Dialogues of women with African American lineage who descend from American Indian, black, and white men and women that contributed to the American Revolution.
These women have proven their ancestry by their membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Any woman 18 years or older may become a member of the DAR by proving direct lineal descent to a patriot who contributed to the Revolutionary War.
This site is not an official National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) website, and the content contained herein does not necessarily represent the position of the NSDAR. The President General is the official spokesperson of NSDAR.
DAUGHTER
DIALOGUES
The members of the DAR are all Daughters regardless of color. The Dialogues on this site are not to create a separation by focusing on members with African American lineage but rather to change the narrative of race relations in this nation to reflect a more accurate history – one where African Americans had much greater agency in the development of the United States of America and whites were aligned with blacks in many instances. These stories will serve as a healing of a history that is still a source of conflict and polarization in this county amongst the races.
Read about and hear oral histories from women of color and descendants of patriots of color who celebrate their ancestors' fight to achieve American Independence through membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution. Who are these women? Why did they join the DAR? What are their experiences as members of the society?
Learn about their personal journeys to join the DAR and the contributions they are making as members.
Results of conversations, surveys, studies, explorations, and investigations of present-day and historical context of members of African American lineage in the DAR.
DAR chapters develop and support programs to serve communities of color such as African American cemetery preservation.
The Forgotten: The Middletown African Methodist Episcopal Cemetery, Middletown, MD
Book
When members of the Carrollton Manor Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution first decided to put together a book on a small African-American Cemetery in Middletown, they thought it would be an easy project and the book would be about 50 pages.
Instead the project took about a year and a half, involved thousands of hours, and the book is 388 pages.
'Daughters' Welcomes 1st Black Woman to National Board
U.S. News & World Report, June 29, 2019
NEW YORK (AP) — When Wilhelmena Rhodes Kelly hit a roadblock while researching her family history, a chance encounter at a conference with members of the Daughters of the American Revolution got her the help she needed to keep going.
Now, Kelly is helping the DAR have its own breakthrough moment. On Sunday, the lineage-based group, with a longstanding reputation as a bastion of white privilege, will install Kelly as the head of its New York state organization and the first African American woman on its national governing board.
Black woman rises to leadership in Daughters of the American Revolution
The Grio, May 26, 2013
This month, Autier Allen-Craft was elected to the position of regent in the Norwalk–Village Green chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in Connecticut. Allen-Craft, a black woman, says the organization has come a long way since its years of controversy related to racial exclusion.
For Daughters of the American Revolution, A New Chapter
The New York Times, July 4, 2012
Olivia Cousins can trace her family in the United States to a soldier who joined the rebelling colonists when he was just 17. But when a friend suggested she join the Daughters of the American Revolution, an organization whose members can prove they are related to someone who aided the rebels in 1776, Dr. Cousins nearly laughed.
Find resources and tips for genealogy research including patriots of color databases. Locate genealogists specializing in African American ancestry. Find books written by DAR members of color about their patriots and family history...and more.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
The purpose of Daughter Dialogues is to explore the contemporary lives of members with African American lineage in the Daughters of the American Revolution. Their patriot ancestors are American Indian, black, and white men and women who participated in the fight for the independence of the United States of America.
Outcomes include oral history recordings of participants that will be preserved into perpetuity by their deposit into the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute, arguably the world’s largest archive devoted to the history of both individual women and women’s organizations.
The information on the website is a result of research currently being conducted by Reisha L. Raney, non-resident fellow, W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University; Past Organizing Secretary, Maryland State Society Daughters of the American Revolution; and Honorary Regent, Harmony Hall Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution. Research objectives include:
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Documenting narratives of members of color and descendants of patriots of color in the DAR.
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Examining the historical context of members of color in the DAR.
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Examining the changing perceptions among non-DAR members in response to the research.