Reflections from the Executive Officers: Registrar General

Each administration requests the Registrar General to look at different aspects of the Application and Supplemental process, as well as all corresponding committee work. Advances in the review process are considered, but most important is the assurance that verified lineages are correct and above reproach. The Wright Administration asked the Registrar General’s Office to specifically focus on system improvements, productivity, and the reduction of the pending supplementals backlog. Genealogy committees were also tasked with supporting these goals.

The Supplemental Support Project began in January 2024 with volunteer members indexing supplemental documentation to help reduce staff genealogist review time. This group of up to forty women reports to the DAR Genealogy Commission. The Commission operates as a CDRC member and publishes the educational Genealogy Gems newsletter. Member volunteer reviewers have also been added to the supplemental workforce as another way to reduce the supplemental backlog.  DAR also began a pilot program for remote staff genealogists that allows DAR to more easily employ genealogists based on application volumes. And Genealogy is enhancing the eApplication system for rollout this fall.

Genealogy committees are to be applauded for their contributions to lineage research, documentation, and expansion. Volunteer Genealogists trained registrars and their members, with over 170 committee members serving as Balcony Volunteers at each Continental Congress. The 23 members of the Application Task Force (ATF) continuously aid applicants and members with AIR letter resolutions, thereby ensuring verifications that otherwise could not have been proven. ATF members also took a trip to the FamilySearch Library to break down numerous “brick walls”. The Lineage Research committee focused on assisting with the research of prospective member lineages, the introduction of the Peer Review system, and the oversight of SAT (State Application Team) guidelines for 42 participating states.