Special Edition #1

We interrupt our regular programming with this special message!  According to the last Reflections post, I was supposed to have the Conservation Corner followed by the latest Chapter Clips.  As you can see, I made some adjustments.  You will soon learn the reason for this change.  Sometimes, something unexpected and wonderful occurs.  During Constitution Week, this happened.  As soon as I received word of this special situation, I made adjustments.  You will now learn why I posted the Chapter Clips about the first NSDAR chapter as it “segways” beautifully into this special edition.  Talk about Divine intervention!

During Constitution Week, I received an e-mail from Susan Saunders with the subject line reading: DAR Strange Happening.  Just the subject made me curious, and then the content of the e-mail evoked an array of emotions.  I felt this “strange happening” was something that needed to be shared with you; therefore, I asked Susan to write an article of the event for the blog.  Here is the story as she wrote it.

 

Historic DAR Certificate Returns Home…

On September 17, 2013 Sumter’s Home Chapter held a Constitution Day Celebration at the Sumter Mall.  It was a fun-filled, exciting day for all as we recognized the day our Constitution was signed with song, Proclamations, and waving flags.  To add to the day’s exhilaration, one of the mall employees, Nancy Holmes, presented chapter Constitution Day Chair Helen Mahon with an old, framed DAR Certificate dated 1898.  We were all aghast with disbelief.  Helen gave the treasure to Susan Saunders, State Lineage Research Chair (and Sumter’s Home Regent) to research.

What a thrill it was to research this Certificate.  To begin, the beautiful Certificate had been given to Ms. Holmes by a gentleman who was at the mall back in the mid-80’s setting up a display for the 4^th of July.  Afterwards, he gave the Certificate to her saying “Hang on to this, it might be worth something.”  She held on to it for 30 years before giving it to the chapter.  That in itself is quite a story.

After thoroughly researching the Certificate, Susan found it to be the membership certificate of Mrs. Anna M. Carson Dillman (DAR #22644) dated 1898.  Mrs. Dillman joined the Chicago chapter, which has a very noteworthy legacy.  Chicago Chapter, NSDAR was established on March 20, 1891, as the first chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.  While Mrs. Dillman was not one of its charter members, she was certainly one of their earliest.  She passed away in 1900.

Sadly, Mrs. Dillman’s line seems to end with her.  No other DAR members have joined through her line and only six members have joined the DAR through her Patriot James Wright.  The latest joined in 1961, and none of these ladies seem to have descendants who have joined through other Patriots.  It seems that line is dead - which leads us to the question – What do we do with this treasure?

After speaking with the Illinois State DAR Registrar and our South Carolina DAR Curator, it has been decided that Mrs. Dillman’s treasured DAR Membership Certificate should be returned home to Illinois.

 

What a story!  It’s a shame that no one in Mrs. Dillman’s family (no nieces, no nephews, no cousins, no one) wanted or valued her certificate.  Then, the questions begin.  How did this certificate of a member from the Chicago Chapter of Illinois, the first chapter in the NSDAR, end up in South Carolina?  Who was this gentleman that had this certificate?  Where did he get the certificate, and why did he have it or want it?  Why did he give the certificate to this lady?  Why did she keep it after all these years?  What made her give it to the DAR now?   There are so many questions yet so few answers.  The good news is this.  Just as Grace Marshall’s scrapbook had a fairytale happy ending and is home under the protection of the SCDAR,  Mrs. Dillman’s certificate will also have a fairytale happy ending as it finds its way back home to Illinois and under the protection of the Illinois DAR.

Even though the gentleman will never know our appreciation, I want to thank him for seeing the value of the certificate and keeping the certificate safe. Thank you to Ms. Holmes who held on to it for those many years.  Thank you to Susan Saunders for understanding the treasure she had been given, for searching so diligently for Mrs. Dillman’s family in the hopes the certificate could be returned to them, and then contacting the ILDAR State Registrar to ensure its preservation.  Thank you to the Illinois DAR who will take the certificate and give it a treasured home.

For those of you who follow the blog, you know I have a challenge for you.  This is a perfect example of why the “Reflections of Our Treasured Past” project was started, to preserve the treasures of our past and make sure they don’t end up in the trash forever lost to the future.  I cannot even begin to tell you all of the treasures that are missing from the SCDAR for which I am desperately searching.  I need your help.  As you travel, as you shop, as you browse the internet, PLEASE always be on the lookout for DAR treasures such as this especially any from our state.  As Susan Saunders can attest, you never know what may come your way, when something may come your way, or how it may come your way. 

As President General Young in her blog about the “Reflections” project quoted me as saying, “We cannot honor our heritage if we haven’t preserved it.  We cannot teach the future generations without the treasures of our past.  We cannot Celebrate America if we don’t have America’s story to celebrate.” 

 

Chapter Clips #2

           Before beginning to look at our chapters, I thought it would be interesting to know a clip about the NSDAR’s very first chapter.  Do you have any idea which chapter was the first to be organized?  Was the first chapter located in one of the 13 original colonies? 

As it turns out the very first chapter to be organized in the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was located in Chicago, Illinois.  The name of this chapter is the Chicago Chapter.  The chapter was established on March 20, 1891 with 45 women eligible for membership in attendance.  Our first President General who was also First Lady of the United States at the time, Mrs. Caroline Harrison, appointed Mrs. Effie Beulah Reeme Osborn to organize the state of Illinois and to establish chapters.  Mrs. Osborn’s work was strictly organizational as she was a resident of Washington, D.C.  She spent three weeks in Illinois to accomplish this task.

According to the chapter’s website, Mrs. Osborne stated at this organizational meeting that in “The Daughters of the Revolution’ [sic], party lines and sectarian differences were to obliterated.  It would know no North, no South, no East, no West, and all creeds were admitted into its communion.  Its watchword was Patriotism.”

It is interesting to note that members of the Chicago chapter attended the first Continental Congress in February 1891 prior to their official organization in March.

           

Reflections Overview #3

For those of you who know me well, you know I love college football, especially Clemson football.  Both my grandfather and father played football for Clemson, and my grandfather taught me all about it.  I was quite the quarterback and receiver back in the day.  In attending a private school, I was the only one who wasn’t playing football that knew anything about it; therefore, I was made the football statistician in high school and helped out while I was in college.  Once I graduated from college and started my teaching career, I was again asked to be the football statistician.  I did this for 20 years and decided to retire when the members of my church youth group graduated.

Needless to say, I have been waiting for the college football season to begin.  Let me add, I was glad that Fall Forum wasn’t scheduled for this past weekend!  When the first football game came on television Thursday night (South Carolina vs. North Carolina), I started watching and scanning DAR records.  ESPN’s College Game Day was at Clemson Saturday; therefore, we headed early to Clemson in order to take part in the festivities.  While at Game Day, Chris Fowler showed some historical pictures of Clemson’s Bowman Field (where Game Day was located).  I even learned something when he showed pictures of the basketball games being played on the grass of Bowman Field.  I knew the military parades and other things took place there, but not basketball games.

As the crowd grew larger and larger awaiting Lee Corso’s head gear prediction of the game’s winner, I thought about all of the young men who marched on this same field for military parades.  I wondered just where Grace Marshall, SCDAR State Regent 1936-1939, had stood as she and the DAR attending Founder's Day at Tamassee reviewed the troops as she and the DAR reviewed the troops who passed in review on that special October afternoon.  For those of you who have been to a state meeting and viewed the displays, you have probably heard this story and have seen the pictures that I found in my great- uncle's Clemson yearbook, "Taps."

 

 

 

I have been going to Clemson football games since I was a little girl and have seen first hand the rich tradition that continues still today.  From First Friday parade, to the delicious Clemson ice cream, to the infamous Clemson Blue Cheese, to the tailgating, to the pre-game band concert, to the band marching down the hill to the stadium, to the team rubbing Howard’s rock and running down the hill to the playing field, to Tigerama and the displays on Bowman Field for Homecoming, tradition runs very deep.  In 2010, Clemson once again honored its military heritage by adding the Memorial Scroll of Honor which perpetually honors the students from Clemson who paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country from WWI to Afghanistan and Iraq including wars and campaigns.  It stands just a few feet away from the entrance to Memorial Stadium (which was named in 1942 for those students who made the ultimate sacrifice) at Howard’s Rock and The Hill. 

To enter the Memorial Scroll of Honor, you pass through two tigers which guard the scroll and wind your way to the barrow encircled by trees at its base.  As you walk around the barrow, you see a name engraved on a stone and then another and then another.  The scroll of honor contains 482 names to date of those Clemson students who paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to their county. 

Every time I go to Clemson, I stop at the Scroll and place a flower from my garden on my father’s stone.  Little did I know that placing a flower on my father’s stone prior to each home game would become such a meaningful gesture for the Clemson Corps of Cadets, the alumni group responsible for the Scroll’s creation.   On my way into the stadium for each home game, I cross the street and enter the Memorial going to my father’s stone.  Even though members of the Corps are there to give assistance and answer questions, they haven’t been stationed at my father’s stone; therefore, they had no idea who was leaving the flower.  It was a mystery to them. 

It was the last home game of the season last year, and believe it or not, my garden produced a beautiful rose at a time in the season when it shouldn’t have.  I cut the rose and placed it in a flower tube with water and carefully transported it to Clemson.  I made my way to the scroll and found a group of people near his stone.  I made my way around them and gently placed the flower on his stone cleaning away the pebbles that had accidentally been kicked on it from the walkway.  As I stood to proceed back across the street to enter the stadium, I heard a voice saying, “So you’re the one.”  I wasn’t sure if the comment was meant for me. I turned to face the voice to hear again, “So you’re the one.”  He continued, “We have been wondering who was placing the flower each home game on this stone.”  The flower would just appear without fanfare.  It wouldn’t be there one minute, and yet there it would be there the next.  He went on to tell me that as the Corps brought high school students on a tour, there the (wilted) flower would be.  It spoke not only to the person giving the tour but to the students as well because it gave meaning to those names because someone cared enough to place a flower.    As we talked and stories were told, tears began flowing down his cheeks which of course started tears flowing down mine.  The character of Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own said, “You don’t cry in baseball!”  Well, if you don’t cry in baseball, you certainly don’t cry in football!  Yet, there we were creating a small puddle of tears. 

 

You see, Clemson gets it because it doesn’t forget its history.  It doesn’t forget its heritage and strives to help others remember.  As a matter of fact, one alumni coined the phrase concerning Clemson’s fallen, “We will never forget!  Never!” The Corps of Cadets, they recognized the fact that I got it.  I understood the importance of their efforts in honoring the Clemson students who gave the ultimate sacrifice with the creation of the Memorial Scroll of Honor.  I demonstrate that fact each time I place a flower on my father’s stone. 

So my question to you is, do you get it?  Do you understand the importance of the project Reflections of Our Treasured Past and for what it stands?  If you do, then how are you demonstrating that you get it?  What are you doing to preserve your chapter’s history?  It’s not only up to the chapter officers!  Every member of the chapter can help if she is willing.  We cannot wait to get started or delay in finishing.  For those of you who saw the minutes from 1896 on display at Fall Forum, you saw what time and the elements do to documents and what history is lost from the pages that have been affected.  What you may not think about is that time is against us because we never know when we will face tornados, hurricanes, floods, fires, etc.  Do you realize how many chapters lost everything from Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy as well as the epic tornado outbreaks in Alabama, Missouri, and Oklahoma?  Had they only taken the time to digitize their histories and records when all was well, their histories and records could have been restored to them.  Let’s not let our chapters be one of those.  Let’s have our chapters lead the way in digitizing our histories and preventing their destruction. 

Oh, by the way, don’t forget that the perfect time to scan is when you are watching football on television and not emotionally invested in the game!

So, what will you learn about in the upcoming posts?  In Conservation Corner, I remind you about the scan settings and explain why you should use them.  This information was presented in one of the sections of the webinar I did for the NSDAR in January 2012.  Check the NSDAR website if you would like to view the entire webinar or get the transcript from it.  Just remember that I have increased the dpi settings from that which is in the webinar.

In Chapter Clips, I decided that before sharing information about our chapters, I would start at the beginning of chapters in the NSDAR.  Can you guess in which state the first chapter organized in the NSDAR is located?  Was it organized in one of the original 13 colonies?  Read to find out.

In Society Snippets, I share with you a little more information about Georgia Moore de Fontaine and a phenomenal find giving a glimpse of what went into our own beginnings.

In National Nuggets, you will begin to learn the story of our National Society’s organization.   You may be surprised at why it was started and who aided in its organization and formative years.

 Tamassee Tidbits contains the continuation of the story of Tamassee’s beginnings and answers the question, “Why is the school located at Tamassee?”

I hope you enjoy this post and of course, learn something new with the upcoming ones.   Please be sure to share this with all of our members.  If an SCDAR member has a computer, I want them to know about the blog.  For more information about the Memorial Scroll of Honor, go to http://cualumni.clemson.edu/scrollofhonor.  

 

Tamassee Tidbits #1

As you already know, each regent has a special interest or project.  For the past

several administrations, the state regent's project has been specific renovations and restorations to maintain the integrity and beauty of Tamassee's First Lady, its first building, the South Carolina Cottage.  Having a special interest or project was not difference in the early years of our society.  With the name of the South Carolina Cottage being the Grace Ward Calhoun Cottage, one would naturally think that Tamassee was the project during Grace Ward Calhoun's administration from 1914-1917.  However, I would be remiss if I did not share with you that the vision for our mountain school was not Grace Calhoun's.  To learn of Tamasssee's actual beginnings, the vision, we must step back in time even further.

 

This story begins in 1906 with the administration of Virginia Mason Bratton.  During her administration, one of her objectives on the state level was to complete the Partisan Monument located on the State House grounds.  Before this project could continue, chapters were called upon to raise funds for Continental Hall, the NSDAR original headquarters building in Washington, D.C.  In 1908, South Carolina had raised the necessary $2000 to pay for its beautiful exterior monolithic column – the first state to accomplish the payment.

 

Having met National’s requests, the state renewed its efforts to the Partisan Monument.    Plans had been largely perfected during the administration of Sara Aldrich Richardson, and a substantial sum was added to that already in the bank generated during Richardson’s term; however, the project’s completion had to be turned over to Mrs. Bratton’s successor, Frances Louise Hudson Mayes. 

 

The cost of the monument was $5,500.  Louise Mayes wanted this project completed during her administration and feared that the Daughters could not raise the required sum (as they were not educated to giving) in addition to carrying on their state and national work.  Therefore, she personally appeared before the State Legislature and made a plea for $2000.  She so entirely captivated the lawmakers that 30 minutes after her entry into the hall, she had been voted the amount she asked.

Even though Louise Mayes was interested in all phases of patriotic work, her heart yearned toward the problem of education for the mountain children, particularly those of South Carolina.  It was from her that South Carolina Daughters caught the first vision of what has developed into Tamassee DAR School.  In her first address as State Regent in 1910, she said, and I quote: “Daughters of South Carolina, in my mind the problem of education for our mountaineer is our highest and noblest work.  A state’s greatest asset is her educated citizenship.  What a waste then, is this illiteracy among the mountain whites of our own state.  It seems to me, Daughters, that this is a form of conservation that should appeal to us as an organization and one that will find a responsive chord in every womanly heart.  Could I put into motion influences and project plans which would enable me to see smoke curling from a settlement school in the mountains of my state my rosiest dream will have found its full fruition.”  These words falling from the lips of Frances Louise Hudson Mayes gave the inspiration for our mountain school. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Nuggets #1

         SCDAR Honorary State Regent Grace Colglazier Marshall stated, “Always I wore the badge of my office in pride and with great joy in the friendships and shared accomplishments of the officers and members.  Wearing the ‘ribbon of blue,’ with which each State Regent is invested is not wholly unlike wearing the ‘ribband of blue’ with which the Children of Israel were likewise adorned; for, looking upon it, she is constantly reminded of the duties for which she was chosen – and, constantly inspired to be faithful to the ideals of her organization and to hold in loving remembrance the dreams and courage of American patriots.”  The verse referring to the ribband of blue is as follows and became her Scripture verse during her administration, the first known state regent to have a Scripture verse.

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make themselves fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue – that ye may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them – that ye may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.”  Numbers 15:37-39

How did the DAR arrive at the colors of blue and white on a moire’ sash?  Did our sash originally have a reference to the ribband of blue found in those verses from Numbers?  I will give you a hint.  Yes.  The reference to the ribband of blue does have significance to our forefathers.

          To get a complete picture, we must start with the colors.  The DAR’s colors of blue and white were chosen at the second official DAR meeting of October 18, 1890 in honor of the uniforms of George Washington’s staff.  The blue color is easily traced whereas a reference to the color of white is not.

The color blue stems back to coats worn during the Colonial Wars. Sometimes the provincial troops were provided the red coats of the British, and sometimes they wore plain clothes.  The blue was selected for other troops by the provincial authorities and was the prominent coat color of the different provincial troops.  George Washington’s uniforms, from 1756-1763 when as Colonel of the Virginia foot regiments, were blue and buff.

As tensions with Great Britain  grew, the colonies began to organize men into companies.  The minutemen being the most famous of these companies.  On September 21, 1774, “a Number of Gentlemen and Freeholders of Fairfax County in the Colony of Virginia” formed a company and chose as their uniforms “a regular Uniform of Blue, turn’d up with Buff; with plain yellow metal Buttons, Buff Waist Coat and Breeches, and White Stockings…”  Even though Washington was not in attendance at this meeting as he was in Philadelphia as a delegate to the First Continental Congress, his step-grandson and adopted son, George Washington Parke Custis, later stated that Washington himself selected the uniform. George Washington himself in talking about the buff color with a tailor wanted to ensure that the buff was not on the yellow side.  As one author stated, “Little did Washington realize that blue and buff would remain in his wardrobe for the rest of his life and would come to symbolize for future generations of Americans not only his own public service and sacrifices as a citizen-soldier, but also those of his Revolutionary compatriots.”

 Not long after the beginning of the American Revolution and the organization of the American Army, blue became the prescribed color for coats.  The adoption of blue and buff was clearly by design.  These were the “ancient Whig Colours of England.”  The reason assigned for the adoption of this color is that it had always been the insignia of the Whigs, the Covenanters having adopted that color from the history of the ancient Israelites, who were enjoined to put upon the fringe of their garments a ribband of blue. The term "Whig" is of Scotch origin, and was given to those English politicians who manifested opposition to the Court (the Tory government then in Power.  The colonists’ position aligned with the position of the Whigs. Orange or buff and dark blue were also the insignia of Holland, and the particular shade of dark blue which was prescribed as the regulation color for coats of the American Army was called "Dutch Blue."    

Even though many colonies strove to properly dress their respective regiments, there was no regulation for uniforms; therefore, uniforms among the officers varied with individual preferences.  Washington’s aides-de-camp as well as many of the officers adopted the blue and buff combination.  Washington himself requested that the uniforms of his Life Guard be blue and buff.  Soon, blue and buff became widely used as the uniform of the Continental Army’s officers and certain regiments although still unofficial.

The ribband or sash originated for a different reason.  When Washington reached Cambridge on July 4, 1775, he found a group of ragged, non-uniformed men in clothing that represented their work with the plow, shop, or masthead.  He also noted that the generals and staff were not receiving the military recognition due with respect to rank.  On July 10, he issued the order that the officers and their Aids-de-Camp would be distinguished by a Ribband worn across his breast, between his Coat and waistcoat.  The Commander in Chief wore a light blue ribband, the majors and Brigadier General wore a pink ribband, and the Aids-de-Camp wore a green ribband.  It just so happens that four days earlier, Washington had decided on this course of action for himself and had purchased “a Ribband to distinguish myself 3/4 [3 shillings and four pence].”  Washington’s light blue ribband appears to have been made of broad moire’ or watered silk as depicted by several portraits of George Washington.  Hence, we now see where the use of moire’ for the DAR sash and the sash worn across the chest originated.  

The only reference to white as part of his staff’s uniforms comes from June 1780 when orders were finally published that officially prescribed the uniform and insignia of generals in the Continental Army to consist of: “…a blue coat with Buff facings and lining, yellow buttons, buff facings and lining, yellow buttons, white or buff under cloaths, two Epaulettes, with two stars [for major generals, while brigadier generals had but one star – Washington alone had three stars] upon each.” 

Could it be that since buff can be considered a version of the color white that the buff as white was the intended color?  What about the blue?  In looking at the ribbons on display at Headquarters, the colors are different than what we wear today. I asked the NSDAR Archivist for their help in this mystery.  Here is their response, “According to records from the October 18, 1890 meeting, DAR originally picked the colors of dark blue and white.  As you have noted, at some point the dark blue was changed to the lighter peacock blue that DAR now uses.  We haven’t found any documentation that explains this change, but we do know that it occurred early in DAR’s history.  All of the sashes are in the peacock shade of blue, as do the early DAR rosettes that were used at the first Congress in 1892.  As far as I know, since 1892 the colors have been the same.  Sometime between October 18, 1890 and the first Congress in February 1892 the color of blue was changed from dark blue to the peacock blue we now know. “

I also asked the Archivists when the ribbands/sashes were first worn by the DAR.  They said, “We are not sure of the exact date that DAR officers began wearing sashes, but it was around 1900. The first President General to appear with a sash in a photograph was Cornelia Fairbanks (1901-1905).”  For the SCDAR, that would mean that the first state regent to wear a sash would have been Sara Aldrich Richardson State Regent from 1900-1906.

Here is a perfect example of why preserving our past is so important.  One little piece of information is not available that leads to unanswered questions or assumptions based on the information we do have.  Do not assume that information is not important for future reference.  You never know when that information will be the answer to a question.

Thank you to the Office of Historian General and the NSDAR Archivists for the information they provided!

 

  

Society Snippets #1

If you read the Chapter Clips, you saw that our first chapter, Columbia Chapter, was organized on May 10, 1893.  You may be asking yourself, “When did the SCDAR organize?”   As it turns out, the organizational date for a state society is when the first chapter was organized.  In addition, the designated centennial date for each state is date of the first chapter organized.  Our state society was organized on May 10, 1893.

Even though Rebecca Calhoun Bacon was the state regent at the time of the state’s organization, she was not the first state regent.  In the beginning, the State Regent appointments were made through the Vice President in Charge of Chapter Organization, Mrs. Flora Adams Darling.  Georgia Moore de Fontaine was the first state regent appointed for South Carolina.  Her national number is 278, and she was appointed on May 25, 1891; however, she had to resign in 1892 due to a ruling passed by the National Board of Management that the State Regent must reside within the same state.  Mrs. De Fontaine resigned as she lived in New York.

The next State Regent appointed was Julia M. Richardson.  She was appointed on January 15, 1892 and served until February 1893.  Her national number was 1031, but she was dropped in 1897.  At this point, I have been unable to determine why her appointment was such a short term and have been unable to locate any additional information on her.

The next State Regent appointed was Rebecca Calhoun Bacon.  She was appointed on February 24, 1893 and served until 1898.  Her national number was 1390, but she was dropped in 1905.  It was under her that our first chapter was organized.

Because the first chapter was organized while she was state regent and thus our state society was organized as well, she is often given credit as being the first state regent for South Carolina.

Chapter Clips #1

This is a repeat of the Chapter Clips page from the blog in March.

        On May 5, 1893, the SCDAR organized its first chapter, the Columbia Chapter.  Since the beginning of the SCDAR, the state has organized more than 100 chapters.  Over the years, chapters have organized, disbanded, and even merged.  Our newest chapter, Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, organized September 18, 2010.  Today, the SCDAR has 71 active chapters.

          Each year, we hear the names of active and even disbanded chapters, but have you ever wondered why a chapter's name was chosen?  This blog will share with you interesting information about each chapter's organization.  Let's begin with the process of how a chapter's name is chosen.

        One aspect in the process of becoming a chapter in the NSDAR is to select a name for your chapter.  Organizing chapters in states admitted to the Union before 1825 must choose a name that precedes 1825 and is a historic event, a geographic area, or an individual relating to the American Revolution.  For organizing chapters in states admitted after 1825, a territorial historic event, a geographic site, or a name of a prominent early area pioneer may be chosen.  Chapters located outside the United States may choose names for historic events or individuals representative of the period of the American Revolution or for geographic sites.  Chapters located in military installations may be named for the military installation.

        A chapter presents three proposed names to the Organizing Secretary General who submits the recommended names to the National Board of Management.  After a name has been officially granted, it cannot be changed by the chapter unless permission is granted by a two-thirds vote of the National Board of Management.  A chapter may not adopt the name of a chapter in existence.  A chapter may adopt the name of a disbanded chapter, provided permission is granted by two-thirds vote of the National Board of Management.  A chapter may not use the name of a historic property owned by a state organization of the Society or by another chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

        Our first chapter chose the name Columbia Chapter while our newest chapter chose the name Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson.  Future posts will share the significance of each chapter's name and interesting facts about the organization of the chapter included the disbanded chapters.

 

Conservation Corner #1

Except for the last paragraph, this is a repeat of the Conservation Corner page from the first blog in March.

You will find that preserving your chapter history will seem daunting in the beginning.  To begin your process, let’s begin by recording your chapter property using the Chapter Property Inventory forms.  These forms are writeable forms meaning you can type and save the information directly on the form.  The only difficulty that you might have is attaching pictures to the form.  If you have Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can do that easily.  If you don’t, you will need to do a few more steps to include the picture on the form.

Once you have the forms completed for your chapter, please send them to me to file.  The purpose of this is to have a back-up copy on hand in case of emergency.  These emergencies can be due to natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornados, but they can also be in the event a chapter must seek legal means to retrieve property.  Unfortunately, this has happened due to the family incorrectly believing that certain chapter property was actually the personal property of the family member.  The chapter had to seek legal help to get the chapter property returned.  Had these forms been available at the time, the family would have been presented the forms and known that the property was the chapter’s and not the family member’s that had unexpectedly passed away.

Please do not change these forms in any way as the forms were created by the NSDAR legal advisors and will hold up in a court of law.  Simply complete, sign, and send them to me.

The property of each chapter will vary.  Some will simply have chapter regent’s bar, minutes, original member papers, treasurer’s records, etc.  Other chapters may have additional property such as gavels, officer notebooks, scrapbooks, history books, etc.  while others may even possess furniture.  Whatever your chapter has, begin your process by taking inventory and recording its whereabouts.

I will be conducting a workshop at the District 6 workshop about all this and the other items needed from each chapter, along with the proper techniques needed to accomplish the work, that fall under the auspices of the state curator.  This will be the only in person workshop I will be giving.  For those of you who cannot attend, I will be putting the information on the blog.  Don’t forget about the webinar I conducted for NSDAR in January 17, 2012 entitled “Archiving Chapter Records – Making Your Chapter’s Mountain of Minutes, Records & Histories a Molehill!”.  That webinar is still available to view on the NSDAR Members’ Only website.

 

Necessary Changes to the Blog
 

I want to thank you for your wonderful feedback about the blog.  It is accomplishing its initial goal which is to teach our members about our own history.  When giving the Outstanding Teacher of American History Award when I served the state society as state historian, you heard me say the famous words of Thomas Jefferson “what is past is prologue.”  This rings true in almost all, if not all, areas of our life. 

I had imagined the blog as a digital newsletter being read by all members in our state and the content being used as an emergency program in the event that a speaker could not come to a chapter meeting at the last minute.  What I did not fully imagine is the creative ways chapters are using the blog.  I have been told that you are sharing the blog with new members as well as prospects to help them to understand what DAR is all about, to learn about our impressive beginnings, to help explain what Tamassee is and its importance to the DAR, etc.  This innovative use of the blog and other issues has made me realize that some changes need to take place.

I did not realize upon the blog’s creation that when I changed the content found on the different pages, i.e. Chapter Clips, Society Snippets, National Nuggets, Tamassee Tidbits, and Conservation Corner that the content posted prior to that would be erased and not archived.  This was brought to my attention by my mother.  This is hilarious for those of you that know her because she is “computer free,” i.e. she cannot even use the mouse to play solitaire on the computer.  However, in editing my last posts, she simply asked what happened if you missed a post.  Could you go back and read it especially the Tamassee Tidbits since at this moment it is a continuation of the story?  When I posted the second time, I realized that the answer was no.

From now on, my plan is to send a post a week.  I will begin the rotation of content by sending the schedule of upcoming posts in order for you to know what to expect in the upcoming weeks.  The title of the posts will be the name of the page and the number of the post, i.e. Tamassee Tidbit #1.  In that way, you can view the archives at any time and find the post to reread something, to share something specific with others, or to use a particular post for an emergency program.   When that rotation is complete, a new rotation will begin.  I am going to start by reposting the content from the pages of the first post and the second post.

I apologize for this being a repeat of something many of you have already read; however, this is necessary to have the complete histories that are being provided available at all times.  This will also allow those members who have just received the information about the blog posts to catch up.  Here is the schedule of upcoming posts.

July 14 – schedule of posts

July 15 – Conservation Corner #1

July 22 – Chapter Clips #1

July 29 – Society Snippets #1

August 5 – National Nuggets #1

August 12 – Tamassee Tidbits #1

Thank you for your patience as I make this change to accomplish my initial goal as well as to accomplish the enhanced vision of how you are using this blog as a tool for your chapter.  Please don’t forget to sign up for e-mail notifications.  In that way, you will know when the new post is up in the event there is a delay.  This will also give me time to complete research from the information I discovered while at Continental Congress. I cannot wait to see where this information leads, what questions it will bring, and where those answers will take us on our journey as we honor our own DAR heritage! 

ENJOY!!!

In 2010, the state regent scrapbook belonging to 1936-1939 Honorary State Regent Grace Logan Marshall of Clemson was discovered in a box in a warehouse in the lower part of the state.  Fortunately, it was purchased by an antique dealer who was friends with a member of the SCDAR.  Through a series of events, the scrapbook was returned to the family who in turn donated the scrapbook to the SCDAR to be housed at Tamassee to prevent it from being lost again.
 
In appreciation of the family's generosity, a special acquisition ceremony was planned.  As the state officer of charge of the ceremony, I wanted to show the state's appreciation to the family by planning a special ceremony where I would share something about her administration.  I researched the administration of Grace Marshall and was amazed at what I discovered.  When I shared what I had learned at the ceremony, I discovered that not only had I learned something but so had every person in attendance at the ceremony including the family as Grace had died at an early age.  To watch everyone's faces as I shared this information, I realized that we did not know our own history and the phenomenal work of our state society and its regents.  My passion became to share this information with our membership.
 
My passion began with the project known as "Reflections of Our Treasured Past: Honoring the Service of Our Past Regents" consisting of displays, shadow boxes, and scrapbooks featuring the service or our past state regents.  I soon realized, however, that only those who come to state conference or have me as a speaker would see the displays and that there is more wonderful information to share than just about our past state regents.  Therefore, the project is continuing to grow by reaching out to more members through this blog and including more information than just information about past state regents.  The purpose of "Reflections of Our Treasured Past" is to educate and inspire, to inform and encourage.
 
To educate: This blog will be used to educate our members about its treasured past while helping to fulfill the words of Thomas Jefferson "what is past is prologue."  How can we understand where we are as a society if we do not know from where we have come?  How can we share the wonderful work that we do at Tamassee if we do not understand it original purpose and its mission today?  How can we make informed decisions if we do not know what transpired in the past that led to the present course?  While the aforementioned is paramount, sometimes learning about our past is simply fun and makes you appreciate what you have and what transpired in the past even more.  This blog will also be used to share interesting tidbits of information, just for fun.
 
To inspire: This blog will be used to inspire our members to preserve their own chapters' histories as well as record chapter property and share those histories and the property with the state by placing that information in a digital repository.  Did you know that the early records of our state society are missing, and there are many questions left unanswered?  Your chapter's records may just hold the answers to those questions, but we will never know if you do not know your chapter's history and prevent your history from being lost.  Did you know that some chapter property is thought to be personal property and not being returned to the chapter when newly elected officers are installed?  Valuable information is being lost that should not be.
 
To inform: This blog will be used to inform our members of ways to preserve chapter histories, to catalogue chapter property, and to place this information in a digital repository allowing for retrieval in the event that the information is lost by the chapter due to something such as a natural disaster.  In addition, new techniques, software, tips, etc. that can aid our members' endeavors will be shared.
 
To encourage:  This blog will be used to encourage our members as they work on this daunting but important task of preserving chapter histories and cataloging chapter property.  In the beginning, this task will seem overwhelming, but remember what has turned into my mantra concerning the preservation portion of this project, "If not you, then who?"
 
At the Tamassee Dedication of Star Lights on May 24, 2010, then State Regent Marilyn Altman stated, "Nothing is really ended until it is forgotten.  Whatever is kept in memory still endures, and is real."  Too much of history is forgotten for lack of preservation, and when we want to know more, we have no way of getting that information.  Too often we have good intentions of recording information for posterity but never take the time to do so only to have that information lost forever.  Let us be the generation of members that does not forget and keeps things in our memory by preserving our history in order for future generations to reflect on our collective treasured past.