Presley Merritt Wagoner | |
---|---|
40th President General of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution | |
In office 2004–2007 | |
Preceded by | Linda Tinker Watkins |
Succeeded by | Linda Gist Calvin |
Personal details | |
Born | Presley McDonald Merritt |
Spouse | Joel Morris Wagoner |
Parent(s) | Charles W. Merritt Mary Martha Presley |
Education | Brenau College |
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.
Wagoner is the daughter of Charles W. Merrit,an obstetrician and gynecologist,and Mary Martha Presley Merritt,a Democrat politician who served in the West Virginia House of Delegates and as the president of the West Virginia Board of Education. [1]
She was educated at Fairfax Hall,a preparatory school for girls in Waynesboro,Virginia,and graduated magna cum laude from Brenau College,where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta,in 1971. [1] [2] [3]
In 1972,she worked as the assistant director of admissions at Brenau College. [1]
In 1972,she joined the Captain James Allen Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution as a junior member. [4] She was the West Virginia Outstanding Junior Member in 1982 and served as a personal page to DAR President General Patricia Walton Shelby. [4] Merritt later served as West Virginia State Regent,Organizing Secretary General,and Chaplain General of the DAR. [4] In 2004,she was elected as the fortieth President General of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. [4] On June 30,2006,she presented U.S. Marine Corps General Peter Pace with the Patriot Award during a ceremony at DAR Constitution Hall. [5] [6] That same year,Merritt dedicated a historical marker in the gardens of the Casa de América in Madrid that commemorated Spain's aid in the American Revolutionary War. [7]
Merritt is a member of the Hereditary Society Community of the United States of America,the National Gavel Society,the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America,the Jamestowne Society,the Plantagenet Society,the Colonial Order of the Crown,the Sovereign Colonial Society Americans of Royal Descent,and the National Society Magna Charta Dames. [2]
She married Joel Morris Wagoner,a dentist from Liberty,North Carolina,at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Beckley,West Virginia. [1]
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".
Brenau University is a private university with its historic campus in Gainesville,Georgia. Founded in 1878,the university enrolls more than 2,800 students from approximately 48 states and 17 foreign countries who seek degrees ranging from associate through doctoral degrees. The main campus of the Georgia-based institution includes the Brenau Women's College. Brenau also offers another location in Norcross,Georgia.
The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America (NSCDA) is an American organization composed of women who are descended from an ancestor "who came to reside in an American Colony before 1776,and whose services were rendered during the Colonial Period." The organization has 44 corporate societies. The national headquarters is Dumbarton House in Georgetown,Washington,D.C. Edith Laurencin is the acting director since Carol Cadou's departure.
The Colonial Dames of America (CDA) is an American organization comprising women who descend from one or more ancestors who lived in British North America between 1607 and 1775,and who aided the colonies in public office,in military service,or in another acceptable capacity. The CDA is listed as an approved lineage society with the Hereditary Society Community of the United States of America.
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.
Jamestowne Society is an organization founded in 1936 by George Craghead Gregory for descendants of stockholders in the Virginia Company of London and the descendants of those who owned land or who had domiciles in Jamestown or on Jamestown Island prior to the year 1700.
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.
Florence Anderson Clark was an American author,newspaper editor,librarian,and university administrator. She served for 14 years as assistant librarian at the University of Texas (UT),and in honor for her service to the university,she was first woman to have her portrait hung in the university's Main Tower. Clark was affiliated with several organizations,including the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R),Colonial Dames of America,and United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Florence Carson Warfield Sillers was an American socialite and historian. A member of an influential American family with colonial ties,Sillers was a prominent figure of Mississippi society and was a founding member of the Mississippi Delta Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was a member of multiple lineage and historical societies including the Colonial Dames of America,the National Society Magna Charta Dames and Barons,and the Mississippi Historical Society. In 1948 she published the History of Bolivar County,Mississippi,a book on the history of Bolivar County that glorified the Confederacy and contributed to the Lost Cause narrative.
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.
Ann Turner Dillon is an American clubwoman who served as the 44th President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was the first woman from Colorado to be elected as the President General.
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.
Elizabeth Newkirk Seimes served as the 27th President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mary Margaretta Fryer Manning (1844–1928) was an American social leader with wide experience in business,social,and philanthropic areas. President William McKinley appointed her commissioner to the Exposition Universelle,and to represent the U.S. and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) at the unveiling of the statue of Gilbert du Motier,Marquis de Lafayette in Paris,on July 4,1900. On July 3,1900,she assisted in unveiling the statue of George Washington,a gift of the women of the U.S. to France. Among her many roles,Manning served as President-General of the DAR for two terms. During the years that her husband,Daniel Manning held the portfolio of the United States Secretary of the Treasury their home in Washington,D.C. became a center of social and political affairs in Washington. After widowhood in 1887,she spent part of each year in Washington. Her patriotism was shown in her work for the DAR Mohawk Chapter of Albany,New York,of which she was regent.
Daisy Allen Story,also known as Mrs. William C. Story,was an American socialite,clubwoman,and suffragist. She served two consecutive terms as the President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mary Martha Presley Merritt was an American politician and civic leader. She served two terms in the West Virginia House of Delegates and was named West Virginia's Outstanding Woman Legislator by the Eagleton Institute of Politics in 1972. Merritt went on to serve as vice president and president of the West Virginia Board of Education and as the Worker's Compensation Commissioner.
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.
Edith Scott Magna was an American civic leader who served as the 15th president general of the Daughters of the American Revolution.