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In 1876, there were many celebrations to commemorate the centennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776. As part of this patriotic fervor, a group of men in the San Francisco, California, area who were descendants of patriots involved in the American Revolution, formed an organization called the Sons of Revolutionary Sires. Their objective was to have a fraternal and civic society to salute those men and women who pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to the battle for independence from Great Britain. The Sons of Revolutionary Sires desired to keep alive their ancestors’ story of patriotism and courage in the belief that it would inspire and sustain succeeding generations when they would have to defend and extend our freedoms against tyranny.

 

In 1883, the New York Society of the Sons of the American Revolution was organized by John Austin, this could be traced as the founding of the Sons of the American Revolution. William Osborn McDowell with Josiah Pumpelly and William Stryker, all who were members of the New York Society, organized the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1889. They refused to accept being subordinate to the New York Society. After approaching other states to organize societies, the Sons of the American Revolution were organized at the Fraunces Tavern in New York on April 30, 1889, the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration.

 

The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution was incorporated on January 17, 1890, in Connecticut, with the first National Congress on April 30, 1890, in Louisville, Kentucky.  The National Society was chartered by an Act of the United States Congress June 9, 1906. The charter was signed by President Theodore Roosevelt, who was also a member of the Empire State Society, SAR. The charter authorizes the granting of charters to societies of the various states and territories and authorizes the state-level societies to charter chapters within their borders. Federal Legislation then established a federal charter for the National Society, SAR.

 

We have used the acronym SAR to identify ourselves for over one hundred years. The SAR was conceived as a fraternal and civic society composed of lineal descendants of the patriots who wintered at Valley Forge, signed the Declaration of Independence, fought in the battles of the American Revolution, served in the Continental Congress, or otherwise supported the cause of American Independence.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded on October 11, 1890, during a time that was marked by a revival in patriotism and intense interest in the beginnings of the United States of America. Women felt the desire to express their patriotic feelings and were frustrated by their exclusion from men's organizations formed to perpetuate the memory of ancestors who fought to make this country free and independent. As a result, a group of pioneering women in the nation's capital formed their own organization and the Daughters of the American Revolution has carried the torch of patriotism ever since.

The objectives laid forth in the first meeting of the DAR have remained the same in 125 years of active service to the nation. Those objectives are: Historical - to perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence; Educational - to carry out the injunction of Washington in his farewell address to the American people, "to promote, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge, thus developing an enlightened public opinion…"; and Patriotic - to cherish, maintain, and extend the institutions of American freedom, to foster true patriotism and love of country, and to aid in securing for mankind all the blessings of liberty.

Since its founding in 1890, DAR has admitted more than 950,000 members.

Harriett M. Lothrop (1844–1924), NSDAR member and well-known author, founded the N.S.C.A.R. in 1895 to instill patriotic values in the youth of America. During the 1895 NSDAR Continental Congress Mrs. Lothrop delivered a moving speech to its members urging them to join her in helping create a patriotic organization for their children. Mrs. Lothrop's vision was well received, and the Children of the American Revolution was founded on April 5, 1895. Below you will find excerpts of her speech to the Daughters.

 

"I think you will agree with me that the hope of this country is with her youth. All of us now convened in a few years will pass from the scene; those to follow us will be the ones who are now in their formative state under our guidance. Into their hands will be laid the important trusts, the weighty responsibilities, the affairs of government, the whole executive and moral forces that make or mar the country. Tremendous questions of moral, civil, and religious nature are to arise in the not distant future. Already some of them are overwhelming us. Face to face we as a nation are to be brought to issues, vital not alone in this country, but the whole world. America as a nation is yet in her infancy. It doth not yet appear what she is to become among the nations of earth. Certainly no one who reads the signs of the times can doubt that God has designed a mighty work to be achieved by her. Into her vast territories have been and are now pouring millions who "seek the home of the free." Evangelizing America means evangelizing the world. American institutions and principles means evangelization. Civil and religious liberty, built on the eternal principles of truth, honesty, and tolerance, means a God-fearing and God-loving nation."

 

"What a tremendous thought that some of our boys and girls may be growing up in our very midst with no adequate idea of what it is to be an American youth, claiming a heritage of these American principles. Can we as American women rest a moment while the impressible period is swiftly passing on with them?...."

 

"I would also advise most strongly the forming of historical societies, especially for young people, who should have their own society of this kind adapted to their age...."

"I would even say that the time is propitious for us convening here to form a young people's society to be called Children of the American Revolution...."

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