How the Daughters of the American Revolution honored our troops in record-breaking fashion
Diane Kilgore | July 1, 2016
(Courtesy of Bren Landon, Daughters of the American Revolution)
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a non-profit, non-political volunteer organization of women dedicated to the ideals of America. The group’s tri-fold mission is to promote American patriotism, preserve American history and secure America’s future through better education for children. The DAR’s headquarters on 1776 D Street NW takes up an entire city block in our nation’s capital with 3,000 additional chapters recognized across the United States and around the world. Founded October 11, 1890, there have been 950,000 Daughters involved in the sisterhood whose motto has always been “God, Home, Country.”
DAR members are accustom to setting lofty goals for themselves and those they serve. In the past three years alone the positive impact of their initiatives have been felt as the collective logged 2.2 million hours of volunteer service honoring veterans, supporting active-duty military personnel, and donating $1 million annually in scholarship money and aid. To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the DAR’s founding and its Continental Congress, Bren Landon, National Spokeswoman for the Daughters of the American Revolution, said the organization “wanted to do something really big that could involve all of its members as well as engage local communities.”
Of the current membership list, 183,000 women have proven lineage to a descendant of an American Revolutionary patriot. Landon notes of those members only 4,000 women travel to D.C. for the annual convention. Wishing to include all members in this year’s historic landmark celebrations of both the organization and its Congress, Landon said initiating a letter-writing campaign to the troops seemed like a natural fit to honor history while reminding our service men and women they are never forgotten. The aim of the DAR was to better the Guinness World Record of “The Most Letters to Military Personnel in One Month.” Landon said, “I felt pretty sure we could get the 10,000 letters needed for the record, but didn’t imagine we would get ten times as many!”
Before the “Most Letters…” campaign could begin, exceptionally strict protocols for eligibility were established to satisfy Guinness World Record standards. Ten rules set the guidelines, 1) submissions must be in a letter or card format; 2) each sender must submit only one letter; 3) each letter must be to a specific deployed or active duty person serving at a military installation; 4) each letter must contain three components: a proper greeting Dear_____, an original message of support or appreciation, and closed with love, thanks or sincerely and a signature; 5) the letter or card could be of any size; 6) the letter must be handwritten with a return address and name on the envelop; 7) the envelop must be affixed with a 49 cent stamp; 8) the letter must be unsealed; 9) letters must be brought to the Continental Congress of the DAR, in person, logged in with time and date, then deposited in a designated receptacle; 10) the collected letters must be presented in elastic-banded bundles of 50 for the official count and random inspection by Guinness’ official adjudicator.
DAR members spread the word of their record-breaking letter-writing campaign quest around the world by reaching out to family and friends of chapter members. Deploying their efforts with the goodwill of Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, churches, schools, VFWs and other community organizations, 100,904 letters of support for our troops were hand-delivered to the Continental Congress by Charter members of the DAR between Monday, June 13 and Friday, June 17. After examination, those letters were deemed official World Record breakers at the DAR’s Annual National Defense Night Ceremony, Saturday June 18. Last week volunteers busily began to seal and send the handwritten signs of support, from DAR headquarters in D.C. to our armed forces around the world. Those messages and others are expected to be received around the Fourth of July. Bren Landon says she knows some service members have already started “happily receiving letters.”
The Daughters of the American Revolution represent a vibrant, ethnically and religiously diverse membership. Their early history began through the frustrations of women excluded from fraternal organizations dedicated to perpetuating the memory of forefathers. A group of D.C.-based women with equal patriotic pride banded to form a like-minded organization with similar spirit. The museum founded by original DAR members now holds 30,000 pieces of historic significance to our American history. In its past, some of the organization’s other broad philanthropic interests included a 1921 publication of a “DAR Manual for Citizenship” written as an assimilation tool to immigrants, a 1940s drive to fund re-forestation projects of the U.S. Forestry Service as well as taking a leadership role towards a resolution to observe Constitution Week, signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956.
The DAR says the lore of personal family narratives should be taken with a gain of salt but suggests credible genealogical research can begin through online sites such as: Ancestry.com, FindMyPast.com, FamilySearch.org, Fold3.com and USGenweb.org. These sites offer vital links to records of probate, military and pension information as well as census records. The DAR site also offers a list of informational tips to prospective members of the patriotic sorority and a list of chapter leaders by zip code.
The initiative to establish a new Guinness World Record is set at 100,904, however letter-writing in support of our service personnel isn’t limited to that goal. Members of the DAR believe writing to our troops is a priceless expression of appreciation that honors their valor, sacrifice and commitment to the ideal that is America. Let the writing continue!
Daughters of the American Revolution can be reached at 202-628-1776 or DAR.org.
