[lilycat88]

I have all of the paperwork and application (and have for a couple of years!) but haven't filled it out yet. It's one of the things that just keeps getting pushed down the list of things to do.

[ThreeofUs]

I am, afaik, from when my mom signed me up. It's a family tradition, not my choice. No and no.

[elektra]

I think the idea of tracing your roots back to the early US is kind of cool, and my dad once told me that my grandmother was a member. Neither of my parents were really into genealogy though and have no records.
Several years ago I did call and one of the leaders about how it all worked, what documents I would need, etc. And my take away was that in reality, I think the meetings are a bunch of ancient white ladies who like to talk about how nice things were back in the day when people were more "revolutionary times-like". Could have just been the chapter I looked into though. Not sure. So I decided it wasn't something I would be terribly disappointed to miss out on.

[StantonHyde]

My grandmother was. I could be from the 3 out of the 4 grandparents. I have all the documents etc. But I am not interested in joining really. I have all the family history and that's what counts. When I had more time to do family history (pre kids) I had more fun finding the long lost sides of the family--much better stories!

[AnnieW625]

Several years ago I did call and one of the leaders about how it all worked, what documents I would need, etc. And my take away was that in reality, I think the meetings are a bunch of ancient white ladies who like to talk about how nice things were back in the day when people were more "revolutionary times-like". Could have just been the chapter I looked into though. Not sure. So I decided it wasn't something I would be terribly disappointed to miss out on.

This is what it was like in my hometown growing up and it bothered me plus considering that one small stem of my family (my great grandma's family) has been in America that long (everyone else came in the mid to late 1800s or early 1900s) it was never something I really wanted or felt like I needed to persue because had I been the information would've been much easier to get 20 yrs. ago.

[kijip]

Not my cup of tea. The word "pedigree chart" just turns me off. Further, any of my ancestors who were here during the Revolution were either Native Americans or extremely poor folks of apparently Germanic descent who were apparently here in the early 18th century.

[ellies mom]

I could join. My grandmother was really into genealogy. So I know there are three lines that trace back to the Mayflower and a few lines that came right after. I did a project for women's history that involved one line that went back to four years after the Mayflower and I know one of the men fought in the Revolutionary War. I'm kind of lazy though and do not really feel like doing the work that would be involved to gather all the documents.

To me, it isn't about a pedigree chart so much as having a name and connection to the history we learn about in school. It helps bring history to life when you have a personal connection to the past.

[trentsmom]

I was in DAR, but I stopped paying my dues and never went to a meeting. I just think it's cool that I had several ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War. Several of my relatives are in DAR, but I don't think anyone goes to any meetings. My mom is very into genealogy, and she has gone into DC to use the DAR library for research.

[larig]

I could join, and if I do it would be because I am a genealogist, and therefore interested in their libraries and research tools/sources, etc. It wouldn't be about status for me, and I'd likely not do the meetings and stuff.

If you're interested you can also search their databases (as a non-member) to help trace your own family lines. Chances are if you've got a person in your family who served in the Revolutionary War they are already in the database. (They can send you copies of the paperwork for particular "patriots"--their term for those who served).
http://services.dar.org/public/dar%5Fresearch/search/

[billysmommy]

Thanks all for the different perspectives.

I am curious as my Grandma and 2 of her sisters were very much into genealogical research and both of these sisters passed away within the past year. My Grandma is 95 and doing reasonably well but is realizing that she's not going to live forever and is passing all her info along to her daughters (my mom and my aunt) and granddaughters (myself and my cousin). My Grandma is a member of DAR and has mentioned a few times now to my cousin and I that it would really mean a lot to her if we would join also. My cousin and I have started looking into it and were wondering what kind of a commitment it was. We'll be going out to see my Grandma in the spring and we were both thinking it would be nice to tell her that we've joined since it means a lot to her.

I've always been fascinated with the history of our country and I love looking through all the binders of their research and putting actual names and faces with these periods of history. I find it fascinating that curly bright red hair has been in our family since the 1700's.

[Gena]

I have a problem with the way the DAR treats adoption. DAR will allow people who are adopted to become members, but only through their birth family ancestors, NOT through their adoptive family. DAR only cares about the bloodline. It's a very narrow definition of "daughter".

Like many adoptees, I do have bloodline ancestors that participated in the American Revolution. They are part of my heritage through my birthfather's line. But, as in common in adoption cases, I have no DAR acceptable documentation of being related to my birthfather. (My birthmother identified him, but the official court documents do not contain his name and instead say "illegitimate".) So I cannot join DAR.

Even if I did have acceptable documents linking me to my birthfather, I don't like the fact that DAR thinks my blood connection to a man who never even laid eyes on me is somehow more valid than my membership in my loving, close adoptive family.

It shouldn't be a matter of either blood or adoption being more valid than the other. They should both be valued. I am proud of the heritage of both my adoptive and my birth family. It's a shame DAR can't feel the same way.

[katydid1971]

I can but I wouldn't, its policies haven't been the most progressive and like a pp mentioned I think its just a bunch of old white women feeling better about themselves since their bloodline is so old.

[Melanie]

I thought about it b/c I think it's really cool to be related so far back and find a connection to SOMETHING in this world where I feel like such a mutt with no history (compared to friends with culture from other countries to share), and then I read some more about them and decided it wasn't for me.

[larig]

Thanks all for the different perspectives.

I am curious as my Grandma and 2 of her sisters were very much into genealogical research and both of these sisters passed away within the past year. My Grandma is 95 and doing reasonably well but is realizing that she's not going to live forever and is passing all her info along to her daughters (my mom and my aunt) and granddaughters (myself and my cousin). My Grandma is a member of DAR and has mentioned a few times now to my cousin and I that it would really mean a lot to her if we would join also. My cousin and I have started looking into it and were wondering what kind of a commitment it was. We'll be going out to see my Grandma in the spring and we were both thinking it would be nice to tell her that we've joined since it means a lot to her.

I've always been fascinated with the history of our country and I love looking through all the binders of their research and putting actual names and faces with these periods of history. I find it fascinating that curly bright red hair has been in our family since the 1700's.

Oh, you really should get your mom and aunt to do an interview of your grandmother, or do it yourself. Audio and/or video of her talking about her life and what she remembers will be priceless to your kids and their kids.

History is so much more than a bunch of old white men who did stuff--your grandmother's story is worth capturing in its own right. Take it from someone who regrets not doing this herself. I got interested genealogy/family history too late for me to do it.

[Puddy73]

Interesting thread. My daughters are eligible for DAR on DH's side and his grandmother has encouraged me to make sure that they join when they get older. Our local chapter is active in historic preservation projects and education. They also place flags on the graves of DAR family members around Memorial Day.

[sste]

Not a DAR but I am confused by the pedigree/status aspects posters are alluding to.

I am struggling to recall my college class but I thought the mayflower etc was filled with a great number of ruffians, criminals, etc. not the upper classes or elite. Is this right history buffs? I have never understood the whole blue blood thing with respect to the mayflower.

And Gena that policy with respect to adoption is very rude. Very.

[kijip]

Not a DAR but I am confused by the pedigree/status aspects posters are alluding to.

I am struggling to recall my college class but I thought the mayflower etc was filled with a great number of ruffians, criminals, etc. not the upper classes or elite. Is this right history buffs? I have never understood the whole blue blood thing with respect to the mayflower.

And Gena that policy with respect to adoption is very rude. Very.

Being on the Mayflower in the first part of the 17th century has nothing to do with being in the DAR. DAR membership is limited to women with provable "bloodline" ancestors who fought in or aided the American Revolution. As in, were veterans, were in the Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence, signed an oath of Allegiance to the new republic before the revolution was over. To join you have a "pedigree chart" reviewed by a membership volunteer or have a blood relation who is already a member. It is important to remember that roughly a 1/3 of the people of European heritage living in the colonies at the time of the revolution basically had limited or no interest in the Revolution and stayed out of it. Obviously many other people here were not of European ancestry. So it is not a matter of who was here or how/when they got here, but where they stood on the Revolution. Well off families tended to track and record these things better- literacy and free time being key to such tracking. So while there were plenty of poor folks, including slaves, who fought in the revolution, few of their descendants have a clear documentable link to them.

[kijip]

There are also Daughters of the Union and Daughters of the Confederacy groups. I am (with documentable evidence, whatever that means) eligible for membership in both. No interest. But it does crack me up that I reckon MANY people are eligible for both.

[klwa]

I have several family members who are & have considered joining. But, I've been slack. Of course, I'd love to try to get in on the one side of the family that is a bone of contention with the DAR. :) (My great-great grandmother was married to my g-g grandfather. After he died, she remarried & moved to Texas. We have proof of all of this. Her Texas offspring have had a fit about us claiming that she was married prior to marrying their great grandfather. Say that we MUST have the wrong person & therefore we can't use her line. Even though said woman's great-grandfather's name, etc, is recorded in OUR family Bible, as well as their wedding date. Yeah, nutjob. But she has successfully argued that no one in our branch should be allowed in on that family line.)

[billysmommy]

Oh, you really should get your mom and aunt to do an interview of your grandmother, or do it yourself. Audio and/or video of her talking about her life and what she remembers will be priceless to your kids and their kids.

History is so much more than a bunch of old white men who did stuff--your grandmother's story is worth capturing in its own right. Take it from someone who regrets not doing this herself. I got interested genealogy/family history too late for me to do it.


My youngest brother did an video interview with both of my Grandma's last year (they're 94 and 96). He also typed up the interviews and had them bound into books and gave everyone a book and cd with the video on it for Christmas. I love watching it!!!