Travels with the President General

Sarah Mitchell Guernsey (1917—1920) was an avid traveler who attended many state conferences and chapter meetings around the country. She also traveled to France to visit the war-torn nation in the years following World War I, particularly to visit Tilloloy, where the National Society would rebuild the municipal water system. Grace Hall Brosseau (1926-1929) visited 41 states and chapters in Honolulu, Cuba, France and England. Her successor, Edith Irwin Hobart (1929-1932), traveled to 47 states and became the first President General to visit Alaska.

Florence Becker (1935—1938) traveled to Europe in 1937, when she toured England, France, Germany and Italy. Mrs. Becker led the Berlin-based Dorothea von Stueben Chapter in a commemorative marker ceremony honoring General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben’s service in the Revolutionary War. She continued to France, where she participated in the 100th anniversary celebration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, accompanied by members of the Benjamin Franklin Chapter. She also spoke at Memorial Day events and placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Somme American Cemetery in northern France. Later on her European tour, Mrs. Becker stopped in Rome and was received by Pope Pius XI at Vatican City. She concluded with a return trip to England, where she was presented at court to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace.

Succeeding Presidents General assumed a regular schedule of state and overseas visits in order to fulfill the joyful obligations of our Society’s highest office. Perhaps the most inspiring of these visits was that of Adele Erb Sullivan (1965-1968), who traded in her DAR wardrobe for field clothes and visited the combat zones of Vietnam. She was invited and escorted by Gen. William Westmoreland, often traveling via helicopter to visit evacuation hospitals and dugouts where our soldiers sheltered. What a remarkable testament to the purpose of our patriotic organization and Mrs. Sullivan’s indomitable spirit.

Perhaps the most unique distinction of my “travels” is that I have “Zoomed” (not via airplane but via the computer!) to five of the states and the Bahamas in order to take part in virtual State Conferences. I thank the State Regents of Delaware, Minnesota, North Carolina, Rhode Island, West Virginia and the Bahamas, all of whom invited me to their virtual visits as they worked to carry forward our important mission. Virtual conferences are not easy to produce, and they deserve our special thanks ensuring that the pandemic did not shape the destiny of their own administrations.

As I set out upon the final official state visits of my three-year term, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the State Regents who have gone to great lengths in order to accommodate my travel schedule so that I may achieve my goal of visiting all 50 states (five, of course, virtually). When an official conference could not be held, these “Sol Sisters” came to my rescue by holding special events that have touched my heart. Indeed, what amazing memories we have together made.