Daughters of the American Revolution The organization Daughters of the American Revolution ( DAR ) is a lineage - based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in United States ' independence . A non - profit group , they work to promote historic preservation , education and patriotism . The DAR has chapters in all 50 U . S . states as well as in the District of Columbia . DAR chapters have been founded in Australia , Austria , the Bahamas , Bermuda , Canada , France , Germany , Italy , Japan , Mexico , Spain , and the United Kingdom . As of 2012 , over 850 , 000 women have been able to trace their lineage to join this organization . Although it is referred to as the DAR , the official name of this organization is the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution ( NSDAR ) . National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution patriotic society organized October 11 , 1890 , and chartered by Congress December 2 , 1896 . Membership is limited to direct lineal descendants of soldiers or others of the Revolutionary period who aided the cause of independence ; applicants must have reached 18 years of age and must be “ personally acceptable ” to the society . In the late 20th century the society ' s membership totaled approximately 180 , 000 , with some 3 , 000 local chapters throughout the United States and in several other countries . In 1889 the centennial of President George Washington ' s inauguration was celebrated , and Americans looked for additional ways to recognize their past . Out of the renewed interest in United States history , numerous patriotic and preservation societies were founded . One of the society ' s four co - founders was Eugenia Washington , a great - grandneice of George Washington . The First Lady , Caroline Lavina Scott Harrison , wife of the United States President Benjamin Harrison , lent her prestige to the founding of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution ( NSDAR ) . She served as its first President General . She had initiated a renovation of the White House to update its infrastructure and was interested in historic preservation . She helped establish the goals of NSDAR . Four Washington , DC women founded the first chapter on October 11 , 1890 . The National Society of the DAR was incorporated by congressional charter in 1896 . DAR ' s motto is " God , Home , and Country . " In this same period , such organizations as the Sons of the American Revolution ( SAR ) , the Colonial Dames of America , the Mary Washington Memorial Society , Preservation of the Virginia Antiquities , United Daughters of the Confederacy , and Sons of Confederate Veterans were also founded . This was in addition to numerous fraternal and civic organizations . Historic programs . The DAR chapters raised funds to initiate a number of historic preservation and patriotic endeavors . They began a practice of installing small markers at the graves of Revolutionary War veterans to indicate their service , and adding small flags at their gravesites on Memorial Day . Other activities included commissioning and installing monuments to battles and other sites related to the War . The DAR women ' s contributions as well as those of soldiers . For instance , they installed a monument at the site of a spring where Polly Hawkins Craig and other women got water to use against flaming arrows , in the defense of Bryan Station ( present - day Lexington , Kentucky ) . In addition to installing markers and monuments , DAR chapters have purchased , preserved and operated historic houses and other sites associated with the war . See " DAR Historic Sites and Database " for a map and database of DAR sites . Current membership and programs . Eligibility . Membership in the DAR today is open to all women , regardless of race or religion , who can prove lineal bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving United States independence . The National Society of DAR is the final arbiter of the acceptability of the documentation of all applications for membership . Qualifying participation in achieving independence includes the following : The DAR contributes more than $ 1 million annually to support six schools that provide for a variety of special student needs . Educational outreach . Supported schools include : In addition , the DAR provides $ 70 , 000 to $ 100 , 000 in scholarships and funds to American Indian youth at Chemawa Indian School , Salem , Oregon ; Bacone College , Muskogee , Oklahoma ; and the Indian Youth of America Summer Camp Program . American History Essay contest . Each year , the DAR conducts a national American history essay contest among students in grades 5 through 8 . A different topic is selected each year . Essays are judged " for historical accuracy , adherence to topic , organization of materials , interest , originality , spelling , grammar , punctuation , and neatness . " The contest is conducted locally by the DAR chapters . Chapter winners compete against each other by region and nationally ; national winners receive a monetary award . Scholarships . The DAR awards $ 150 , 000 per year in scholarships to high school graduates , and music , law , nursing , and medical school students . Only two of the 20 scholarships offered are restricted to DAR members or their descendants . Literacy promotion . In 1989 , the DAR established the NSDAR Literacy Promotion Committee , which coordinates the efforts of DAR volunteers to promote child and adult literacy . Volunteers teach English , tutor reading , prepare students for GED examinations , raise funds for literacy programs , and participate in many other ways . Exhibits and library at DAR Headquarters . The DAR maintains an extensive genealogical library at its headquarters in Washington , DC and provides guides for individuals doing family research . Its bookstore presents the latest scholarship on United States and women ' s history . Temporary exhibits in the galleries have featured women ' s arts and crafts , including items from the DAR ' s valuable quilt and embroidery collections . Exhibit curators provide a social and historical context for girls ' and women ' s arts in such exhibits , for instance , explaining practices of mourning reflected in certain kinds of embroidery samplers , as well as ideals expressed about the new republic . Permanent exhibits include American furniture , silver and furnishings . Racial history . Performers at Constitution Hall . Although the DAR now forbids discrimination in membership based on race or creed , some members earlier advocated for segregation and discrimination . In 1932 , Washington , D . C . still had segregated facilities under laws established by a Southern - dominated Congress , which then administered the city . The DAR adopted a rule excluding African - American musicians from performing at Constitution Hall . This decision had followed complaints by some members against " mixed seating , " as both blacks and whites were attracted to concerts of black artists . In 1936 , Sol Hurok , the manager since 1935 of Marian Anderson , an African - American contralto , tried to book her at the DAR Constitution Hall . Owing to the " white performers only " policy , the DAR refused the booking . As the issue became public , Anderson performed at a Washington - area black high school . The First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt invited her to the White House to perform especially for her and President Roosevelt . During this time , Anderson came under considerable pressure from the NAACP not to perform for segregated audiences . In 1939 , Hurok , along with the NAACP and Howard University , petitioned the DAR to make an exception to the " white performers only " policy for a new booking of his renowned singer , which the organization declined . Hurok tried to find a local high school for the performance , but the only suitable venue was an auditorium at a white high school ( the public schools were segregated ) . The school board refused to allow Anderson to perform there . In response , Eleanor Roosevelt immediately resigned her membership in the DAR . The organization later apologized to Anderson and welcomed her to Constitution Hall on a number of occasions , starting in 1942 with a benefit concert for war relief during World War II . But , the DAR did not officially reverse its " white performers only " policy until 1952 . In 1945 , the African - American jazz singer Hazel Scott ( then the wife of Democratic congressmen Adam Clayton Powell , Jr . ) was excluded from performing at Constitution Hall . In October 1945 , the first lady Bess Truman was invited to a tea by the DAR at the locale . Truman accepted without realizing there would be a controversy . Congressman Powell protested and asked Truman not to attend the tea . She chose to go , but said that she opposed discrimination ( as did her husband ) . Letters of protest sent to the White House asked Bess Truman to resign from the DAR , but she declined to do so . Other letters supported her attendance at the tea . In 1964 , Anderson chose Constitution Hall as the place to launch her farewell American tour . On January 27 , 2005 , the DAR co - hosted with the U . S . Postal Service the first " day of issue " dedication ceremony of the Marian Anderson commemorative stamp , at which Anderson ' s family was honored . First African - American member of DAR . In October 1977 , Karen Batchelor Farmer ( now Karen Batchelor ) of Detroit , Michigan was admitted as the first known African - American member of the DAR . Batchelor started her genealogical research in 1976 as a young mother who wanted to commemorate the American bicentennial year in a way that had special meaning for her family . Within 26 months , she had traced her family history back to the American Revolution — a completely unexpected result . Batchelor traced her ancestry to a patriot , William Hood , who served in the colonial militia in Pennsylvania during the Revolution in the defense of Fort Freeland . With the help of the late James Dent Walker , head of Genealogical Services at the National Archives in Washington , D . C . , Batchelor was contacted by the Ezra Parker Chapter in Royal Oak , Michigan , who invited her to join their chapter ; she officially became DAR member # 623 , 128 . In December 1977 , Batchelor ' s admission as the first known African - American member of DAR sparked international interest after it was featured in a story on page one of the " New York Times . " She was invited to appear on " Good Morning America " , where she was interviewed by the regular guest host John Lindsay , former mayor of New York . Batchelor co - founded the Fred Hart Williams Genealogical Society in 1979 , an organization in Detroit for African - American family research . She continues to research her own family history and inspire others to do the same . Ferguson controversy . In March 1984 , a controversy arose when Lena Lorraine Santos Ferguson said she had been denied membership in a Washington , D . C . chapter of the DAR because she was black . The reporter Ronald Kessler quoted Ferguson ' s two white sponsors , Margaret M . Johnston and Elizabeth E . Thompson , as saying that although Ferguson met the lineage requirements and could trace her ancestry to Jonah Gay , fellow DAR members told them that Ferguson was not wanted because she was black . Sarah M . King , the President General of the DAR , said that the DAR ' s chapters have autonomy in determining members . Asked if she thought this acceptable , she said , " If you give a dinner party , and someone insisted on coming and you didn ' t want them , what would you do ? " King continued , " Being black is not the only reason why some people have not been accepted into chapters . There are other reasons : divorce , spite , neighbors ' dislike . I would say being black is very far down the line . . . There are a lot of people who are troublemakers . You wouldn ' t want them in there because they could cause some problems . " After her comments were reported , the D . C . City Council threatened to revoke the DAR ' s real estate tax exemption . King said that Ferguson should have been admitted , and her application to join the DAR was handled " inappropriately " . Representing Ferguson free of charge , lawyers from the Washington law firm of Hogan & Hartson began working with King to develop positive ways to ensure that blacks would not be discriminated against when applying for membership . The DAR changed its bylaws to bar discrimination " on the basis of race or creed " . King announced a resolution to recognize " the heroic contributions of black patriots in the American Revolution " . As a result of the " Washington Post " story , Ferguson , a retired school secretary , was admitted to the DAR chapter . " I wanted to honor my mother and father as well as my black and white heritage , " Ferguson said after being admitted . " And I want to encourage other black women to embrace their own rich history , because we ' re all Americans . " She became chairman and founder of the D . C . DAR Scholarship Committee . She died in March 2004 at the age of 75 . Becoming more inclusive . As noted above in the requirements section , the DAR has recognized that a wide variety of people contributed to the war effort , and has broadened its guidelines to reflect that . As an example of such changes , in 2007 the DAR posthumously honored Mary Hemings Bell , a former slave of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello , as a " Patriot of the Revolution . " During the war , Hemings and other household slaves had been taken by Jefferson to Richmond to work for him after he was elected as governor of Virginia . When the British invaded the city , they took Hemings and the other slaves at the governor ' s house as prisoner . The American government officials had escaped to Monticello and Charlottesville . Hemings and the other slaves were later released . Since Hemings Bell has been honored as a Patriot , all of her female descendants qualify for membership in the DAR . After the war , Hemings gained informal freedom when her common - law husband , Thomas Bell , a white merchant of Charlottesville , purchased her and their two mixed - race children from Jefferson . She was forced to leave her two older children , Joseph Fossett and Betsy Hemmings ( as she spelled it ) , enslaved at Monticello . After Bell ' s death , Mary and their two children inherited his estate . She kept in touch with her large extended Hemings family , still enslaved at Monticello , and aided her children there . When Jefferson ' s slaves were sold after his death in 1826 to settle his debts , Mary Hemings Bell was able to purchase family members to help keep families intact . First African - American charter chapter . In June 2012 , Wilhelmena Rhodes Kelly and Dr . Olivia Cousins became the charter members of a chapter with more than one African - American member , in Queens , New York . Five of the 13 charter members are African American . Kelly was installed as the Charter Regent and Dr . Cousins as a chapter officer . Two of Dr . Cousins ' sisters , Collette Cousins , who lives in Durham , North Carolina , and Michelle Wherry , who lives in Lewis Center , Ohio , have pledged to travel to Queens for the monthly chapter meetings .