Membership Certificate, Society of Cincinnati, 1787
date: label: associated date
content: 1787 03 01
name: label: associated person
content: Washington, George
notes: label: Description
content: Officers from the Continental Army and Navy formed the Society of the Cincinnati in 1783. It was to be an honorific and hereditary society to support patriotic fellowship. Americans who prized social equality worried that the group was creating a new, hereditary privileged elite. Public controversy caused the society to temporarily abandon the requirement that membership be limited to descendants of original members in 1784. George Washington, president of the society, signed this certificate of membership for William Clark of Virginia in 1787.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, General History Collection
label: See more items in
content: Government, Politics, and Reform
label: See more items in
content: American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Mr. and Mrs. George A. Chadwick
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.284906.01
label: catalog number
content: 284906.01
label: accession number
content: 284906
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Certificate
label: Object Name
content: certificate
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: skin, parchment (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 15 1/4 in x 22 in x 1/2 in; 38.735 cm x 55.88 cm x 1.27 cm