Introducing DAR's One Millionth Member: Amy Dickinson

I am so pleased to introduce to you one of our newest DAR members: Amy Dickinson, National Number 1000000.

Watch this introductory video here

Some of you may know of Amy from her nationally syndicated advice column, “Ask Amy,” which is carried in more than 150 newspapers across the country 365 days a year, reaching an estimated 22 million readers daily. In 2003, The Chicago Tribune introduced “Ask Amy” as its new advice column after almost a half-century of running the beloved Ann Landers advice column. Amy is also the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, “The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Story of Surprising Second Chances,” a chronicle of her experiences and misadventures as a single mother to her daughter. In her follow-up memoir, “Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Coming Home,” Amy shares her journey through the challenges of life’s twists and turns.

While our DAR Million Members Celebration highlights all of our outstanding members over our 129-year history, we did need one woman who could represent the campaign to give it greater public attention – and someone who was willing to have her story shared in a very public way. As it became clear that the timing of the completion of Amy’s DAR Application would coincide with when we were nearing our millionth national number, it seemed as if fate was lighting our path. And so, I was overjoyed when Amy agreed to join our campaign in a very public way to celebrate one million members in service to God, Home and Country.

I first met Amy earlier this year at the prestigious Horatio Alger Awards Ceremony held in our DAR Constitution Hall. Amy was one of the honorees receiving the 2019 Horatio Alger Award, which is bestowed upon esteemed individuals who have succeeded despite adversity, and who have remained committed to higher education and charitable endeavors through their lives. I encouraged her to consider joining the DAR (as I do with almost every woman I meet!), and she showed great interest.

After hearing Amy speak at the ceremony and afterward learning more about her life and her interests, I recognized in her many of the qualities of service and passion that we find in so many of our DAR members, and so I was absolutely thrilled when she enthusiastically began to pursue the DAR membership Application process. It turns out that Amy’s maternal grandmother was a DAR member and – my heart soared when she disclosed her family still owns the farmstead of her Patriot ancestor Benjamin Genung. 

Let me share this delightful note Amy sent me as she was working through the Application process:

THE JOY! Yes, I am right now looking out on the land he [her Patriot ancestor Benjamin Genung] first plowed in 1790, when he arrived from NJ, with an ox and a wagon, and settled on this land grant. I am happy that this link has been discovered, because my dear beloved and late mother Jane's last name was Genung, and without any male heirs, the name has disappeared. So this makes me very happy.

Isn’t it always so rewarding seeing the emotion that women experience when discovering the details of their lineage for their DAR Application -- and how those long-ago ancestors connect them to history?