A New Day for the Daughters of the American Revolution

By Robin Gee

Chartered in 2024, the Attucks-Lee-Banneker Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is Cincinnati’s newest chapter of the organization. Its name honors the contributions of three African American patriots. The members have made it their mission to recognize and honor all people who served the patriot cause. 

The chapter is named for three patriots: Crispus Attucks who led fellow colonists against the British and was the first killed during the Boston Massacre; William “Billy” Lee, an enslaved man who served George Washington throughout the war and beyond; and naturalist, mathematician, inventor and astronomer Benjamin Banneker, a free man of color, who served on the survey team for Washington, D.C..

Chapter Vice Regent Michelle Cousins Wherry noted the chapter’s mission is to honor all and to encourage and support all women over age 18 of any race or creed to join if they are a descendant. Proving descendancy can be difficult, however, but the chapter is devoted to helping women through the process.

Cousins Wherry started her DAR journey with her sisters several years ago when they formed a chapter in Queens, New York. After moving to Cincinnati, she joined the Cincinnati chapter and then decided to start the new chapter.

“I really wanted to focus on our urban community, the Cincinnati neighborhoods, and Cincinnati Public Schools. So that’s kind of where I was coming from,” she said. “There’s a lot of things that go into building and organizing a chapter. But we have a lot of help along the way. You don’t do it alone.”

Frances McGee-Cromartie is a regent in the organization. She helped organize the first 15 charter chapter members. Those interested in joining work with DAR members on the application process. Once their applications are established, they have one year before being officially installed as members. The chapter recently installed five new members and has more in the pipeline. 

Not your grandma’s DAR

The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, known as the DAR (dar.org), was formed in 1890 as a service organization devoted to honoring those who served or who gave aid or material support to the American Revolution. Their mission was to preserve the legacy, educate and honor those who served. 

The organization gathered documents and information about the revolution. Members raised money to support the war effort during the Spanish-American War, WWI and WWII. They welcomed and provided supplies to new immigrants coming through Ellis Island, raised money for reforestation efforts and supported the work of the Red Cross.

Yet, what a lot of people today know of the organization is its history of discrimination. While membership was open to women age 18 and up who could prove they were a direct descendant of a patriot, for a long time that did not mean all women. Although records indicate between 5,000 and 8,000+ African Americans and thousands of indigenous people fought on the patriot side, women of color were not accepted as members. In fact, the first African American woman to gain membership did so in 1977.

Many people have heard the story that in 1939 the DAR refused to allow world renowned contralto Marian Anderson to perform at the organization’s Constitution Hall in D.C. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, angered by this, canceled her membership in the organization. Instead, the president and first lady invited Anderson to perform in an open air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. 

Later, Anderson forgave the organization and actually did concerts for the DAR in the 1950s and made Constitution Hall a stop on her farewell tour in 1964.

Still, the incident and its past reputation severely tarnished the DAR’s image for decades, especially as the fight for civil rights unfolded. The organization did experience growth around the bicentennial but membership began to drop again in the 1980s as the end of the century approached.

Yet, as the new century approached, things were starting to turn around as women, especially women of color, within the organization moved to make it more open and accepting.

The DAR has, in fact, embraced Anderson’s legacy. They raised funds to help rebuild her childhood home after a fire and started a fund in her name to help preserve the opera singer’s legacy.

The organization’s chapters, including the Attucks-Lee-Banneker Chapter, have also embarked on a concerted effort to identify and honor those who have become known as the “forgotten patriots” of the revolution — African American, Native American and those of mixed heritage who supported the revolution.

Finding your roots

The DAR requires meticulous documentation. Despite the advent of services such as Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch and others, as well as advances in DNA research, it can be an arduous journey.

“It has made it easier, but the thing with Ancestry, and a lot of other resources, is you have to be aware that not all the information that’s on there is going to be correct. So as such, it really is a lot of research,” said Cousins Wherry.

Member Karen Dalton said her own journey is a good example.

“The DAR is very, very particular about how that proof is organized. So there was one generation lacking, and they needed one marriage record. I think it was available in an index, but the Family Search library had access to the more original record…By going a little bit deeper and using that additional resource, we could get an image of the actual record itself… Ancestry, in many cases, provides that information, but as you get further and further back, it gets much more difficult to find those records…It may require more primary sources to bolster what you might see in just a family tree or a genealogy or even in a textbook,” Dalton said.

African Americans tracing their family records often hit the wall of slavery. 

“You need to remember that when you go back to great, great, great black grandparents, there were no records for most of them, because they were slaves, and so that makes it almost impossible… Some of them were descendants of blacks who served in the revolution. A lot were descendants of white masters, and there were no records for that other than the slave records that were there, but these did not give any parentage. So that is very difficult for a lot of your African American people that apply,” added member Vada Love.

McGee-Cromartie said, “You have to go further and look outside the box. And for black genealogy, you may have to look at wills. You may have to look and see if they’re collateral for a loan. Like my ancestor, he was not enslaved, but he was an indentured servant, which is kind of like contract slavery, but you have a release date. He was listed in a will.”

For many people, she said, finding a record of an enslaved ancestor can be a traumatic and emotional experience, but it can also be freeing because that record can help break through a block in your research, she said.

Member Mary Woode Morton describes how going beyond resulted in a breakthrough for her family research. 

“My sixth great grandfather actually left a will, and in that will, he acknowledged his two grandsons, one of whom was my fourth great grandfather and his brother. And they were mulattoes, let me just say that. He was white, but he acknowledged them, and so that is how my second application was verified, and I was able to become a member. It’s been quite a journey, and I have to give the DAR credit. They are diligent. And this chapter has just been an outstanding chapter to work with,” she said. 

Dalton said she really didn’t have much interest in genealogy until she helped her brother research. Finding a connection deep in her Eastern Kentucky roots was a challenge at first, but then they had a breakthrough with help from the chapter.

“Initially, it was just something to help my brother, but now I’m in hook, line and sinker. I’m just enjoying it so much. It makes history more vibrant for me. So I’m reading areas that decades ago I had no interest in whatsoever, but now I find it fascinating. So DAR has just provided me with profound new interests that I’m really enjoying,” she said.

Special projects underway

Members of the Attucks-Lee-Banneker Chapter are involved in a number of historical preservation and educational projects. For America’s 250^th they hosted a program featuring a descendant of Nancy Ward, a member of the Cherokee Nation and advocate for peace who helped the patriots during the revolution. The chapter then hosted a panel that included a descendant of Crispus Attucks and three DAR members. The chapter also hosts a program and book club for students at Schroeder High School to learn about family and American history.

McGee-Cromartie serves on the America 250 Commission and is in charge of untold stories. She and the chapter are working on acknowledgement and a grave marker for Presley Gregory, who served in the Revolution and who is buried in the United Colored American Cemetery off Duck Creek Road in Cincinnati.

Another Ohio project is that of Richard Stanhope, who had been enslaved by Washington and served in the revolution. He is buried in Champaign County, north of Dayton. McGee-Cromartie is also working on getting a DAR booth at the Ohio State Fair this year.

DAR in the Cincinnati area

The Attucks-Lee-Banneker Chapter is one of several DAR chapters in our area as well as Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) chapters and even a children’s chapter (CAR) associated with the Cincinnati chapter. 

Other local DAR chapters include: the Cincinnati Chapter, Hopewell Chapter,  Mariemont Chapter, Clough Valley Chapter, Governor Othiniel Looker Chapter, Turtle Creek Chapter, Colonel Jonathan Bayard Smith, and in Kentucky, the Mary Ingles Chapter, Rebecca Bryan Boone Chapter and Boone County Chapter. 

The Attucks-Lee-Banneker Chapter meets fourth Sundays at Harriet Beecher Stowe House, 2950 Gilbert Avenue. You can find them on Facebook, “The Attucks-Lee-Banneker Chapter, NSDAR.” For more information about joining and to learn more, email the chapter at attucksleebannekerchapterdar@gmail.com. 

Pictured: A recent meeting of the Chapter at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House. Photo provided.