Named after | American Revolution |
---|---|
Established | April 30, 1889 [1] |
Founded at | New York City [2] |
Type | Patriotic organization |
53-0116355 [3] | |
Legal status | Federally chartered nonprofit corporation [4] |
Purpose | Patriotic, historical, charitable, educational [5] |
Headquarters | 809 West Main Street, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
Coordinates | 38°15′28″N85°45′49″W / 38.25778°N 85.76361°W |
Region served | Worldwide |
Membership | 38,323 (2022) |
Official language | English |
President General | Darryl Addington |
Publication | SAR Magazine [6] Spirit of '76 [a] |
Affiliations | Daughters of the American Revolution Children of the American Revolution |
Website | sar.org |
The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered patriotic organization. The National Society, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, [8] was formed in New York City on April 30, 1889. [9] Its objectives are to maintain and extend "the institutions of American freedom, an appreciation for true patriotism, a respect for our national symbols, the value of American citizenship, [and] the unifying force of 'e pluribus unum' that has created, from the people of many nations, one nation and one people." [10]
The members of the society are male descendants of people who served in the American Revolutionary War or who contributed to establishing the independence of the United States. It is dedicated to perpetuating American ideals and traditions, and to protecting the United States Constitution. The official recognition of Constitution Day, Flag Day, and Bill of Rights Day were established through its efforts. The society has members in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The organization is distinct from the Sons of the Revolution, a separate patriotic organization founded on February 22, 1876, by businessman John Austin Stevens and members of the Society of the Cincinnati. Sons of the American Revolution founder William Osborn McDowell disagreed with the Sons of the Revolution requirement at that time that all state societies were to be subordinate to the New York Society.
The first organization of descendants of Revolutionary War patriots was established in San Francisco, in 1876. A group of men who were descendants of American Revolutionary War veterans gathered to celebrate the centennial of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States. They also wanted to honor the men and women who pledged their lives, fortunes, and livelihood to the striving for independence from Great Britain. This group formed an organization called the Sons of Revolutionary War Sires. There is, however, no direct link between the Sons of Revolutionary War Sires and the Sons of the American Revolution except that members of the Sons of Revolutionary War Sires were permitted to join the Sons of the American Revolution after its founding in 1889.
The organization's founding can be traced to the Sons of the Revolution, a New York City society that was organized in 1876. Sons of the American Revolution was founded by John Austin Stevens, who envisioned an aristocratic social and hereditary organization along the lines of the Society of the Cincinnati.
In 1889, William O. McDowell, a New Jersey financier and businessman, organized the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the Revolution but was unwilling to accept the Sons of the Revolution's requirement that other state societies be subordinate to the New York society. McDowell also wanted the society to become more of a mass movement of descendants of Revolutionary patriots rather than an exclusive social club.
McDowell organized the Sons of the American Revolution at Fraunces Tavern in New York City, on April 30, 1889, the same year as the centennial anniversary of the first inauguration of George Washington as the nation's first president in 1789. McDowell was the organization's first member. In addition to organizing the Sons of the American Revolution, McDowell worked with six women to organize Daughters of the American Revolution, a national organization for women who descend from American Revolution era figures.
On June 9, 1906, Sons of the American Revolution was formally granted a congressional charter by an act of Congress under Title 36 of the United States Code. The act was signed by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, who was a member.
The society's insignia consists of a Maltese cross surrounded by a garland, with a relief of George Washington in a center circle. The Maltese cross used in the Badge of the Sons of the American Revolution draws its inspiration from the cross used by the Order of St. Louis of France. The wreath symbolizes the laurel wreaths presented to worthy individuals by the Roman Republic. Major West selected the Cross of St. Louis as his basis for the decoration because King Louis XVI of France, the Grand Master of the Order of St. Louis, provided badly needed aid to the fledgling Continentals. In choosing this cross, the National Society intended to recognize the French contribution to American independence.
History shows that the Maltese Cross was used by the Knights of St. John, a brotherhood of warrior Crusaders who represented all walks of life who banded together to fight for freedom and against oppression. The Knights of St. John, and other Crusaders, adopted the Maltese cross as their insignia because its eight points represented the eight Beatitudes prescribed in the Sermon on the Mount: blessed are (1) the poor in spirit, (2) the meek, (3) the pure, (4) the merciful, and (5) the peacemakers, (6) blessed are they that mourn, and (7) seek righteousness, and (8) blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness sake.
Surrounding the relief of Washington in the center are the words "LIBERTAS ET PATRIA", a reminder of the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. [11]
The insignia is normally worn suspended by a ribbon of blue, white and gold (buff) on the wearer's left breast. National officers and former state and chapter presidents wear the insignia suspended from a neck ribbon of the Society's colors. On other occasions a rosette in the Society's colors is worn on the wearers left lapel.
The society is involved in historical research, raising funds for local scholarships and educational awards, and preservation of sites and documents related to the American Revolution. The Sons of the American Revolution petitioned Congress to store Revolutionary era documents in a fire-proof area and make them available to the public, leading to the creation of the National Archives. [12] It is also active in cataloging and marking Revolutionary War patriot graves and conducts an annual Eagle Scout scholarship program. The society is active in promoting "patriotism", and was instrumental in the establishment of Constitution Day. [13] Numerous Sons of the American Revolution societies and chapters have active color guard groups that appear in various public and private venues as a means of community outreach.
The Sons of the American Revolution hosts two Leadership Meetings and one National Congress every year. The two leadership meetings are held in the Spring and Fall in Louisville, KY at the Brown Hotel. The National Congress is held at a different location every year during the Summer; recent locations include: Renton, Washington (2021), Savannah, Georgia (2022), Orlando, Florida (2023) and Lancaster, Pennsylvania (2024).
The headquarters, located along Museum Row in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, contains the organization's administrative staff offices, Sons of the American Revolution Genealogical Research Library, and the future site of an American Revolutionary War Education Center. The Sons of the American Revolution is currently raising funds to finish the center's development. The building houses original and copied art that commemorates important people and events of the Revolutionary War, as well as historical uniforms, flags, documents, and other colonial era pieces.
The governance of the Sons of the American Revolution is made up of ten national officers, 15 vice presidents that preside over separate geographical regions, and one trustee, who is elected from each state and international society. The officers meet several times over the year to discuss business pertaining to the society. National Officers meet at least four times during their term of office, unless special meetings are called. Trustees meet twice annually at the society's headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky. These meetings, known as the Fall and Spring Leadership Meetings, are normally held in late September and early March. During leadership meetings, committee recommendations and the society's budget are approved. While only national officers, vice presidents, and trustees have the right to vote on the floor, all members are invited to attend and may request appointment to committees.
National officers and trustees also meet during the National Congress, which is held in late June or early July of each year. Unlike the leadership meetings, which always take place at the Society's national headquarters, the National Congress is held in different locations throughout the United States. Locations are often selected in order to honor a historical event in United States history or in the organization's history, and there is an effort to alternate the meetings between the East and West coasts of the United States. The National Congress is responsible for electing national officers and approving changes to the society's constitution, along with any other motions brought before it.
The organization also maintains over 60 standing and special committees that Sons of the American Revolution members are appointed to in order to oversee the society's welfare, including committees on facilities, insurance, genealogy, library, merchandise, medals, and awards. All members are welcome to participate on committees and are appointed by the society's president general for a one-year term. There are no term-limits and all committee members have the right to vote on the committee's decisions.
The current President General is John L. Dodd, Esq., California Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, who was sworn in as President General at the 133rd National Congress in Orlando, Florida. The organization's executive director is Todd Bale.
The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution has held a collection of genealogical reference dating back to 1889. Materials were originally kept by the Secretary General or Registrar General up until 1926, when the materials were moved to the Registrar General's office in Washington, D.C., in 1927, this collection was moved to the recently purchased Sixteenth Street Headquarters Building, and the collection had grown to 914 books by 1933. From this point until the move of Headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Louisville, Kentucky, the book collection grew at a rapid pace, growing to approximately 25,000 items by 1988. At this point, the Library was on the Second floor of the Headquarters building on South Fourth Street, and possessed a 544-square-foot vault for books not out in the library due to space.
Because of continuing growth, the Sons of the American Revolution Library was moved in 2010 to a renovated building on West Main Street in the heart of the Historic Museum District of downtown Louisville. By this point, the Library collection had grown to over 58,000 items, mostly covering the Revolutionary War period, but also containing other genealogical materials. The library collection includes family histories, state genealogy materials, federal censuses, Revolutionary War pension applications, and CD collections, and the library separates materials based on State. The library also provides access to online research databases, including Ancestry.com, Footnote.com, and Heritage Quest Online.
It was supported by several other patriotic societies, including the Society of American Wars and the United States Daughters of 1812. [14] : 115 The Daughters of the American Revolution stocked it in its library and even considered merging it with another of its own magazines. [14] : 115 It ceased publication in 1906. [14] : 115
Membership in the society is open to any male of "good repute" [15] who can prove lineal bloodline descent from an ancestor who actively supported the American Revolution. [16] Acceptable ancestors include:
No state society or chapter may discriminate against an applicant on the basis of race or creed. The Sons of the American Revolution claims a membership of over 37,000 members in over 550 chapters representing all 50 states in the United States, as well as societies in Canada, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Overall, about 200,000 descendants have been admitted since the founding of the S.A.R. in 1890.
The official publication of the society is the SAR Magazine, released quarterly in February, May, August, and November. [17] It covers "SAR society news at all levels and scopes" and features articles on "patriotic, historic and educational topics." [17]
Prior to the SAR Magazine, the journal of the organization at the turn of the 20th century was the Spirit of '76 magazine, a little magazine published in New York. [14] : 114–115 It was founded in September 1894, published by the eponymous Spirit of '76 Publishing Company and edited by Henry Hall, one of McDowell's associates. [14] : 114 In 1897 Louis H. Cornish, previously the editor of another magazine titled Suburbs that was about real estate in New York City, took over as both editor and publisher. [14] : 114 Cornish's opinion of McDowell, who in Cornish's words "came to us with various schemes of making the world better, and we entered into them and have since paid for it" was that McDowell's ideas for the magazine were enthusiastic but wildly impractical. [14] : 115 [18] : 358
Turners are members of German-American gymnastic clubs called Turnvereine. They promoted German culture, physical culture, and liberal politics. Turners, especially Francis Lieber (1798–1872), were the leading sponsors of gymnastics as an American sport and the field of academic study.
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".
Joseph "Quaker Meadows" McDowell Jr. was an American planter, soldier, and statesman from North Carolina. He was known as "Quaker Meadows Joe" to distinguish him from his cousin Joseph "Pleasant Gardens" McDowell, who was also a legislator and American Revolutionary War officer from North Carolina. The two men are not always clearly distinguished in historical records; both were in the 1780 Battle of Kings Mountain, one as a major in the Burke County Regiment of the North Carolina militia, and the other in a subordinate role as a captain.
Martin Dies Jr., also known as Martin Dies Sr., was a Texas politician and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives. He was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-second and after that to the six succeeding Congresses. In 1944, Dies did not seek renomination to the Seventy-ninth Congress, but was elected to the Eighty-third and to the two succeeding Congresses. Again, he did not seek renomination in 1958 to the Eighty-sixth Congress. In 1941 and 1957, he was twice defeated for the nomination to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. Dies served as the first chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate Un-American Activities from 1937 through 1944.
John Gano was a Baptist minister, soldier, patriot, and military chaplain who allegedly baptized his friend, General George Washington. He was also notable for his bravery at the Battle of White Plains and crossing the Delaware River with General Washington. Gano later served as the first chaplain of the Kentucky Legislature in 1798. He was the founder of the Gano political family, which included several generations of politicians and military officers.
Richard Clough Anderson Jr. was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat from Jefferson County, Kentucky. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky. He is the son of Richard Clough Anderson Sr. and the grandfather of Larz Anderson.
Humphrey Marshall was an American lawyer, politician, and military official from Kentucky. During the Antebellum era, he served four terms in the United States House of Representatives, interrupted by a brief stint as ambassador to China. When the American Civil War broke out, he sided with the Confederacy, becoming a brigadier general in the CS Army and then a Confederate Congressman.
William English Walling was an American labor reformer and Socialist Republican born into a wealthy family in Louisville, Kentucky. He founded the National Women's Trade Union League in 1903. Moved by his investigation of the Springfield Race Riot of 1908 in the state capital of Illinois, he was among the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.
Warner Lewis Underwood was an attorney, state legislator and U.S. Representative from Kentucky. Like his brother Joseph Rogers Underwood, he was a Unionist before the American Civil War, and during the war, he served as U.S. Consul in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Sons of the Revolution (SR), formally the General Society of the Sons of the Revolution (GSSR), is a patriotic organization headquartered at Williamsburg, Virginia. A nonprofit corporation, the Sons of the Revolution was founded by John Austin Stevens on February 22, 1876, at New York City. The organization is governed by a board of managers, an executive committee, officers, standing committees and their members, and staff. It includes 28 state societies and chapters worldwide. The Sons of the Revolution's objectives are to maintain and extend "perpetuate the memory of the men, who in the military, naval and civil service of the Colonies and of the Continental Congress by their acts or counsel, achieved the Independence of the Country, and to further the proper celebration of the anniversaries of the birthday of Washington, and of prominent events connected with the War of the Revolution; to collect and secure for preservation the rolls, records, and other documents relating to that period; to inspire the members of the Society with the patriotic spirit of the forefathers; to promote the feeling of friendship among them."
William Osborne McDowell (1848–1927) was a financier and businessman. He founded numerous patriotic organizations in the late nineteenth century including the Sons of the American Revolution. With expanding international interests, he supported Cuban independence, helped found the League of Peace in 1908 and served as its president. He made his wealth from his investment firm, specializing in railroads, mining, and land speculation.
Samuel McDowell was a soldier in three wars and political leader in Virginia and Kentucky. He served under George Washington in the French and Indian War, as an aide-de-camp to Isaac Shelby in Lord Dunmore's War, and under Nathanael Greene during the Revolutionary War. He then relocated to Kentucky and became a surveyor. Later, he was appointed one of the first district court judges in what would become the state of Kentucky. He became a leader of the movement to separate Kentucky from Virginia, and presided over nine of the state's ten constitutional conventions. He was the father of Dr. Ephraim McDowell.
Joseph Cabell Breckinridge Sr. was a Union Army officer from Kentucky during the American Civil War. In later life, he became a brigadier general in the U.S. Regular Army and Inspector General of the Army as well as a major general of volunteers in the Spanish–American War.
Events from the year 1778 in the United States.
Ira Hobart Evans was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War and received the Medal of Honor. He was also a prominent Texas businessman and state legislator who served in the Texas House of Representatives, including as Speaker.
The Order of the Founders and Patriots of America (OFPA) is a non-profit, hereditary organization based in the United States that is dedicated to promoting patriotism and preserving historical records of the first colonists and their descendants. The Order is made up of "Associates" who trace their ancestry back to colonists who settled between May 13, 1607 to May 13, 1657, and who also have ancestors in the same male ancestral line who served in the American Revolution.
Hannah White Arnett was a Colonial American woman who is known for preventing a group of men in Elizabethtown, Province of New Jersey from proclaiming their loyalty to Great Britain in exchange for "protection of life and property." Discouraged, the men decided not to accept amnesty. She stated why it was important to remain devoted to independence and they changed their minds.
The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky were held on November 8, 2022, to elect the six U.S. representatives from the state of Kentucky, one from each of the state's six congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections.
The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution Education Center and Museum is a planned museum at the National Headquarters of the Sons of the American Revolution in the West Main District of Louisville, Kentucky. The museum is scheduled to open in 2027.