The Franco-American Memorial Committee

Patti Maclay, National Chair, Franco-American Memorial Committee

March 18, 2024

Bonjour! Welcome to the Franco-American Memorial Committee. We encourage you to join in celebrating and commemorating our 246 years of Franco-American friendship. This “old” but new committee was reborn in October of 2023 through the efforts of our President General, Mrs. Pamela Wright! Founded initially in the late 1890s as an auxiliary to the DAR’s Franco-American Commission, this committee's purpose was to erect monuments to Generals Washington and Lafayette in Paris.

These statues were unveiled and dedicated on July 3rd and 4th during the Paris Exposition in 1900. Lafayette’s statue was paid for by the pennies of 5 million American school children, while its pedestal was funded by NSDAR. The committee was deactivated around 1918, but is now reborn for “Today’s DAR!”

All Daughters are encouraged to celebrate our long standing Franco-American alliance, commemorate our present efforts as two nations aligned to preserve democracy, and educate future generations about America’s first and longest ally, France.

The Franco American Memorial Committee will focus on the following 4 areas of interest:

Commemorative events.
There will be two NSDAR reportable commemorative events that are covered by this committee:

The Bicentennial of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour (1824 – 1825):
If your state was visited by Lafayette, please plan on joining with the American Friends of Lafayette to help recreate and celebrate the exact events as they happened 200 years ago. If your state was not one of those visited by “The Nation’s Guest,” you are still strongly encouraged to host a Lafayette themed event by using the extensive Commemorative Event Lafayette ToolKit on our website. It has Chapter Minutes, a proclamation format, a Tour map, speakers list, and Tour itinerary to name just a few!
Franco-American Themed Events:
Our website is a rich source of ideas for commemorations, ceremonies, and grave markings. A Toolkit related to these events can be found on the website and additional ideas can be found in the Franco-American Lists of Sites by States.

French Patriots from the American Revolution
Our second focus is to honor the French Patriots who gave of their time, their treasure, and the ultimate sacrifice of their lives in America’s fight for independence. The names of these individuals can be found on our website in what is called the List of Franco-American Patriots. This comprehensive listing of 2,119 individuals was carefully compiled by Le Souvenir Français, a French association dedicated to the maintenance of war memorials and soldier’s gravesites. And for you genies out there, this list might hold French Patriots you could use to create new lineages for DAR membership.

Franco-American Commemorative Sites by State
These folders contain information about French Patriot’s gravesites as well as Franco-American related monuments, historic sites, and memorials. Each state has a folder as does the District of Columbia. The sites marked in RED are of special interest or indicate the need for our “DAR Sparkle and Shine” in the form of help with gravesite cleaning, reporting site status, or holding a commemorative ceremony to honor that French Patriot or that site’s link to our Franco-American friendship!

List of Americans Who Fought for French Democracy
Throughout history, countless brave men and women from the United States have fought alongside French forces to defend and preserve their country’s democracy. This list serves as a starting point to honor their sacrifices and inspire future generations of American and French citizens to continue the fight for freedom. It features notable individuals and distinguished military units from World War I and World War II, along with a brief description of their contributions. This list is constantly growing as we discover more inspiring stories. It also presents an excellent source for local ceremonies and commemorations by chapters and states.

But that is not all! Check out our DASHBOARD!

This contains both Service and Educational opportunities which will be continually updated with new events and documents. The service opportunities are based upon their link to our Franco-American alliance and friendship. The educational opportunities include lectures and presentations scheduled for the future (in person or virtually) or recorded in the past. The focus might be on America and France in 1776 or our alliance today! Recorded programs can also be used at a Chapter meeting to spotlight our Franco-American history and friendship!

And who does not like pins?? DAR is celebrating the Bicentennial of Lafayette's Farewell Tour with a fantastic Commemorative pin as seen here!

This pin celebrates Lafayette, the Bicentennial of his Farewell Tour, the contributions made by France to American independence, and our joint efforts toward global liberty and democracy.

The Franco-American Memorial Committee encourages all Daughters to plan on celebrating the Bicentennial of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour, as well as to hold events that will bring into full view of our local communities the DAR name and logo as we celebrate, commemorate and educate the public about our Franco-American alliance and friendship!