The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
organization composed of women who are descended from an ancestor "who came to reside in an American Colony before 1750, and whose services were rendered during the Colonial Period." The national headquarters of the society is at Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, at Dumbarton House
Dumbarton House
Dumbarton House is a Federal style house located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.. It was completed around 1800. Its first occupant was Joseph Nourse, the first Register of the Treasury....
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History
The organization was founded in 1890, shortly after the founding of a similar society, the Colonial Dames of America. The main difference between the two is that the CDA was created to have a centrally organized structure under the control of the parent Society in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, while the NSCDA was intended as more of a federation of State Societies in which each unit had a degree of autonomy.
Another society formed around the same time was the Daughters of the American Revolution
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....
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The NSCDA has a regular periodical, the Dames Dispatch.
Museums
The 44 Corporate Societies own and operate over 70 museums around the nation, including:- Henry B. Clarke HouseHenry B. Clarke HouseThe Henry B. Clarke House is a Greek Revival style house in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The house was built in circa 1836 by a local contractor, probably John Rye, who later married the Clarkes' housemaid, Betsy. Clarke House may have been modeled on the home of William B. Ogden. The Clarke...
, Chicago, Illinois - Dumbarton HouseDumbarton HouseDumbarton House is a Federal style house located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.. It was completed around 1800. Its first occupant was Joseph Nourse, the first Register of the Treasury....
, Washington, DC, the Society's national headquarters - Governor Stephen Hopkins House, Providence, Rhode Island
- Gunston HallGunston HallGunston Hall is an 18th-century Georgian mansion near the Potomac River in Mason Neck, Virginia, United States of America. The house was the home of the United States Founding Father George Mason. It was located at the center of a 5500 acre plantation...
, Mason Neck, Virginia - Hanover HouseHanover House (Clemson)Hanover House is a French Huguenot house built in 1714-1716. The house is also known as the St. Julien-Ravenel House. It was constructed in the South Carolina Low Country in the present Berkeley County. When Lake Moultrie was created in the 1940s, the house was moved to the Clemson University...
, Clemson, South Carolina - Hermann-Grima HouseHermann-Grima HouseThe Hermann-Grima House, also known as Christian Woman's Exchange is a historic home in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.-External links:* * *...
, New Orleans, Louisiana - Hoover-Minthorn HouseHoover-Minthorn HouseThe Hoover-Minthorn House is a museum in Newberg, Oregon, United States, created from the house of Herbert Hoover, thirty-first President of the United States. Hoover lived there from 1885 to 1891, with his uncle and aunt John and Laura Minthorn...
, Newberg, Oregon - Lanier MansionLanier MansionThe Lanier Mansion is the 1844 Greek Revival home of James F. D. Lanier, located at 601 West First Street in the Madison Historic District of Madison, Indiana. The home was designed by architect Francis Costigan of Madison....
, Madison, Indiana - Liberty Hall, Frankfort, Kentucky
- McElroy Octagon HouseMcElroy Octagon HouseThe McElroy Octagon House, also known as the Colonial Dames Octagon House, is an historic octagonal house now located at 2645 Gough Street at Union Street in the Cow Hollow section of San Francisco, California. William C. McElroy built it in 1861 across the street from its present location...
, San Francisco, California - Palace of the GovernorsPalace of the GovernorsThe Palace of the Governors is an adobe structure located on Palace Avenue on the Plaza of Santa Fe, New Mexico between Palace Avenue and Washington Street. It is within the Santa Fe Historic District and it served as the seat of government for the State of New Mexico for centuries...
, Sante Fe, New Mexico - Plum Grove Historic HousePlum Grove Historic HousePlum Grove is a historic house located in Iowa City, United States. Plum Grove was the retirement home of Gov. Robert Lucas and the childhood home of the author Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd. Built in 1844, Lucas lived there with his wife, Friendly, and several children and grandchildren...
, Iowa City, Iowa - StentonStenton (mansion)Stenton, also known as the James Logan Home, was the country home of James Logan, colonial Mayor of Philadelphia and Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court....
, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to... - Ximenez-Fatio HouseXimenez-Fatio HouseThe Ximenez-Fatio House is a historic property representing a boarding house from the Florida Territory period. The museum is located at 20 Aviles Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is owned by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in The State of Florida. On July 25, 1973, it was...
, St. Augustine, Florida - Mount ClareMount Clare (Maryland)Mount Clare is the oldest Colonial-era structure in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The Georgian style plantation house exhibits a somewhat altered five-part plan...
, Baltimore, Maryland - McAllister House Museum, Colorado Springs, ColoradoColorado Springs, ColoradoColorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...
- Webb Deane Stevens Museums, Wethersfield, ConnecticutWethersfield, ConnecticutWethersfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. Many records from colonial times spell the name Weathersfield, while Native Americans called it Pyquag...
- Hotel de Paris Museum, Georgetown, ColoradoGeorgetown, ColoradoThe historic town of Georgetown is a Territorial Charter Municipality that is the county seat of Clear Creek County, Colorado, United States. The former silver mining camp along Clear Creek in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains was established in 1859 during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush...
See also
- Sons of the American RevolutionSons of the American RevolutionThe National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution is a Louisville, Kentucky-based fraternal organization in the United States...
(SAR) - Children of the American RevolutionChildren of the American RevolutionThe Children of the American Revolution was founded in 1895 by Harriett Lothrop. After proposing the idea for a children’s branch at the Daughters of the American Revolution Continental Congress, it was promptly chartered by the United States Congress...
(C.A.R.) - The Mayflower SocietyThe Mayflower SocietyThe General Society of Mayflower Descendants is a hereditary organization of individuals who have documented their descent from one or more of the 102 passengers who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620 at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts...