A Productive Executive Session
Denise Doring VanBuren, President General

Your executive committee has concluded its final week of deliberations for 2020. I am especially grateful to three other executives who were able to drive to Washington, D.C. in order to participate in person (while obviously adhering to all safety requirements): Organizing Secretary General Virginia Storage; Historian General Laura Kessler; and Curator General Janet Whittington. It had been ten months since some of us had seen each other due to the pandemic! The remaining officers joined us via a virtual platform. Much was accomplished.

The brightest highlight was the acceptance of 2,047 women into membership in December! And our new member total for the year was remarkable: 12,291! (Compared with 2019 – 14,745; 2018 – 11,694; 2017 – 11,816; 2016 – 11,511; and 2015 – 13,969.) Thank you, ladies, for proving that despite a pandemic WE CAN DO IT! Great work, for which I will be forever grateful.

Other actions included:

  • Established a new high school-level essay contest focused on figures of the American Revolution, as we prepare for the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding. This new contest will be conducted through the American History Committee (and replaces the Christopher Columbus Essay Contest, which NSDAR administered on behalf of the Italian American Foundation for a quarter century). Watch for additional information about the new contest in the 2021 National Information Packet.
  • Authorized the Registrar General to develop and administer the virtual 2021 DAR Genealogy Lecture Series, which will be subject to renewal based upon the success of this pilot.  Watch for forthcoming information after the new year.
  • Approved recognition of the 51 signatories of the Edenton Resolve, dated October 25, 1774, as Patriots, whose documented descendants are eligible for DAR membership.
  • Clarified approvals of the Legacy designation for a member who connects to a DAR relative within the first three generations via either an Application or a Supplemental Application, provided she uses a shared established Patriot ancestor. We appreciate your continued patience in receiving approvals for this program – the Genealogy Department is addressing them as quickly as possible given other responsibilities.
  • Reviewed the status of the DAR Insignia Store, six months after its launch in June. Thanks to the strong support of members, we have processed more than $1 million in sales, and we are ahead of our projections on recouping start-up expenses for this large and important business unit. We also endorsed the design and sale of several new DAR Insignia items. Did you know that we now offer more than 300 different Insignia products? New items are typically unveiled online each Tuesday.
  • Received the status report on membership renewals and learned that nearly 70 percent of chapters have opted to submit their 2021 dues electronically. Let’s take advantage of the coming weeks to collect and submit those remaining dues – please commit to retain all of our existing members – every single one is precious!
  • Contributed $1,000 toward the Valley Forge Memorial Bell Tower, which was a post-war DAR Project that memorializes the men who spent the winter there 1777-1778.
  • Voted to increase the expense of Daughters newsletters ads by 10 percent beginning with the January-February 2022 edition (to a total of $660) – the first increase in a full decade. Though well below the cumulative cost of inflation over the last ten years, this increase will allow the magazine to better recover its expenses.
  • Authorized the purchase of gift cards to be administered at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center by the DAR Project Patriot Committee; gifts such as these are made possible by your generous contributions.
  • Reviewed the success to date of this year’s Giving Tuesday appeal to restore “starlight” overhead at DAR Constitution Hall through the introduction of a custom-designed LED lighting system. Contributions are still needed in order to fund this important component of the President General’s Project. Please visit www.dar.org/shiningstar to learn more about how you may support it.
  • Accepted the generous donation of items that included two Presidential China dinner plates and silver sugar tongs from the estate of Demaris Williams of Washington, D.C., a non-member. Donations such as these help to strengthen our DAR Museum Collection; please note, however, that such items are accepted only when it has been determined that they would benefit the collection.
  • Transitioned the Community Classroom Committee from a Special to a Standing committee in order to recognize its demonstrated value and worth in promoting education in local communities.
  • Reviewed a positive report on the status of Bacone College and administered quarterly proceeds of an endowed fund to benefit Kate Duncan Smith DAR School and Crossnore School and Children’s Home.

We also received the reports of Department Heads and updates on important initiatives, and those of us who attended in person had the opportunity to tour construction progress at DAR Constitution Hall. (Please visit my DAR President General’s Facebook page to view some photos – and sign up to “follow” it if you have not done so already.)  Due to continuing restrictions in the nation’s capital, we were unfortunately unable to hold our annual holiday Open House or employee party this December. But our House Beautiful shone brightly for the season – if you have not yet enjoyed the photographs, please do so here: www.dar.org/openhouse.  A grand highlight of the week was the opportunity to tour the White House, decorated splendidly for the season with a theme of “America the Beautiful.”

On behalf of the VanBuren Administration, I extend best wishes to you and yours for a safe and enjoyable holiday – and I know that we all look very much forward to good health and the exciting potential of 2021!

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