A few weeks ago, Mrs. Cardigan and I took a guided tour through a museum dedicated to the local history of the town we were visiting. The tour really was both informative and enjoyable. At the end, we lingered to ask the guide a few additional questions which she was happy to answer. I’m sure she picked up on the fact that history is a subject that interests us greatly, because the lady that conducted the tour pitched my wife on the idea that she should consider joining the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
Afterwards, driving home, I gave Mrs. Cardigan a hard time by asking if she was actually considering joining that blue-blood elitist conservative organization. She was genuinely surprised to hear me call the DAR that. Evidently, she had never heard the story about how Eleanor Roosevelt famously quit the organization when they refused to allow an African American woman to sing at the DAR’s Washington convention back in the 1930’s. Add to that the fact that their membership requirements are based on heredity. I think you have to prove that you’re related to someone who either fought or somehow supported the American Revolutionary War.
Weeks later I find myself asking if maybe I treated the DAR unfairly or mischaracterized the organization. I confess when I hear the words ‘DAR’ my mind immediately conjures an image of a bespectacled old white lady trying to get signatures for a petition to ban pornography. Mrs. Cardigan is very much interested in genealogy but she’s nothing like the stereotype previously described. Truth be known I have never actually talked to anyone (other than that museum tour guide) that claimed to belong to the DAR.
I guess exclusivity in a group isn’t necessarily a Bad Thing. I mean, to be eligible to join MENSA they only allow people that can get a certain high score on an approved intelligence test. Either you have that ability or you don’t. Period. What are your impressions of the DAR? Anyone here a member, or have exposure to their meetings and activities?
Researching my ancestry I found that I was eligible for DAR membership (through several ancestors, actually), but I share your same prejudice against that organization. I had zero interest in applying.
DAR has cleaned up its act since the 1930s, and I believe it is no longer considered a racist organization. However, having a checkered past probably doesn’t help them recruit new members.
Today, DAR claims to have 190,000 members organized into 3,000 chapters worldwide. If your wife feels comfortable with DAR as it exists today, I wouldn’t discourage her from joining, assuming she can prove her eligibility.
Google tells me that you need to document your ancestry back to Revolutionary times, and prove that your Revolution-era ancestor was on the right side. If you don’t already have that information handy, it seems like a lot of research work to join a social club. They prominently declare their lack of racial discrimination, but how many non-white people are realistically going to meet those qualifications?
Concerning the research ‘work,’ I suspect many folks happen to be doing the genealogy research anyways for their own enjoyment or edification, and probably aren’t doing it just so they can be a member of the club.
And really the (easier) challenge is once a documented and qualified descendant is accepted, you only need to establish your connection to that person.
For example: if Rocky Brewster, your great uncle, has been accepted as being a descendant of T. Jefferson, then you just need to research and document your connection to Rocky, not all the way back to TJ.
Dammit I thought my daughters would qualify as I can trace my direct ancestry back to the 1770s (every one of my paternal grandmother’s descendants had served in the British military until my great uncle was killed in WW2)
They changed their tune about Marian Anderson performing there. Invited her back in 1942, had her back repeatedly, and have webpages devoted to her and to a scholarship fund in her name.
You’re right. One of the sources for your cite lists other Black performers who were not allowed to perform there years later.
Marian Anderson was neither the first nor last African-American performer denied the use of the tax-exempt Constitution Hall. The D.A.R. rejected Paul Robeson in March 1941 and excluded the pianist Hazel Scott and Harry Belafonte at other times.
You quote the recollection of Patrick Hayes, former National Symphony Orchestra manager, that the Hampton Institute Singers performed in the hall, yet the D.A.R. barred the chorus at least once. Walter Damrosch, the composer and conductor, told an interviewer in 1939 that the D.A.R. had forced him to replace the Hampton Institute Singers with a white chorus for his Constitution Hall performance of “O Captain! My Captain!” – a setting of Walt Whitman’s poetic eulogy to Abraham Lincoln. (In 1957, the D.A.R. again stirred outrage by refusing to allow a Mexican boy to carry the United States flag for a Lincoln’s birthday tribute in Colorado.)
For what it’s worth, I know one woman who is a member of DAR. She is a thoughtful and intelligent person who describes herself as progressive politically. I have no idea if that’s typical, of course.
Hm, I guess I’d just barely squeeze in (or rather, my mother, sister, and hypothetical daughters): Our first European ancestor to come to the Americas was in 1775, and made the rank of Captain in the Continental Army. Family lore is that the reason he came over was for the opportunity to fight the English.
I’m a direct descendant of a Revolutionary War officer. When they said to my grandmother she could join the DAR, her answer was “Yes, but why would anyone want to?” She was so Democratic - How Democratic was she? - She was so Democratic she named my mother Eleanor.
DAR’s Constitution Hall in Washington, DC has fond memories for me because I’ve seen Loreena McKennitt and Melissa Etheridge there.
During Obama’s first run for the presidency, there was an article published that alleged that Michelle Obama was eligible for membership in both the DAR and the DAC(onfederacy) if they were willing to overlook certain slight irregularities.
Ms. Obama allowed that she wasn’t interested in belonging to either organization.
I and my children are all eligible for some blue-blood organizations. I told my daughter that she is eligible for the DAR, because I felt she should at least know that. My great grandmother did all the legwork for that lineage, so she would just have to connect the dots from her. They are also eligible for membership in The Mayflower Society. My sons and I are eligible for membership in the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, a lesser known group than the above. My great grandfather fought in that war. I doubt any of them will bother with it.
