Celebrating 125 Years of the DAR Library

In 2021 the DAR is celebrating 125 years of the official establishment of the DAR Library. What started with 126 books, no budget, no staff, and a volunteer Librarian General to handle every aspect of the operation, has grown into one of the leading genealogical collections in the country. The collection now numbers over 200,000 volumes, much of it in open shelves in the historic Beaux-Arts ambience of the Memorial Continental Hall, where professional staff assists members, DAR staff and the general public six days a week, 52 weeks a year.

What is particularly extraordinary about the DAR Library is the fact that it has been assembled to a large extent by means of donations from around the country. Throughout the last 125 years, members, chapters, and friends have donated books from their part of the country or the area of their research interest – often manuscripts of personal research, copies and transcriptions done by genealogists highly familiar with the locales and the families involved, rather than simply standard local history publications.

To answer the changing needs of the members and DAR staff, the Library’s activities have evolved to include a strong educational component in the form of lectures and one-on-one training. In this, our anniversary year, we have also launched a free email reference service at [email protected] . This newest offering focuses on providing ideas regarding sources and research methods – it helps you to carry out your research, rather than do it for you. As such, it compliments, but does not replace, the highly popular Search Service. We are also looking forward to resuming in-person lectures and training in the newly renovated Seimes Technology Center and being able to offer customized programs for chapters around the country.

The Library looks forward to the next 125 years of working with members to build and maintain the collections, as well as help staff genealogists and members in their research. Come see us!