Society Saturday - from Colonial Wars to Martha Washington to Victorian Hats

I wasn't able to attend all of my DAR State Conference, but I did see three interesting programs at the allied meetings during the 24 hours that I was there.

The Colonial Daughters of 17th Century luncheon hosted Martha Washington portrayed by Barbara Kay.  I have seen Mrs. Kay give programs before on Dolley Madison and Betsy Ross.  She always gives well researched first person programs.

That evening, the State Officers Club hosted the Tea Ladies.  They are two ladies who give programs focused on Victorian times and customs.  This program was all about hats from the Victorian period until World War II.

They brought a huge selection of period hats and recruited 2 ladies from the audience to model them.

Finally, the next morning, our breakfast program was given by Dr. Claiborn Skinner.  He is a History Professor at the Illinois Math and Science Academy.  He talked about the importance of Illinois in the Colonial Wars and how it helped shape the future of our country.  He was also recognized as the State and National Recipient of the Outstanding Teacher of American History by the Daughters of Colonial Wars.

Society Saturday - George William Fairfax's London Shopping Spree

Adam Erby, Curator at George Washington's Mount Vernon, gave an interesting presentation to the National Society Daughters of Colonial Wars.  The current National President's Project is to digitize some of the papers at Mount Vernon, including those that Mr. Erby spoke about.

George William Fairfax was the owner of Belvoir Plantation, just south of Mt. Vernon.  In 1763 he traveled to London to buy furnishings for his home in Virginia.  His diary, now in the possession of Mount Vernon, details his purchases and describes many of the pieces he bought.

In 1774, George Washington notes in his ledger, the purchase of many of the same items from Belvoir plantation.  In fact, when the Fairfax family sold their possessions before they returned to England, they sold approximately half of their possesions to their soon-to-be-famous neighbor.

The combination of Fairfax's diary and Washington's ledger have been extremely helpful to the curators at Mount Vernon.  They are now able to recreate several rooms more authentically.  For example, Washington purchased a bed chamber decorated with blue damask at the auction. Based on information about this purchase, as well as from the diary, the curators now know that he painted the room Prussian blue to match his new furniture.  

www.nsdcw.org

Society Saturday - World War II Music and Betsy Ross

I wasn't able to attend much of the Illinois DAR State Conference this year, but was there for about 24 hours. 

The State Officers Club meets the evening before.  This is usually an entertaining evening.  The theme was Music from World War II.  The centerpieces resembled old time radio microphones.  

Our program consisted of 2 sisters, both members of DAR, who sang and played the piano.  They were in 1940's style army uniforms and sang songs like "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy".

The next morning, there was a joint breakfast of Illinois Chapters of Women Descendants of Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co., Daughters of Colonial Wars and Daughters of Founders and Patriots.  Our special guest for breakfast was Betsy Ross who told about her life and how she came to make a flag for General Washington. She even taught all of us how to make five pointed stars with a single snip.