Today's DAR
In September, more than thirty DAR members from nine states and Spain attended the two-day The American Revolution in the West Conference which opened with a reception at the Saint Charles County Heritage Society’s exhibition of the same name. The exhibition, in its third and final year, is a comprehensive collection of historical artifacts, weapons, uniforms and Native American archeological items covering the events in the mid- Mississippi Valley region during the American Revolution. The Battles of Saint Louis, the attack on Cahokia and the relationship between commandant Francisco de Leyba of Fort San Carlos and George Rogers Clark are central to this story. The collection in the exhibition is the life’s work of Saint Louis historian and attorney, Stephen L. Kling, Jr., who organized the conference with support from NSDAR, SAR and the Saint Charles County Historical Society. Mr. Kling is also the author of a comprehensive book by the same title The American Revolution in the West, The Cavalry in the West and numerous articles on this subject.
Recapping the American Revolution in the West Conference
The two days of thirteen presenters included experts on both sides of the revolutionary war covering topics on military strategy, weapons, regiments, women’s roles in Colonial America, forgotten patriots and uniforms. More than one hundred and fifty people attended. Some of the more well-known speakers included Erik Goldstien, Senior Curator of Mechanical Arts & Numismatics at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Dr. Frances Kolb Turnbell, author of the new Louisiana State University Press release Spanish Louisiana: Contest for Borderlands, 1763 – 1803, Dr. Jonathan Abel Associate Professor in the Department of Military History at the US Army Command and General Staff College, Dr. Shirley L. Green from Bowling Green State University and Dr. Thomas E. Chavez, Kristine L. Sjostrom, Dr. Jacqueline Beatty. The conference will be featured on C-Span soon and was covered by the Spanish newspaper reporter Manuel Trillo from ABC in Madrid.
DAR members attending included myself, French and Spanish Specialty Research National Vice Chairs, Louise Ganucheau and Molly Fernandez de Mesa, State Chair Specialty Research for Kentucky, Pamela Kalbfleish, and Spanish Research Team Members Henrietta Martinez Christmas from New Mexico and Kristine Sjostrom from Seville, Spain.
Current and past state officers attending included Missouri State Vice Regent Becky Osbourn, Past State Historian of Iowa, Lucy Zeimet and Past State Registrar of Missouri, Marilynn Henry. Moderating the conference was Joanie Koechig, Honorary Regent of the Saint Charles Chapter, NSDAR, and President of the Saint Charles County Historical Society. Books of importance discussed by their presenter in addition to Dr Turnball’s were Dr. Shirley Green’s publication Revolutionary Blacks - Discovering the Frank Brothers Freeborn Men of Color, Soldiers of Independence and Dr. Jacqueline Beatty’s work on reclaiming women’s power in the American Revolution titled In Dependence.
The nine states represented by DAR members included Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky and Virginia. Seven Missouri DAR chapters participated.
Conferences like this expand our knowledge on aspect of the American Revolution with new materials and research that is not always considered mainstream American Revolution information. Most of the presentations centered on events in the Trans Allegheny and Mississippi regions with a few topics on events that correlated from the eastern seaboard. Attendees were able to meet, mingle and ask questions of experts in their fields. It was a great opportunity to obtain information to share with our chapters and members. If you hear of a regional conference in your area on the American Revolution, share it with us on the Daughters Online Community (DOC). We’d love our members to have more opportunities to attend events like this and we look forward to more opportunities like this in the future.
