The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is generally known as the oldest and largest women’s lineal descent-based patriotic organization in the United States. Although the DAR, often regarded as an innocuous social club, has not attracted much attention from scholars until recently, it played a significant role in the formation of modern U.S. nationalism and national identity, particularly during the first half of the twentieth century.
The DAR was established in October 1890 by a group of upper- and middle-class women in Washington, D.C., after their failed bid to join in the founding of a similar ancestral organization, the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), in the previous year. Although the DAR’s membership was originally restricted to adult female (and white) descendents of those who had served in one capacity or another for the cause of American Independence, the group was quick to seek nationwide recognition and membership. The origins of this ancestral, patriotic organization are multifarious. During the late nineteenth century, increased immigration from South and East Europe, labor and agrarian conflicts, and American expansion overseas caused many people in the United States to question who they were. More broadly, the United States was at the time emerging as a modern nation state whose people were beginning to share a sense of American identity. The formation of national identity was facilitated by improvements in mass communication and transportation, the growth of a national market and public schooling, and the increasing power of the state over people’s daily lives. It was against this backdrop that the DAR, despite its traditional hereditary exclusiveness, was simultaneously able to promote among the general public a rather modern, abstract vision of loyalty to the nation.
The constitution of the DAR mentioned three main objectives of the society: (1) to perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence; (2) to promote institutions of learning so that the young and old can develop the largest capacity for performing the duties of American Citizens; and (3) to cherish, maintain, and extend the institutions of American freedom and to foster true patriotism and love of country. Based on these ideals, the DAR engaged in various activities such as sponsoring historical restoration projects, distributing pamphlets to immigrants on how to become good American citizens, and publishing patriotic materials for schoolchildren.
The organizational motto of the DAR, "God, Home, and Country," represented its proven political conservatism on issues like Christianity, gender and family relations, and communism. Yet a closer analysis of the DAR and its activities reveals some seeming contradictions, such as tolerance toward immigrants (who were seen as objects of Americanization) coupled with (until recently) exclusivist policies on many racial matters. Thus the DAR is best seen not just as a typical conservative organization but as a mirror reflecting the differentiating and hierarchical nature of modern nationalism.
