I've long been interested in joining the Daughters of the American Revolution. That is, until I stopped long enough to ask myself "why?". I don't have a good answer.
I met a very nice lady recently and I said to her "convince me why I should join the DAR". She explained that it's an excellent way to share my research and to ensure it is available for others down the road.
Now, that's a great thought, but I already do that in many ways. Via this blog, my posts to various forums, my public family tree on Ancestry.com. I'm a sharing kind of gal.
My sense is that, like many fraternal organizations of old, the DAR is aging and weakening. I hope that doesn't prompt a slew of DAR ladies to storm my little neighborhood! But if I'm going to devote my time and money, I'd like to belong to an organization that has an impact.
I'm aware that the DAR does have some community outreach and that various chapters are more active than others.
Another issue is the cost. One of my local chapters charges $150 just to apply. I'd want to be sure I got my money's worth out of that and as a good consumer, I'm just not seeing the value.
Someone change my mind. Please.
When I was about 10 years old, my father and I sat at the kitchen table and drew a family chart with a chewed and nubby old #2 pencil and a sheet of notebook paper. I still have that paper, yellowed and creased. It was the start of a life long hobby and one of the greatest gifts my father gave me. I study the Allen family of Wake County, NC, the Davis family of Granville County, NC, the Stancil and Johnson families of Johnston County, NC and all their collateral lines.
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Your perception of DAR seems to be stuck in the past. Today, DAR is a vibrant organization with over 177,000 members in 3000+ chapters worldwide, not just in the U.S. One of the primary goals of DAR today is service to the community, given at the national, state, chapter and individual level. Last year, the President General challenged members to log 1,000,000 of individual community service. The result: 4,760,314 hours were logged. DAR provides scholarships to students and awards grants to non-profit organizations to complete community projects to better their neighborhoods. Thousands of hours of support are given to active military and veterans, literacy projects are promoted and historical preservation encouraged. While DAR promotes active citizenship, it takes no partisan political stances. I would encourage you to visit a local DAR chapter to see if their goals coincide with your interests and to see if you feel you would want to be an active DAR member. Every chapter has its own unique personality but all seek to further historical preservation, education and patriotism. www.dar.org will provide lots more information.
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