Today's DAR
I am pleased to share with you highlights of the exciting Opening Night program that will begin the historic Virtual 129th Continental Congress. With a theme devoted to “Honoring Our Patriots,” we will celebrate honorees who further research and education on the contributions of all those who contributed to American independence
Opening Night Ceremony Highlights - Virtual 129th Continental Congress
We will be honored to present the DAR History Award Medal to Lonnie G. Bunch III, the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, who will also present the keynote remarks. Secretary Bunch served previously as the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture here in our nation’s capital. He is credited as the driving force behind the success of the museum, which has welcomed more than 6 million visitors and helps all Americans to better understand the myriad contributions of African Americans to our nation’s story. We are grateful to have received videotaped remarks from Secretary Bunch, and we look forward to sharing them with you.
In addition, it is a pleasure to share that we will recognize Henry Louis Gates, Jr., professor and host of the PBS Program “Finding Your Roots” with presentation of the DAR Media and Entertainment Award for 2020 – who has also provided videotaped acceptance remarks. Dr. Gates has served as the Director of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University, where he teaches. Dr. Gates was also the editor of the Oxford African American Studies Center.
We will also announce a new educational initiative to determine the identities of more American Revolutionary War Patriots of color, as we seek to advance the field of study and public knowledge as well as welcome their descendants into membership. Many years of similar research by the DAR culminated in the 2008 publication of “Forgotten Patriots,” an 845-page volume documenting the service of more than 6,000 African American and American Indian Patriots which is now available online for free at the DAR website for members and the public alike. DAR will seek the expertise of historians and educators of African American studies for guidance as we develop this important project to identify still more people of color who aided our American Revolution through the funding of scholarly research.
Opening Night will also include remarks by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Rick Atkinson, who will receive the NSDAR Excellence in American History Book Award for his best-selling book, “The British are Coming, the War for America Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777.” It is an honor to share that Spanish Ambassador to United States Santiago Cabanas and French Ambassador to the United States Philipe Etienne will also share greetings, as we recognize the contributions of Spanish and French Patriots to our cause.
I hope you can agree that it promises to be an exciting evening focused on the purpose of our Society: honoring the men and women who achieved American independence. While ours is a non-denominational, non-political organization that does not issue statements regarding social issues, we recognize that we have an ongoing role to play in raising awareness of the contributions of all the Americans who fought to win our nation’s independence.
I hope that you will plan now to join us for this very special evening and all of our upcoming Congress events. Please visit the schedule to learn more. Join me to make some history!
