Betty Newkirk Seimes | |
---|---|
27th DAR President General, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution | |
In office 1968–1971 | |
Preceded by | Adele Woodhouse Erb Sullivan |
Succeeded by | Eleanor Washington Spicer |
Elizabeth Newkirk Seimes served as the 27th President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Betty was born in Wilmington,Delaware,on 8 July 1901 and died 24 March 1990 in Easton,Maryland. She attended Alexis I. duPont High School and Goldey Wilmington Commercial College (now Goldey–Beacom College). Betty married Erwin F Seimes,who died in 1970,and both are buried in Gracelawn Memorial Park in New Castle,DE. Betty worked as a secretary and office manager for Allied Kid Company of Wilmington and as the executive secretary for Governor Richard C. McMullen,from 1937 to 1941. [1] [2]
Seimes was elected DAR President General in 1968,having joined the DAR the Cooch's Bridge Chapter of Delaware in 1938. She helped organize the Colonel David Hall Chapter in Lewes,DE,1951. She served as State Regent of Delaware,Recording Secretary General,and First Vice President General. [3] [4] She received the Sons of the American Revolution Gold Good Citizenship Medal in 1977 from the Delaware State Society. [5]
Seimes was elected President General in 1968 and installed during the 77th Continental Congress,having defeated Dorothy W. S. Ragan. Her slate of executive officers were: [6] [7]
She had three themes,one for each year of her administration:1st year:“One Country,One Constitution,One Destiny;”2nd year:“God grants liberty only to those who love it,and are always ready to guard and defend it;”3rd year:“Where Law Ends,Tyranny Begins,”by William Pitt. Her symbol was a four-leaf clover and her unofficial project was “tying up loose ends.” [3]
Seimes' administration coincided with the Vietnam War,which impacted their work. As part of the DAR's mission of Patriotism,they authorized Certificates of Honor to be presented to the families of servicemen killed in the war. [3] As President General Sullivan before her had done, [8] Seimes spoke out against the burning of draft cards. She called it "near treason," and advocated for strong punishment. [9]
Highlights from the Seimes administration include: [3]
The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-profit group,the organization promotes education and patriotism. Its membership is limited to direct lineal descendants of soldiers or others of the American Revolution era who aided the revolution and its subsequent war. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and have a birth certificate indicating that their gender is female. DAR has over 190,000 current members in the United States and other countries. The organization's motto is "God,Home,and Country".
David Hall was an American lawyer and politician from Lewes,in Sussex County,Delaware. He was an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution,and member of the Democratic-Republican Party,who served as Governor of Delaware.
The National Society Children of the American Revolution (NSCAR) is a youth organization that was founded on April 5,1895,by Harriett Lothrop. The idea was proposed on February 22,1895,at the Fourth Continental Congress of the National Society,Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). The organization was promptly chartered by the United States Congress,and is now the nation's oldest and largest,patriotic youth organization. NSCAR offers membership to anyone under the age of 22 who is lineally descended from someone who served in the Continental Army or gave material aid to the cause of freedom in the American Revolution.
Katharine Lorenz Pratt Horton was the President of the City Federation of Women's Clubs in Buffalo,New York,and regent of the Buffalo,New York,chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution from 1901 to 1930.
Helena Rebecca Hellwig Pouch was an American tennis player and served as the 18th President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Estelle Emma Doremus was the daughter of Hubbard Skidmore,who served in the American Revolutionary War,and became a charter member and honorary vice president general of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). She was a charter officer and regent of the New York City chapter of the DAR between 1892 and 1894. The wife of U.S. chemist Robert Ogden Doremus,she was a leading member of the American community in Paris during the height of the Second French Empire.
Eugenia Scholay Washington was an American historian,civil servant,and a founder of the lineage societies,Daughters of the American Revolution and Daughters of the Founders and Patriots of America.
Catharine H. T. Avery was an American author,editor,and educator of the long nineteenth century. Of Revolutionary ancestry and hailing from Michigan,she was founder and regent of the Western Reserve Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR),of Cleveland,Ohio;Vice-president General of its National Society;and editor of the National Society's official organ,the American Monthly. She also served two years as a member of the Cleveland School Board,being the first woman in Ohio chosen to an elective office.
Mary Parke Foster was the 3rd President General of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and wife of John W. Foster,U.S. Secretary of State under President Benjamin Harrison.
Lynn Forney Young is an American civil leader and clubwoman. She was the 43rd President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution,serving from 2013 to 2016. As the organization's president general,she oversaw a $4 million restoration of DAR Constitution Hall,led the organization in setting a Guinness World Record for "most letters to military personnel collected in one month" with 100,904 letters to members of the United States Armed Forces,and met with Elizabeth II during an event to launch a project to digitize the Royal Archives of George III.
Sarah Emily Corbin Robert served as the 17th President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution and was a noted authority on parliamentary procedure.
Adele Woodhouse Erb Sullivan served as the 26th President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution and noted for her 1968 visit to Vietnam with General William C. Westmoreland.
Pamela Hilda Edwards Rouse Wright is an American philanthropist,clubwoman,businesswoman,and jewelry designer. Since 2022,she has served as the President General of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. She is the second Texan to serve as the national society's president general. In 2022,Wright was presented with the Yellow Rose of Texas Award by Governor Greg Abbott for charitable contributions and volunteerism in Texas.
Presley McDonald Merritt Wagoner is an American clubwoman who served as the President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution from 2005 to 2007.
Merry Ann Thompson Wright was an American businesswoman who served as the CEO of the American Lung Association of Central New York and as the 42nd president general of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
Linda Gist Calvin is an American businesswoman who served as the 41st president general of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
Sarah Elizabeth Mitchell Guernsey (1860–1939),also known as Mrs. George Thatcher Guernsey,was an American educator and philanthropist. She served as the 10th president general of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and was the founder of the National Society Daughters of the American Colonists.
Emily Nelson Ritchie McLean was an American civic leader who served as the 7th president general of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
Edith E. Irwin Hobart (1869–1958) was an American civic leader who served as the 14th president general of the Daughters of the American Revolution and as the 1st national president of the American Legion Auxiliary.
May Marie Erwin Talmadge was an American civic leader who served as the 19th president general of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was the first president general of the national society from the U.S. state of Georgia. Her administration led the Daughters of the American Revolution through World War II,donating money and resources to the American Red Cross. She attended the 1945 United Nations Conference of International Organization and was appointed by U.S. president Harry S. Truman to serve on the National Famine Emergency Council.