# The DAR and elitism **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 5, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dar-and-elitism/1024606 "2025-11-05T19:32:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dar-and-elitism/1024606/41 "2025-11-06T22:38:22Z")
> [@Clearbluesky](#): > > What social circles do you participate in that you are acquainted with both DAR members and John Birch Society members? And members of both? Neighbor and some of her friends. We don’t socialize other then make very polite and non-committal conversation once or twice a year. ---
**Author:** ![Clearbluesky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Clearbluesky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clearbluesky)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dar-and-elitism/1024606/42 "2025-11-06T22:42:30Z")
How old are they? ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dar-and-elitism/1024606/43 "2025-11-06T23:35:39Z")
Mid- to late 80s, I’d guess. Possibly even 90. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dar-and-elitism/1024606/44 "2025-11-06T23:50:02Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > 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. My great-grandfather also fought in that war, same first and last names as I have, so I guess I’m eligible too. He apparently used a different name for some reason, but I have the paperwork from the National Archives to prove it was him. My grandfather married later in life, or I would be even older than I am. I also have relatives on my mother’s side who were here from around 1700, but I don’t know if they were involved on either side in the Revolution. I have a 2nd cousin (or her daughter) who has done a very involved genealogy that includes my mother’s mother’s family, so I suppose she could tell me. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2025, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dar-and-elitism/1024606/45 "2025-11-07T00:07:05Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I have a 2nd cousin (or her daughter) who has done a very involved genealogy that includes my mother’s mother’s family, so I suppose she could tell me. That’s how I found out about my Civil War veteran, my Revolutionary War vet, and my Mayflower travelers. It can be a very educational hobby. ---
**Author:** ![Clearbluesky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Clearbluesky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clearbluesky)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2025, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dar-and-elitism/1024606/46 "2025-11-07T01:55:54Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > My wife is eligible to join the DAR, but in our area, the few members we know are also members of the local John Birch Society. That was sufficient vetting for her. Despite the unique co membership of your neighbors to both the DAR and the JBS, I don’t think that the two groups are related. And I wouldn’t assume membership in one group means membership in the other group. Or that the two groups have similar views on various topics. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2025, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dar-and-elitism/1024606/47 "2025-11-07T03:13:04Z")
ETA: Wrong thread. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2025, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dar-and-elitism/1024606/48 "2025-11-07T03:22:04Z")
Damn. I was played like a violin. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dar-and-elitism/1024606/49 "2025-11-07T18:54:31Z")
The first post of that person’s made me suspicious. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dar-and-elitism/1024606/50 "2025-11-08T16:10:39Z")
I don’t know DAR, but I am familiar with the Mayflower Society, which I belive is fairly similar, and there’s a lot of overlapping membership. I get the Mayflower Quarterly, and while geneology and history are the main focus, there are other activities. Each chapter is different, and I expect DAR is the same. My grandmother was an avid geneologist. The type that goes to cemetaries and records all the names. So not just for her, but to help others as well. She even received money for some of her geneology work. During her investigation, she discovered that she was eligible for the Mayflower Society, Jamestowne Society and DAR. She chose to join the Mayflower Society, and that was enough for her. My grandmother was definitely not elitist. She did enjoy dressing up for the conventions and getting together to talk history and geneology. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2025, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dar-and-elitism/1024606/51 "2025-11-08T20:15:50Z")
One branch of my ancestry wrote a family history published around 1900 and updated around 1960 (and [on the Internet Archive](https://dn790003.ca.archive.org/0/items/pedensofamericao00hewe/pedensofamericao00hewe.pdf) now). That branch of the family immigrated from Ireland in the early 1760s but still the patriarch and his seven sons volunteered for the war. I’m descended from one of the sons (through I don’t remember which). At least a couple of [their graves](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8033092/alexander-peden) have very early DAR gravestones and my grandmother and her siblings are listed by name in the 1960 revision of the book, so if I wanted to be a member of the Sons of the American Revolution I should have a fairly easy time. (Also the Sons of Confederate Veterans.) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dar-and-elitism/1024606/52 "2025-11-23T11:49:50Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Sure, but what actually happens in chapter meetings? Singing Yankee Doodle? Do they discuss the proper role of the executive branch as one of three co-equal branches of the federal government? > > Oh, they’ll raise money for historical monuments, purchase historical properties for preservation, offering support to veterans and active servicemembers, etc., etc. I’ve seen them involved in literacy programs, they maintain a few scholarships (I don’t think you need to qualify for membership for all of them), they have a library in Washington D.C., and sometimes they assist with naturalization ceremonies. I understand that they bought a cannon for the courthouse square in River City, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dar-and-elitism/1024606.md?page=2)