MARCH 26, 2009 ISSUE
Daughters of American Revolution Formed Out of Protest at Exclusion
Editor’s Note: The following article is part of a series of articles featuring women and women’s issues in conjunction with Women’s History Month, observed during the month of March.
Anne Millsaps, regent of the Daniel Boone Chapter of the DAR, wears ribbons and medals that include eight ancestor bars honoring her links to revolutionary war soldiers. Last year, the Daniel Boone Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution won 21 state and several national awards.
“Not many chapters get that many,” said chapter leader Regent Anne Millsaps.
The area’s local 64-member organization achieved the distinction, said Millsaps, because “our members worked. We had over 3,100 volunteer hours for other organizations that were reported by half the members. They worked with the Red Cross, Relay for Life, March of Dimes [and] church organizations.
“Lois Sermons is 98 years old, but she volunteers at the library cataloguing books and has for many years. Last year she put in about 300 hours.”
The DAR’s work also includes an ROTC award at ASU, a junior ROTC award at Ashe County High School, good citizenship medals for Ashe, Avery and Watauga County high school seniors, good citizenship awards in elementary schools and an essay contest for elementary and high school students.
“Last year our high school student won the state award,” said Millsaps.
The DAR also participated in 2008’s Daniel Boone Days festival and has helped mark the graves of Revolutionary War soldiers.
“It’s not one person doing [the work],” emphasized Millsaps. “It’s a chapter effort.”
The DAR is a national organization formed of women whose ancestors fought or worked for America’s independence. To join, there must be legal documentation of the applicant’s descent from Revolutionary War activists.
“[The process] can take years, depending upon how thorough you are. Some people have been able to put the proof together in six months if their parents had done some research,” Millsaps said.
Millsaps has links to eight Revolutionary War soldiers.
“I do not have any [female] ancestors … that were noted or in records,” she said. “The wives of all these men helped support but they didn’t fight or whatever.”
Deep Gap’s Bonnie Steelman descends from a Revolutionary period woman. Her ancestor, Sarah Wilcoxon, was at the Boonesborough siege from 1777 to 1778.
Besides the education and patriotism that the DAR’s awards recognize, the third main objective is historic preservation.
“[The DAR] raised over $500,000 towards the World War II Memorial, the Women in Military Service Memorial [and] the U.S. Capitol Building,” said Millsaps, referring to the organization nationally.
The national DAR also supports eight schools across the country, including Crossnore Academy, and also helped to start the American Red Cross, she said.
The DAR was born out of protest. Women were so incensed in 1890 when the Sons of the American Revolution voted to exclude women that they swiftly set up their own organization.
The Daniel Boone Chapter was chartered in October 1966. Millsaps is directly linked to its founding through her grandmother, who was a member in Madison. Millsaps and her twin sister were two of the original 19 charter members here.
Millsaps is the only charter member left in this area.
“Our oldest member is 102 and our youngest one is now 20,” said Millsaps. “Our chapter covers members from seven western counties, plus 10 states and Japan.”
WHS Students Celebrate Women’s History Month
Students at Pioneer Academy at Watauga High School last week celebrated Women’s History Month in an “eclectic” way, said English teacher Kim Houch, who is also the academy’s director. Dr. Elaine O’Quinn of ASU’s English Department gave a presentation on the depiction of teenage girls in the media and ASU also donated a box of books about girl teen issues.
The approximately 20 students were also able to take part in a special project to record either what womanhood means for them or what it feels to be a teenage girl in America. Pioneer Academy serves at-risk students at grade-level or higher. Some students face a challenge unique to female school students—they are mothers.
Community Interest
News & Notes
Events
Arts & Entertainment
