Women's History Month 2017: Daughters of the American Revolution in WWI

Add caption

As I've been researching sources describing women during World War I, I've found so many wonderful items online on websites like Internet Archive. Yesterday's list of women's organizations and groups reminded me that I had focused on obvious groups like The Salvation Army or the Red Cross. I forgot that one needs to look at the work of groups whose members might have assisted in the war effort as part of their overall benevolent works. So today I thought I'd mention the Daughters of the American Revolution.

During World War I, DAR members stepped up to the plate and provided various types of assistance to aid in the war effort. They did everything from supporting French orphans, collaborating with the Red Cross, providing funds,  educating members about conserving resources, and encouraging members to volunteer. One of their projects included providing chickens to France. "Daughters collected dimes and quarters for the cause and in return gave contributors buttons reading "I have a chicken in France.""* The DAR magazine reported on these efforts in columns like "Work of the Chapters." Know what chapter your DAR ancestor was a member of? These columns can provide a look at what they were doing for the war effort.



This particular issue's column (September 1918) includes page upon page of work done by chapters including photos of members. This issue also provides more details of war work in the column DAR War Service Department .

https://archive.org/stream/daughtersofameriv52daug#page/532/mode/2up 

• Do you have a DAR member in your family tree? Were they a member during 1917-1918?
• What chapter did they belong to?
• Any home sources that document their DAR membership?
• Have you tried reconstructing their life as a DAR member?

Additional Resources:

Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine on Internet Archive
Daughters of the American Revolution
Google Books


*"At the Ready. Daughters Aid in War Recovery," Daughters of the American Revolution (http://www.dar.org/sites/default/files/QuasquiFlashbackMJ15.pdf: accessed 12 March 2017).