Society Saturday - Celebrating 125 Years

Chicago Chapter NSDAR celebrated their 125th Anniversary as the first DAR chapter at a tea held at the historic Drake hotel in Chicago.

Ladies were encouraged to wear hats and gloves, and over 260 attended. The afternoon started with a receiving line that included special guests, the President General and the Illinois State Regent.

Everyone then enjoyed a lovely tea that included learning about the history of Chicago chapter, the Illinois State Organization, and the National Society of DAR.

This was followed by musical entertainment.

Happy Anniversary to Chicago DAR.

Society Saturday - Continuing to fight against foreign aggression

The President National of the U.S. Daughters of 1812 visited the Illinois Society today.  Her message compared the patriots of the War of 1812 who fought against British aggression to some of the threats that face us today from various extremists.  One way to "fight back" is through education.  She hopes to increase awareness of why we fought the War of 1812 through various educational programs.  She would like to distribute information about events of the War, the composition of the Star-Spangled Banner, and other facts from 200 years ago to elementary and high school students through the use of cards, puzzles and games.

Before our meeting, we visited some of the sights in Chicago including the marker placed by the Illinois Society U.S.D. 1812 at the site of the Fort Dearborn Massacre.

During the meeting, we were pleased to honor one of our Honorary State Presidents with the Spirit of 1812 Award for her ongoing work on behalf of our Society.

After the meeting, some of us visited the Isle a la Cache Museum.  This is a hidden gem in the southwest suburbs that tells the story of the early fur traders in the area. There, we received a private tour from the Museum director.

www.usdaughters1812.org

Society Saturday - Writing Their Stories

Illinois Society Children of the American Revolution held their state conference in Moline Illinois.

State President Sarah Callahan presided over the conference.   Miss Callahan's project was "Writing Their Stories".  She raised money to help publish books containing interviews with veterans.

Members and seniors learned about all of the activities during the year.  Over the year, members learned about the Battle of Bunker Hill, conserving bees, George Washington's tent, and merchant marines.  They wrote letters to servicemen and sent donations to mountain schools.

Although there were reports, business, and voting for new officers, there was a lot of fun as well.  The children made new friends and renewed old friendships during the pizza party, pool party, and dance.

http://www.ildar.org/iscar/

Society Saturday - Dartmoor Prison and St. Michael's All Angels Church

One of the foci of the United States Daughters of 1812 is a spot in England.  It seems a little strange at first, since we were fighting against the British during the War of 1812.  Once you learn the history of the Prison and the Church, it becomes obvious why we support them.

Dartmoor Prison was built between 1806-09 in Princetown, England.  This is near Plymouth and the southwest tip of England.  It stands on a desolate location on the moors.  The original purpose was to house the prisoners of the Napoleonic Wars.

photo from wikipedia.com

On 2 April 1813, 218 American prisoners of war were forced to march the 17 miles from their prison ship in Plymouth to Dartmoor prison.  Over the next 2 years, the prison would house a total of 6551 prisoners - most were POW's from the War of 1812.

Between 1812 and 1814, prisoners from Dartmoor were used as cheap labor to build a church in the nearby community.  They worked in nearby stone quarries, transported the heavy stones up the hill to the church, and helped to erect the church building.  They were paid 6 pence per day for their labors, but if any one of them escaped, they would all forfeit their earnings.

photo from wikipedia.com

The US Daughters of 1812 became involved with the St. Michael and All Angels church and the prison in 1910 when they donated a stained glass window to the church.  It is a lovely window and still adorns our membership certificates.

photo from usdaughters1812.org

The USD1812 has also been involved with memorializing other areas nearby, including the cemetery where the POWs were buried far from home.

photo from legendarydartmoor.co.uk

The prison is still in use today - for criminals, not POW's.  The church is not used for regular services, but will host concerts and other events.

Society Saturday - DAR Days

The Illinois DAR tried a different approach this year.  Instead of making 4 one-day stops around the state, DAR days was split into 2 two-day weekends - one in central Illinois, the other in southern Illinois.  Instead of the usual parade of chairmen with their 2 minutes or less presentations, there were several workshops of various interest to different officers - there was something for Regents, Registrars, Treasurers, and Secretaries, to name a few.

Our State Regent's theme is "Be Yourself, Be Together, Be DAR" and her symbol is the bee.  Some of the chairmen took this to the extreme. 

At night we had a presentation on Grave Witching.  It was interesting, but I'm not sure I have any unmarked graves to find.

Society Saturday - The Woman's Christian Temperance Union

Yes, the WCTU is a society, but, for the purpose of this blog, one we learned about at a recent meeting of Colonial Dames 17th Century.

We met at the headquarters of the WCTU in Evanston, IL in the former home of Frances Willard.  The Woman's Christian Temperance Union was founded in 1874 to promote social issues such as temperance and woman's voting rights.  Since women were not allowed to vote, this was one way they could get their message out.  The WCTU was a very effective way for women to organize and promote family values.  Their agenda for social change also included campaigns against sex trafficking and for pure food and drug laws.  They are best known for their support of the 18th amendment (prohibition).  They also helped bring about the 19th Amendment (women's voting rights).  The WCTU is still in existence today, lobbying against alcohol and other substance abuse.

Frances Willard was the second President of the WCTU from 1879 until her death in 1898.  She had led a remarkable life up to that point, including her position as President of Evanston College for Ladies, and then Dean of Women at the Women's College of Northwestern University.  Under her leadership, the WCTU became the largest organization of women in the world.  They were extremely influential during the late 19th and early 20th century.

Our meeting included a very interesting talk about Miss Willard by Glen Madeja, Executive Director of the Willard Historical Association, as well as a tour of her home which served as headquarters for her beloved organization.

Society Saturday - Happy Anniversary Isle a la Cache DAR

We celebrated five years of being our own chapter!!!

A little over five years ago, several of us were frustrated with our current chapter.  We had ideas for new projects and a new focus and our old chapter wasn't going along with them.

So, we started a new chapter.  It wasn't quite that simple, but we found an area in Chicagoland that didn't have a chapter, filled out a lot of paperwork, worked with the State Regent and state Board, and a few months later, Isle a la Cache Chapter was born.

Organizing Officers being installed

Organizing Officers and Charter Members

We take our name from a small island in the DesPlaines River in Romeoville, our official location.  This island was used by indians and fur traders to hide their goods (cache) as they traveled to and from the area in the 1700's.  Today there is a museum on the site and annual rendezvous reenactments.

In the past five years, we have been growing with several new members.  Many are young professional women.  We support the Pierce Downer C.A.R. society.  We actively support veterans through our annual scarf donations to homeless veterans and participating in Wreaths Across America.  We honor high school students with Good Citizen awards and JROTC awards.

We have started working on a project to index information about people buried in Bolingbrook (also our location).

All in all, it has been a busy and productive five years.

http://ildar.org/chapters/islealacache/