Making History at the April Executive Board

After the Coronavirus pandemic eliminated the possibility of gathering in person to conduct the April meeting of the Executive Committee, I am proud to report that our team conducted the business of the National Society via video conferencing sessions over the course of three days – the first time that such technology has been used to complete an Executive Committee board meeting. While we hope that we will never again have to do so, we are grateful to know that we can access online platforms in order to provide business continuity if necessary.

A highlight of the board meeting was authorizing a sponsorship to the World War I monument under construction in Washington, D.C. A blog devoted to this project and our support will follow later this week. In other business, the Executive Committee approved the following within the DAR mission areas:

Historic Preservation

• Awarded $250,000 of the inaugural DAR Historic Preservation Grants through support of 43 historic preservation projects in more than 30 states.

Education

• Granted 83 scholarships to recipients from 31 states through the DAR Scholarship Committee. More than $280,000 was awarded in the areas of Education, History, Government, Nursing, Native American Studies, Law, Business, Horticulture, Chemistry, Music, English, Math, Science and General Studies. (Incidentally, the new on-line scholarship system successfully processed more than 7,200 applications for 28 different scholarships offered by the DAR Scholarship and American Indians committees. All scholarship applicants and recipients will receive application status notifications on or by May 15, 2020.)
• Accepted recommendations from the DAR School Committee to approve recipients of the: a.) Mildred Louise Brackney Scholarship at Kate Duncan Smith DAR School; b.) Frankie Ellen Wood Giroux Scholarship at Tamassee DAR School and Crossnore School; c.) Idamae Cox Otis Scholarship at Kate Duncan Smith DAR School; and d.) Longman-Harris Scholarship.
• Approved the payment of: five one-time awards in the amount of $4,000 each to the recipients of the American Indians Scholarship; a one-time award in the amount of $3,500 to the recipient of the Francis Crawford Marvin American Indian Scholarship; 10 one-time scholarships of $400 each for students to attend the summer camp program sponsored by Indian Youth of America; five one-time scholarships of $5,000 for students to attend the Native American Art program at Bacone College; and $6,000 to support tuition-free Omaha language classes offered to Native American Community members.
• Allocated $70,000 from the Eleanor M. Stolle Fund for repair of the HVAC system in the men’s dormitory and repair/painting/maintenance of the both the men’s and women’s dormitories at Bacone College.
• Granted the request of the Junior Membership Committee to provide support of Bacone College and Chemawa Indian School from the Helen Pouch Memorial Fund.