Honoring Our Patriots - In Color!

What do the Marquis de Lafayette, Elizabeth Hobson Bugg, Sampson Battis, John Jacob Mickley, Simeon Ashbow, Nathaniel Woodhull and Betsy Ross have in common? They are among the 61 Patriots featured in the newly published Our Patriots, The Men & Women who Achieved American Independence – A Coloring Book!

The publication – which is written for middle school students but will be enjoyed by anyone who loves American history – was produced by our National Society and is being sold well beyond the DAR Store in locations such as the Mount Vernon Gift Shop and on Amazon.com. The idea for the engaging book, rich with historical facts about the men and women who stepped forward with courage and dedication to forge a great nation, was conceived when the President General received another coloring book from Alabama Daughter Laura Murray, an author/illustrator of three “Amazing States” coloring books.

At Mrs. VanBuren’s request, Corresponding Secretary General Kathryn Walker West and I connected with Laura Murray and began the effort to research, create and print a coloring book that features approved DAR Patriots and facts about each of the 13 colonies during the Revolutionary War.

We began by agreeing that the Patriots must be DAR-approved and represent all walks of life and service. Mrs. West and I invested a great deal of time in searching for a broad representation of Patriots from each of the 13 colonies: famous figures; signers of the Declaration of Independence; everyday men, women, children and Patriots of color. (Here’s a fun fact: each of our National Society’s Founders has one of her Patriots in the coloring book.) Once our list of Patriots was approved, work on the coloring book itself could begin.  

Laura, who is a coloring book lover, collector and author/illustrator of three other coloring books, began her work with this project the day she received a phone call from Mrs. West. “From start-to-finish, this entire project was a test of our time management and research skills. We had an extremely limited timeline, and it was all hands on deck,” she says. “I love how Our Patriots turned out and I’m thrilled what a great learning resource it will be.”

Enjoy this clip of Ms. Murray's coloring book illustration here.

Once all of the information had been verified through the Office of the Historian General, it was sent back to our illustrator Laura and the book began taking shape. Mrs. West and I then served as editors, sending the copy back to Genevieve for one final editing and proofreading before it was finally forwarded to the publisher.

Meeting in-person to plan and work on this book wasn’t possible due to the pandemic. Phone calls, Zoom meetings, the constant sharing of files and hundreds of emails was how this incredible “team” worked together to produce a mission-oriented coloring book of which we are very proud – and which we know that you will enjoy.