DAUGHTERS OF HEREDITARY SOCIETIES:
THE ROLE OF THE AMATEUR IN PROFESSIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION
By
JOLIE JACQUELINE VANIER
A THESIS
Presented to the Historic Preservation Program
and the Division of Graduate Studies of the University of Oregon
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Master of Science
December 2022
THESIS APPROVAL PAGE
Student: Jolie Jacqueline Vanier
Title: Daughters of Hereditary Societies: The Role of the Amateur in Professional Historic
Preservation
This thesis has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Master of Science degree in the Historic Preservation Program by:
Chad Randl Chairperson
Kirk Ranzetta Member
Marc Wheat Member
and
Krista Chronister Vice Provost for Graduate Studies
Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Division of Graduate
Studies.
Degree awarded December 2022.
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© 2022 Jolie Jacqueline Vanier
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THESIS ABSTRACT
Jolie Jacqueline Vanier
Master of Science
Historic Preservation Program
December 2022
Title: Daughters of Hereditary Societies: The Role of the Amateur in Professional Historic
Hereditary societies are membership organizations dedicated to the preservation of the memory
of particular people or events. This research explored the contribution of the Daughters of the
American Revolution (DAR), as an amateur entity, to preservation. A small group of scholars
approached the early history of the DAR and similar organizations, and criticized its historic role
as a gatekeeper of American history. This research addressed the historic role of the DAR
previously explored by other scholars, but further expanded the literature by shedding light on its
positive evolution to an organization that supports diverse approaches to genealogy, provides
scholarships, engages in educational outreach, and supports historic sites. Hereditary societies
are privately formed organizations with a vested interest in historic preservation, and should be
used as allies in the advocacy and development of future historic preservation endeavors.
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CURRICULUM VITAE
NAME OF AUTHOR: Jolie Jacqueline Vanier
GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED:
University of Oregon, Portland, Oregon
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
DEGREES AWARDED:
Master of Science, Historic Preservation, Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, 2022,
University of Oregon
Bachelor of Arts, History, 2020, University of Southern California
AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST:
Lineage Organizations
GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS:
William Randolph Hearst Fellow, Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden, 2021
Foulke Fellow, University of Southern California, 2019
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To my Grandmother, whose love for history inspired a multigenerational interest in the history of
our family and this country.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………….9
II. METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN……………………………………………………….14
Methods……………………………………………………………………………... 15
Design……………………………………………………………………………...…18
Limitations……………………………………………………………………………21
Summary……………………………………………………………………………...22
III. LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………………….……23
Preservation and Education…………………………………………………………..23
Forging Community……………………………………………………………….....26
Connection to and Memory of the Past………………………………………………29
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………35
IV. FINDINGS………………………………………………………………………………...36
Interviews…………………………………………………………………………….36
Discussion…………………………………………………………………………….43
V. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………………51
Recommendations for the Future .………………………………………..………….55
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1. Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association………………………………………………….11
2. DAR Campus………………………………………………………………………..12
3. DAR State Forest……………………………………………………………………47
4. “A Bicentennial Tribute to the United States of America”………………………….47
5. Revolutionary Marker……………………………………………………………….52
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Hereditary societies are organizations formed around descent from a common ancestor,
period in history, or group of people. Typically, there is an application for membership where an
applicant proves their descendancy from a qualifying ancestor. Sometimes, these societies are
open to all and other times they are invite-only. Once accepted, members pay annual dues to their
organizations, which fund both the organization's running and its designed projects. Members
also have access to archives, social events, lectures and other history-based programming.
Hereditary organizations were founded to remember particular people and/or time periods in
history, and dedicate parts of their budget to historic preservation and research grants, so that this
history can be better preserved and remembered.
These organizations bridge the gap between the professional field involved in history and
amateurs with an interest in preservation, history, and related fields. While hereditary societies
received criticism for their historic roles as gatekeepers of certain histories, people, groups,
properties, and even propaganda, they are now becoming more equitable and inclusive.1 They are
agents of education in history, architecture, and preservation for not only their members but also
the larger communities they serve. This work explored the dynamic of the relationship between
the amateurs who are members of these hereditary societies and the professionals of the
preservation and academic fields.
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) served as the case study for this
project due to their large membership base, access to records, length of institutional history, and
my personal involvement. I am a member of the Paradise Valley Chapter of the DAR, after many
1 Rosa Cartagena, “Yes, There Are Women of Color in the DAR,” Washingtonian, April 7, 2021,
https://www.washingtonian.com/2021/04/07/yes-there-are-women-of-color-in-the-dar/.
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years of membership in the Children of the American Revolution (CAR), the DAR’s children’s
organization. It is my close association as a member that began my interest in history. Hereditary
societies shaped my sense of identity and enhanced my love for history, and it is their influence
in my life that drove me to understand the relationship between my chosen field and the broader
hereditary society community.
Founded in 1890 as a way for women to honor their ancestors who participated in the
American War of Independence, the women of DAR exercised their power and influence in a
time when they could not even vote. Their founding came on the heels of the women’s club
movement and, most notably in historic preservation, the success of the Mount Vernon Ladies
Association (MVLA) in purchasing and preserving George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate,
showing that women in these organizations were at the forefront of American preservation.2
They were also part of a larger trend when several hereditary societies were formed in the
decades following the Civil War, in the hope that these organizations would be a source of
community for both Northerners and Southerners.3
2 Norman Tyler, Ted J. Ligibel, and Ilene R. Tyler, Historic Preservation: An Introduction to Its History, Principles,
and Practice (New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 1994), 8.
3 Carolyn Strange, “Sisterhood of Blood: The Will to Descend and the Formation of the Daughters of the American
Revolution,” (Journal of Women's History 26, no. 3, 2014), 106.
10
Figure 1. Fifteen vice-regents of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association photographed outside
Mount Vernon in 1884. Courtesy of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.
Today, the DAR is one of the most accessible hereditary groups, as they are open to all
who can prove an ancestor that aided the patriot cause. Their commitment to a wide base of
membership contributed to an organization-wide culture that invests significant time, volunteers,
and money in preservation. Furthermore, the DAR grew so considerably in their membership and
resources that they have expanded their scope of preservation to include honoring the veterans of
all American wars. Their membership includes 190,000 women across all fifty states and several
countries.4 Members volunteer hundreds of thousands of hours and the National Society gives
significant sums in scholarships, grants, and direct educational funding, in addition to its
preservation work. The DAR also maintains one of the most impressive genealogical libraries, a
museum, and several historical buildings at their headquarters in Washington D.C.
4 “Who We Are,” Daughters of the American Revolution, July 3, 2022,
https://www.dar.org/national-society/about-dar/who-we-are/who-we-are.
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Figure 2. Panoramic photo of the DAR’s campus comprises three buildings, which are (L to R)
Constitution Hall, NSDAR Museum Gallery and Americana Room, and Memorial Continental
Hall. Courtesy of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
This work explores the current role of hereditary organizations in historic preservation.
Hereditary organizations benefit professionals by engaging large, assembled groups of amateurs
that actively participate in genealogy, research, education, stewardship, and fostering a culture
that prioritizes preservation work. This project aims to bridge the present gap in the relationship
between historic preservation professionals and hereditary organizations and bring the literature
up to date, as most preservation texts neglect the preeminent role of hereditary organizations
beyond their early years and fail to recognize their contributions since that time. This gap is
bridged by an exploration of the public’s perception of hereditary societies’ versus their
boots-on-the-ground work. This work demonstrated the eager and dedicated allies that hereditary
groups are in advocating for, supporting, or stewarding preservation projects. Unearthing the
active role of hereditary organizations reveals a history of continued involvement, which has
been neglected in most preservation history texts. Additionally, this study may start a
conversation around sustainable membership growth and active engagement with professionals
among hereditary societies.
In the chapters that follow, I outline the design of my research and the methods that
inform my literature review and data collection via interviews. I then review the literature, which
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discusses hereditary societies, genealogy, and the history of preservation, and discuss that
literature thematically. In particular, the literature on hereditary societies is out of date, and the
literature that significantly explores their contributions to preservation is lacking. The findings
from 10 interviews are recapped and analyzed in their own chapter. Finally, I bring together the
literature review with my findings, discuss their relationship, and explain the value of these
results to the professional field of preservation before making recommendations for further
research.
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CHAPTER II
METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN
The DAR served as the main case study in this project, with other organizations flanking
it with examples, as necessary. I debated the selection of multiple case studies to compare and
contrast the relationship of several organizations with professional preservation. I considered the
Colonial Dames of America (CDA), the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and the Germanna
Foundation as potential case studies to explore, but ultimately decided against this for reasons of
personal or professional conflicts of interest, and, more pressingly, too many sets of data for the
established length of this project. Furthermore, the DAR is one of the largest hereditary societies
in the United States. With its impressive size at 190,000 current members and 1,000,000
members since its founding, the organization has a publicly accessible institutional history, broad
membership base, and sizable historic preservation site database.5 Additionally, the DAR Library
is one of the most impressive genealogical libraries in the country.6 While the DAR does not
represent the average size of hereditary organizations, it is a leader in membership growth,
preservation fundraising, and family history research in the United States.
This project utilized interpretive historical research to contextualize the role of the
Daughters in professional preservation, and then oral history to explain the present understanding
of hereditary organizations’ preservation efforts. A phenomenological approach organized and
shaped the research on these organizations and their members, as a function of relationships and
lived experiences. A second, more minor ethnographic approach broke down the types of people
in membership, non membership, and/or professional categories. These combined multiple data
5 “Dar Surpasses One Million Members since Its Founding,” Daughters of the American Revolution, October 9,
2019,
https://www.dar.org/national-society/media-center/news-releases/dar-surpasses-one-million-members-its-founding.
6“About the Library,” Daughters of the American Revolution, November 2, 2016,
https://www.dar.org/library/about-library.
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sources with different philosophical approaches ultimately all fall under the category of
qualitative methods to understand and then illustrate a broad community, such as hereditary
societies. Such qualitative methods aim to get to the heart of specific phenomena that occur in
everyday life and the meaning it evokes in people’s lives.7 Qualitative research typically
encourages prolonged contact through fieldwork, so that a researcher can be immersed in the
culture of whichever particular phenomenon they are investigating. As a longtime member and,
more recently, a professional engaged with hereditary societies, I had the unique privilege of
understanding the culture from an insider perspective.8
In this study, the main actors were the professionals and the amateurs. Professionals, for
the purpose of this study, were those that professionally worked in the fields of academia,
architectural history, museums, and similarly related fields for pay. Amateurs were
nonprofessional people engaged with history in a recreational or amateur fashion. Though not
employed in an official capacity, amateurs are differentiated from the paid professional in order
to distinguish between the different roles of those engaged with history, not to undermine the
amateur’s role or diminish their contributions to the hereditary organizations or the larger field of
preservation.
Methods
Interpretive historical research investigated “social-physical phenomena within complex
contexts with a view toward explaining those phenomena in a narrative form and in a holistic
fashion.”9 It was necessary to use interpretive historical research to understand the impact of
hereditary societies on the movement of preservation before its codification as a formal practice.
7 David Wang and Linda N. Groat, Architectural Research Methods (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2013), 218.
8 Wang and Groat, Architectural Research Methods, 223.
9 Wang and Groat, Architectural Research Methods, 136.
15
The use of interpretive historical research was a deliberate choice that sought to separate my
project from past preservation literature, which relegated hereditary societies to a few
introductory paragraphs, and then completely disconnected these societies from today's
preservation field.
This study primarily used a phenomenological approach to understand both the view of
people within and outside of hereditary societies. Phenomenology examines “the complex world
of lived experience from the point of view of those who live it.”10 The study of the lived
experience of members, non-members, staff of hereditary societies and other professionals
helped to uncover the relationship of a particular group of people to these organizations, and
more specifically their relationship to the contributions of organizations to historic preservation.
In phenomenology, the assumption is that consciousness is “directed toward an ‘object.’”11 In
phenomenology, consciousness included what constituted consciousness, such as emotions,
assumptions, and judgment.
In this project, the DAR served as the “object” to study in relation to the broader
hereditary society community’s consciousness regarding historic preservation, research, and
community.12 While hereditary organizations may have seemed like an odd case study within the
preservation field, they represented a large constituency with historic preservation interest and
experience within the practical realm of preservation. Beyond their interest and support, some
have the financial resources or create the opportunities to serve as custodians of preserved sites,
objects, and family history archives, when larger museums or academic institutions either will
not or cannot serve as custodians. It was curious that membership- and application-based,
occasionally invite-only organizations, would be custodians of such swathes of public history.
10 Wang and Groat, Architectural Research Methods, 228.
11 Wang and Groat, Architectural Research Methods, 228.
12 Wang and Groat, Architectural Research Methods, 228.
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Unraveling why this is the case helped shed light on the degree of success hereditary societies
achieve in preservation and builds a bridge of allyship between academics and amateurs.
In the case of members within these societies, it was necessary to understand the
perceived benefits and issues of the societies from people who participate in them, whether in a
large or small role, and how membership informed their view of the world and their view of the
field of historic preservation. Literature reviews, interviews, and the DAR’s online presence
informed this understanding. In the case of people who did not belong to these societies, but still
knew of them, their perceptions of these societies, the people who belong to them, the purpose of
these societies, and the perceived degree to which these organizations were successful in
accomplishing their goals was also important to grasp. In particular, interviews with professional
historians and museum professionals were useful in gauging the opinion of professionals toward
these particular amateur entities.
An ethnographic approach explored the people that belong to these societies, as these
societies require a few components – a family tree with accurate research, a connection to a
relevant ancestor, access to money to pay yearly dues, and an interest in hereditary societies.
Genealogical research can be a challenge based on age, access to technology or archives,
socioeconomic status, location, relationship with biological family, and race. For example, the
DAR is headquartered in Washington D.C., so their archives may have been inaccessible, up
until the point where they were digitized.13 Genealogy books are often very expensive, and even
when one can afford them, they can be difficult to find because they do not always have multiple
runs. However, there is a sizable digitized archive DAR so it is more accessible.  Furthermore,
websites like Ancestry.com somewhat democratized the process of uncovering and documenting
13 Amanda Vasquez, “Dar Department of Archives and History Online Resources,” Today's DAR, November 25,
2019, https://blog.dar.org/dar-department-archives-and-history-online-resources.
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one’s genealogy, for a fee.14 Additionally, some organizations are invite-only, so one might also
need sufficient connections, in addition to the prescribed lineage, to join an organization. DAR is
not one of those organizations, which is one of their strengths when examining how to build a
broad sustainable membership base.
Design
Oral history was an inextricable part of using a phenomenological approach in this
research, as it was one of the most profound and direct ways in which lived experience was
shared and documented. The different types of people who have, or might have, professional or
personal affiliation with hereditary organizations were an important part of building an
ethnographic approach. This work used interactive tactics, such as interviews, to gain
information and perspective, in addition to uncovering biases from different groups of people –
members with access to and knowledge of the societies’ historic preservation efforts, members
without such knowledge, staff of hereditary organizations or their preservation projects, and
non-members with professional associations in history or preservation.15
A total of ten people were interviewed for this project. Interviewees were selected based on
personal and professional connections, recommendations from other interviewees,
recommendations from committee member Marc Wheat, and authors from my literature review.
While I reached out to several other people, some of whom I did not know through these
avenues, not everyone could give the time necessary to participate. All oral history was gathered
in an interview setting via Zoom over a two week period, and recorded with the permission of
each interviewee. I produced two different sets of questions for the two different groups
14 Francesca Morgan, A Nation of Descendants: Politics and the Practice of Genealogy in U.S. History (Chapel Hill,
NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2021), 14.
15 Wang and Groat, Architectural Research Methods, 244.
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interviewed - member and professional. Interviewees were not provided with either set of
questions ahead of time; though they knew what my research was regarding, as it was briefly
mentioned in my email requests for their interview. For those who fit into both categories as a
member and professional, I asked both sets of questions.
For members of hereditary societies, I first asked which organization they were specifically
associated with. Then, I gauged their first impressions, how those impressions evolved, and their
goals for membership. I inquired about the application process, because some of these
organizations are known to be invite-only or perceived as exclusionary. We also talked about
their experiences as a member, whether they experience judgment about the membership from
non-members, their leadership experience within the organization, and the impact of membership
on their life. Next, I moved onto questions regarding their organization’s relationship with
historic preservation, what members bring to the table that academics may lack, and vice versa,
the relationship of their organization with professionals, and the benefits of weaving the
professional and amateur entities together in historic preservation. Finally, I asked how they
envisioned their organization growing in the future.
For professionals, I also asked about their first impression about hereditary organizations,
and the evolution of that impression based on their experience, employment, or research. For
those employed by hereditary organizations, I inquired about the application process and whether
it differed from the process of applying to similar positions in the field. Similarly, I asked those
employed by hereditary societies if the difficulties they face in their work were similar to the
difficulties of a similar job in the field, or if they are unique to the hereditary society or
non-profits in general. I also inquired about how their non-member friends, family, or field
colleagues interpreted or perceived their job. Finally, we discussed how they viewed or
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experienced the integration of the amateur in the professional preservation field, their
interpretation of what skills amateurs have, and if and how professionals and amateurs can work
together moving forward.
The data collection is prefaced with my personal experience as a longtime member of
multiple hereditary organizations and an intern and academic fellow at two organizations. This is
known as an interactive observation as a participant, where the researcher role is known.16 My
personal experience as a member and employee was a form of data collection. These experiences
still followed interactive observation, although it was retroactive observation. Though I was not
known as a researcher on the topic of the individual hereditary organizations at the time of my
initial joining as a member or intern/fellow, the individual organizations welcomed me through
the years in different capacities. In particular, it was known during my internship and fellowship
that I was a degree-seeking graduate student with a keen interest in these organizations.
This study used interactive interviews by Zoom, scholarly literature, and published opinion
pieces to inform this part of the project. Though open-ended response formats might have been
helpful in building a larger set of data, and fully accepted within the school of phenomenology, I
preferred to keep all my interviews in the same format for organization and simplicity.
Additionally, to work within the time constraints determined by a fast approaching
commencement and regular graduate thesis schedule, it was important to keep a manageable set
of data with a conservative but healthy amount of interviews.17
In regard to my personal and professional affiliation with hereditary societies, I realize that
I straddle this line of both being a member and hired professional, which sometimes work in
great symbiosis, and other times can conflict. It is my hope that in embracing my unique
16 Wang and Groat, Architectural Research Methods, 244.
17 Wang and Groat, Architectural Research Methods, 244.
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experience that I can be a more effective bridge between these two passionate sides of
preservation. In embracing this personal passion for history. I cannot reject personal perspective
in my writing for this project. While some historians still question the effectiveness of writing in
a self-referential fashion, anthropology, cultural studies, and literary criticism have accepted it.18
Since this particular study uses interdisciplinary studies to effectively answer the proposed
research question, I will also embrace the injection of the personal into the academic.
Limitations
Though I have done my best to build and deliver interesting, well designed research, I
recognize the limitations of my design and how my final product may be affected. Time is
always one of the greatest limitations in any significant undertaking. The time constraints of
completing a thesis on a reasonable schedule required limiting my scope to one case study and
no more than ten interview subjects. Similarly, I limited my number of interviews to ten to not
work with unmanageable data. I budgeted an hour for each interview, though some were as short
as 20 minutes, and others as long as 1 hour and 30 minutes, which totaled about 8 hours worth of
recorded interviews to comb through.
A significant event that reflects the culture of hereditary organizations is Hereditary
Fortnight in Washington, D.C., which is a multi week gathering of dozens of hereditary societies
for annual meetings and joint parties. It is a stellar way to understand the culture of hereditary
societies, given how many people and organizations participate. It is traditionally held in April,
so with constraints of class enrollment, a 30 hour a week job at the time, and budget constraints,
18Michele Gillespie and Catherine Clinton, Taking off the White Gloves: Southern Women and Women Historians
(Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1998), 140.
21
Hereditary Week was not feasible to research and include in this project, but could provide an
interesting avenue for future research to explore.
By relying on my personal and professional connections, as well as the recommendations
of my committee and interview subjects, my sample is small and biased toward those who have
significant interaction with hereditary societies, whether personal or professional. I make no
claims of representativeness, statistically significant results, or the revelation of universal truths
because of the nature of qualitative research, my sample size, and bias.
Summary
In this chapter about the methods and design for this project, I outlined my justifications
for the use of interpretive historical research combined with phenomenological and ethnographic
approaches. I further explained my design for data collection in interviews, while also
recognizing the limitations of my methodology and design. Nevertheless, these limitations kept
the project appropriate to scope and length, while still answering questions about the importance
of hereditary societies to the overall goals and success of historic preservation.
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CHAPTER III
LITERATURE REVIEW
Scholarly articles that tackled the Daughters, and similar organizations, beyond the
capacities mentioned, focused on their previous political involvement, especially around the
mid-20th century, and their role in the domestic battle against communism. Particularly, Carolyn
Strange's article, “Sisterhood of Blood: The Will to Descend and the Formation of the Daughters
of the American Revolution” took a critical lens to the formation of the DAR and its early
history by analyzing the way the board and members used lineage to shape national political
culture. She tied in the growing popularity of eugenics, pushback against immigration, and
dissemination of nationalist propaganda.19 However, no author, to my knowledge, has unpacked
the hereditary societies’ more recent role as active advocates and allies for preservation.
Preservation and Education
Rachel A. Snell’s article, “‘God, Home, and Country’: Women, Historical Memory, and
National Identity in English Canada and the United States,” focused on the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century creation of a national women’s identity in both the United States and
Canada. For the purposes of this project, the Canadian portion of her article was not necessary.
One of the ways women asserted and defined their national identity and memory of national
history was through hereditary organization, namely through the creation of the DAR.20
Specifically, Snell noted the early DAR’s focus on preserving the men in history, a common
product of that era’s historiography. Conversely, DAR primarily preserved house museums, a
19 Strange, “Sisterhood of Blood,” 109/
20Rachel A. Snell, “‘God, Home, and Country’: Women, Historical Memory, and National Identity in English
Canada and the United States,” (The American Review of Canadian Studies 48, no. 2, 2018), 250.
23
symbol of the female domain in contemporary Victorian consciousness, and allowed
descendancy from a female patriot as an avenue for membership from its inception.21 Beyond
Snell’s covered time period, it is necessary to note that the DAR is now dedicating significant
resources to researching women’s and minority history.22
Val D. Greenwood’s The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, published in 1990,
accomplished what the earlier handbook, The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy,
failed to provide - a comprehensive and at-home, step-by-step guide to genealogy. Greenwood
also tackled the reality that American genealogy required a different tool set, while earlier
authors only mentioned it in passing. His work attempted to bring genealogy into a respectable
science, though noted that the topic was inextricably linked with religious, economic, social, and
political history. His project argued for the scientific nature of genealogy and asserted that
genealogy would not be taken seriously as a field of study until researchers “adopt sound
scientific principles”23, a process criticized by some hobby genealogists with “romantic
temperament[s].”24 The Researcher’s Guide unpacked nearly every step of the genealogical
process, making the process more accessible to someone who does not know their family history
beyond their grandparents. A century before this guide’s publication, the tools for genealogical
research were not as broad nor accessible as they are now. Additionally, what tools were
available were not widely advertised, with the intention of keeping success in genealogical
research to a select few.
Martha Strayer, an established journalist in the 1950s who often covered the DAR, wrote
The Informal History of DAR. Despite her close working relationship with the organization in the
21 Snell, “‘God, Home, and Country,’” 252.
22 “Specialty Research,” Daughters of the American Revolution, October 26, 2022,
https://www.dar.org/national-society/genealogy/specialty-research.
23 Val D. Greenwood, The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 3rd ed. (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub.
Co., 2000), 8.
24 Greenwood, The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 133.
24
mid century, she received no official cooperation from the organization, and her request for
records was denied.25 Strayer positively portrayed the DAR regarding their preservation of sites
related to Revolutionary and women’s history, which was frankly one of the very few pieces of
literature to mention their preservation work in detail. She also explicitly stated that the DAR
was, at the time of its publication in 1958, one of only two organizations “required by charter
granted by Congress to make annual reports to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.”26
Such a requirement proved the rigorous nature of the DAR’s preservation efforts, and how
seriously its work was, and continues to be, taken. In addition to the DAR’s achievements in
preservation, Strayer noted the success of the organization in its membership, which started from
birth in the CAR to the rest of adulthood in the DAR. Strayer’s publication, though
self-described as informal, was a thorough recount of the DAR’s institutional history and
recognition of its professional preservation work, unlike any other literature reviewed for this
project.
Written a decade after Strayer’s informal history, Margaret Gibbs’ The DAR was another
history of the DAR, though she wrote with more wit and hilarious anecdotes than can be said of
Strayer. Gibbs’ book described the makeup of membership as one of variety, but, for the most
part, “exceedingly chic.”27 She addressed the makeup of membership to discredit the
perpetuating notion that Daughters were old, bored women looking for amusing projects. Then,
she dove into the more recent history that the DAR participated in, such as sending delegates to
the drafting of the UN Charter and playing a significant role in several national exhibitions.28
Finally, rather than individually naming the DAR’s extensive achievements in preservation,
25 Martha Strayer, The D.A.R.: An Informal History (Washington: Public Affairs Press, 1958), vi.
26 Strayer, The D.A.R.: An Informal History, 35.
27Margaret Gibbs, The DAR, 1st ed. (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969), 8.
28 Gibbs, The DAR, 71.
25
Gibbs highlighted the DAR’s achievements as an institution that promoted research first and
foremost, with a library so impressive that only the Library of Congress and National Archives
were comparable at the time.
“Constructing Territory, Constructing Citizenship: The Daughters of the American
Revolution and ‘Americanisation’ in the 1920s” by Carol Medlicott explored a narrow period
from about the turn of the century to the mid-century. Medlicott especially looked at how the
DAR defined American and non-American. The end of that period would have been the period in
which Gibbs and Strayer wrote, and, as such, would have been too difficult to critically analyze
and separate from the context of the Red Scare and McCarthyism. She honed in on one
controversial project, the DAR’s Manual of the United States: For the Information of Immigrants
and Foreigners.29 This pamphlet was available at major ports of entry like Ellis Island to educate
immigrants on being an American, as the DAR defined what it meant to be American. This
article lent its focus to the scope of women’s groups, and, more specifically, the DAR’s evolution
from their early history as a preservation focused group to also a politically motivated group in
the mid century.
Forging Community
Since its inception, the DAR has been continuously involved in preservation and
education. For better or worse, that historically included preserving the history of certain people
and encouraging a nationalist children’s education. Today, political motivations are a thing of the
past, and the DAR focuses on encouraging the broader research and dissemination of American
history by qualified professionals, with the DAR as advocates, allies, and funders of such
29 Carol Medlicott, “Constructing Territory, Constructing Citizenship: The Daughters of the American Revolution
and ‘Americanisation’ in the 1920s,” (Geopolitics 10, no. 1, 2005), 109.
26
research and preservation. Additionally, it is essential to highlight that the DAR, as well as other
hereditary organizations, dedicates significant resources to researching women’s and minority
history, recognizing that this has been overlooked in American historiography.30
Wallace Evan Davies’ Patriotism on Parade: The Story of Veterans’ Organizations and
Hereditary Organizations in America was perhaps the Bible of early literature on hereditary
societies. It remains one of the most comprehensive pieces of literature on the subject to date.
Davies had the unique lens of being an insider to these types of organizations, like myself.
Furthermore, Davies analyzed both hereditary organizations and veterans’ organizations. This is
a comparison not seen in many other academic treatments of hereditary organizations, but is
necessary as both types of organizations stem from the first of these organizations - the Society
of the Cincinnati. The Cincinnati began as a veterans fraternal organization of men who served in
the Continental Army above a certain rank. It transformed into a hereditary society as members
died, and the organization adopted a policy of primogeniture for continued membership of the
descendants of original members.31
Similar to preservation texts and entirely dissimilar to literature focusing on hereditary
societies, Davies remarked on the importance of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association in
preserving places of historical significance. He expanded this and further remarked on the
importance of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association in furthering the progress of women’s
emancipation.32 Similar to Francesca Morgan’s more recent work, he explained that the growth
of immigration to the US increased the value of distinctly American patriotic societies.33 Davies
paid particular attention to the DAR, stating that the DAR created a united society by
30 “Specialty Research,” Daughters of the American Revolution.
31 Wallace Evan Davies, Patriotism on Parade; the Story of Veterans’ and Hereditary Organizations in America,
1783-1900 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1955), 5.
32 Davies, Patriotism on Parade, 26.
33 Davies, Patriotism on Parade, 48.
27
“subordinating” the local chapters to a larger national organization and providing attractive
components of membership, namely grand receptions and social aspects.34 While other books
and articles have focused on the elitism and prestige associated with these organizations, Davies
found that these organizations filled a gap in the culture of American society, for which there was
no natural or perfect solution. The US has no national church, royal family, or “cohesive
traditions and symbols'” and these organizations artificially built a “secular religion” complete
with anniversaries to celebrate our “saints'' and their deeds.35 Patriotism became the United
States’ religion and the DAR became its clergy. The DAR took a special interest in education,
from educating young children and sponsoring essay contests to supporting libraries for adult
education. They had a special interest in actively marking the graves of soldiers and leading
“patriotic instruction.”36
The DAR is perhaps one of the most well known hereditary societies and it operates in a
unique way because it is not as exclusive as other societies which limit membership.37 It is
interesting that Davies remarked that the DAR and similar women’s societies should be viewed
as part of the women’s club movement, as no other authors made this comparison, but it seemed
natural given the DAR’s involvement in education and shaping the nation’s relationship with the
past.38 Davies’ book was this project’s textbook for understanding the conditions that laid the
foundation for organizations like the DAR to be successful. It also wove in topics such as
suffrage, women’s activities, and the early years of preservation being an amateur women’s
pastime that eventually was incorporated into the hereditary organizations’ mission.
34 Davies, Patriotism on Parade, 133.
35 Davies, Patriotism on Parade, 216.
36 Davies, Patriotism on Parade, 241.
37 Davies, Patriotism on Parade, 354.
38 Davies, Patriotism on Parade, 353.
28
Connection to and Memory of the Past
Why Old Places Matter: How Historic Places Affect Our Identity and Well-Being by Tom
Mayes presented several reasons why historic places matter to people. Each reason was given its
own essay-like chapter. In my first preservation class in graduate school, a professor asked us to
each pick a chapter and respond to it for our first writing assignment. “Ancestors” stuck, as the
study of my family history sparked my love for learning and preservation. Mayes cited that one
of the reasons why historic places are important is the connection they can give people to their
ancestors.39 Genealogy was another form of storytelling, because it broke down the history of
one’s family, with a family tree acting as a continuous narrative filled with some living people
and many, many ancestors. As a discipline, history can be difficult to grasp for the nonacademic
because it seems disconnected from modern realities. Yet, when explored outside of more sterile,
academic assessments and framed through a storytelling lens, whether that exploration be film,
academia, or literature, people can connect with and relate to the stories, a trend supported in
academia.40 Due to genealogy’s more problematic roots as a tool of exclusion, Mayes explained
that some preservationists have been unsure of “fostering the connections between family history
and the preservation of old places.”41 However, Mayes acknowledged that genealogy is now a
more accessible interest, with websites like Ancestry.com making the research more
user-friendly, just as history has expanded beyond top-down, great man narratives in both the
academic discipline and film industry.42 This accessibility and renewed interest in history
translated to more stories being told and more people connecting with old places. My research
39 Thompson M. Mayes, Why Old Places Matter: How Historic Places Affect Our Identity and Well-Being (Lanham,
MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018), 90.
40Laurence Veysey, “The ‘New’ Social History in the Context of American Historical Writing,” ( Reviews in
American History 7, no. 1, 1979), 2.
41 Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 88.
42 Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 85.
29
extended from this short chapter to further advocate the necessity of fostering a connection
between historic preservation and hereditary organizations.
Historic Preservation: Caring for Our Expanding Legacy by Michael A. Tomlan, is a
foundational preservation text that explored the historical, social, and architectural connections
of the preservation movement in the United States from its early conception to a codified field.
Similar to Mayes, there were multiple references to the historic role of hereditary organizations
in the early movement of historic preservation.43 This text explained how the field interprets the
origins of these organizations and their historic role as advocates for saving places they deemed
meaningful. It also named numerous other organizations that, though they are beyond the scope
of this project, were helpful in illustrating the expansiveness of hereditary organizations.
However, like most historic preservation texts, it neglected the active role many hereditary
organizations play in being advocates and/or stewards for historic places.
Hereditary societies usually require a proven lineage to a particular type of ancestor to
join their organization. Genealogy may be the conduit to which one achieves membership, but it
is by no means the only goal of the organization. That is to say, people do not use genealogy as a
measure of superiority or social currency when in contact with other members. Rather, hereditary
societies focus on their selected era or persons of history, and how they can continue to
remember the era or people.
Edited by the then Executive Director of the Institute of American Genealogy in the
1930s, Frederick Adams Virkus, The Handbook of American Genealogy introduced the institute
behind the handbook’s publication, some basic first steps in genealogical research, and regional
and state organizations dedicated to or interested in genealogy. The Handbook further recognized
43 Michael A. Tomlan, Historic Preservation: Caring for Our Expanding Legacy (Cham, Switzerland: Springer,
2015), 30.
30
that those descended from Colonial families have perhaps the easiest access to records, which are
archived by hereditary societies.44 In addition to hereditary societies, the handbook stated that
there were, at the time of this publication, 521 family genealogical associations dedicated to the
study and preservation of a particular family, which were essential sources of information for
those researching at the time. The largest portion of this book was reserved for the literal “Who’s
Who in Genealogy,” with the second largest dedicated to heraldic arms, and is rather ironic
considering the United States’ lack of peerage and hereditary titles. Though ironic, the attention
to heraldic arms reflected Americans’ fascination with royalty, nobles, and the general peerage of
Europe. The Handbook of American Genealogy came across as a phonebook for those new to the
study of “family genealogy,” which was defined as a comprehensive text of one family’s
genealogy and their descendants.45
A more recent article, “Lineage as Capital: Genealogy in Antebellum New England,” by
Francesca Morgan, explored the history of American genealogy and assessed the transformation
of genealogy from a private endeavor featuring a who’s who to a democratized hobby codified
by hereditary organizations. Morgan specifically analyzed John Farmer, Eliza Susan Quincy,
Electa Jones, Amos Lawrence, and Lemuel Shattuck and their relationship to the study of their
family trees, whether it be an embracive or aversive relationship. This source deconstructed the
early history of genealogy in the United States and disproved the sweeping generalization that
the hobby was confined to normative elites, but rather included the unmarried spinster and a man
with a physical disability. Morgan’s article also concluded that many people tended to research
the lines that best suited their ideas of propriety or social capital, and obscured lines that could
reveal inappropriate information. She deduced that genealogy either proved or created one’s
44 Frederick Adams Virkus, The Handbook of American Genealogy (Chicago, IL: Inst. of American Genealogy,
1932), 11.
45 Virkus, The Handbook of American Genealogy, 11.
31
social capital and class by linking descendants to an important person of the past.46 This
deliberate obscuration of certain ancestors and celebration of others contributed to the slippery
slope of glorifying the past.
Written in 1995, G. Kurt Piehler’s Remembering War the American Way forged an honest
and critical path of how Americans remember wars, from the American Revolution to the
controversial Vietnam War, and found that the federal government had not been successful in
creating a “widely accepted national memorialization of this country’s wars.”47 Part of creating a
patriotic national memorialization of wars undoubtedly included the formidable DAR. The
Daughters not only had a membership totaling 190,000 members of women with proven
revolutionary ancestry, but were also instrumental in the preservation and honoring of veterans of
all American wars. Piehler recognized the contributions of women’s organizations, like the DAR,
to the preservation of sites of national significance. The DAR had the foresight and strength in
their beliefs to be leaders in an era where they did not have certain legal rights to leadership
roles. Furthermore, Piehler asserted the DAR’s unique position among hereditary organizations
as one that democratized the memory of their qualifying event, the American Revolution, but
still made themselves custodians of the Revolution’s memory by giving primacy to material
objects.48
Genealogy is the puzzle that never gets finished, no matter how much one works at it.
Nearly as thick as the Christian Bible, as one might expect for the undertaking of genealogical
research, The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy, published in 1925 and authored by
Frederick Virkus, served as an encyclopedia for early American genealogy, i.e. White
46 Francesca Morgan, “Lineage as Capital: Genealogy in Antebellum New England,” (The New England quarterly
83, no. 2, 2010), 268.
47 G. Kurt Piehler, Remembering War the American Way, (Washington, D.C: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995),
ix.
48 Piehler, Remembering War the American Way, 78.
32
Anglo-Saxon Protestant genealogy. Of course, these first families refer to the United States’ first
colonial families. It was a shortened version of a seven volume publication of America’s “first”
families and what one might expect in earlier 20th century genealogy. The Abridged
Compendium began with the early history of American genealogy, namely the Stebbins family’s
work, and then branched out to encompass the hereditary society craze of the latter half of the
19th century.49 Though it appeared to be one of many encyclopedic genealogies, it mentioned
that American genealogical methodology must be unique from English methods, as those were
“designed mainly for descent from royalty, nobility or gentry,” which departed from other
contemporary literature.50 While it was not inclusive of “other” types of family history, like its
contemporary counterparts, it demonstrated a unique awareness for genealogists in 1925 that
genealogical methods are not one-size-fits-all, and that an easy experience with genealogical
research is a privilege not all enjoy.
The majority of the compendium listed the “first families” and some variation of their
descendants in a mostly organized fashion.  Some final words followed this section on why the
hereditary organizations, referred to here as “patriotic” organizations, were vital to fighting those
who would wish to overthrow the “principles of Americanism”51 While the bulk of this book
covered the descent of individual families, the introduction and index of hereditary organizations
in the back of the book highlighted the evolution of genealogy as an intimate endeavor to its use
as a conduit into social, political, and philanthropic hereditary societies. The production of this
book signified both the popularity of genealogy and hereditary organizations, the necessity of an
49 Frederick Adams Virkus and Albert Nelson Marquis, The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy; First
Families of America; a Genealogical Encyclopedia of the United States, Edited by Frederick Adams Virkus
(Chicago: A.N. Marquis & Company, 1925), 3.
50 Virkus and Marquis, The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy, 9.
51 Virkus and Marquis, The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy, 999.
33
encyclopedia for the topic where one did not exist, and served as a time capsule for what sort of
genealogy was revered and what was entirely neglected.
Carolyn Strange's far more recent article, "Sisterhood of Blood: The Will to Descend and
the Formation of the Daughters of the American Revolution,” took a heavily critical lens to the
formation of the DAR and its mission by analyzing the way the Board and members used lineage
to shape national political culture. The article briefly explained the boom of hereditary societies
in the 1890s as a response to the disunity caused by the Civil War. Some hoped that hereditary
societies would unite people by blood, kinship ties, and a common story. Though, of course, this
excluded people of color. The DAR was founded by mostly middle class white women in the
1890s, many of whom were single and working in "respectable" clerk positions in Washington
D.C. This also tied in with the growing popularity of eugenics books and studies of the late
nineteenth century, though the author bounced back and forth about blood purity claims and the
public mission of the DAR. Ultimately, Strange concluded that the public goal that was and
continues to be accomplished is the dissemination of education around the Revolutionary War
and broader American history.
Francesca Morgan's book, A Nation of Descendants: Politics and the Practice of
Genealogy in US History, explored the practice of genealogy in American history and its purpose
in creating kinship or identifying one’s rights or sense of belonging. She comprehensively
covered roughly three centuries of genealogy’  history and multiple racial and ethnic groups that
have participated in genealogy. Morgan also touched on the relatively new avenue to genealogy
that has become popular in pop culture - DNA tests with websites like Ancestry.com - and how
that created a new wave of interest in genealogy and further democratization of the practice.
While Virkus only scratched the surface of the inequity of genealogy, Strange and Morgan
34
specifically pointed out how minorities may struggle to document their family histories due to
enslavement, different modes of record keeping, or relying on oral histories, which were not
always accepted. Morgan and Strange firmly worked with the historical framework DAR, and do
not contend with its more recent history, role in historic preservation, and the current guides to
genealogy provided by the DAR, which recognize the difficulty many people may have in
documenting their genealogy.
Conclusion
From the Society of the Cincinnati, founded in 1783, and National Order of the Knights
of the Golden Horseshoe, founded in 1716, hereditary societies have a long history in the United
States. While some organizations have an institutional history as long as the United States has
been an independent nation, about 50 organizations were founded between the end of the Civil
War and the turn of the century, one of which was the DAR.52 Hereditary societies were relegated
to a few introductory paragraphs of the history of preservation literature or examples in
genealogical literature as to why people conduct that particular type of research. As shown by
this literature review, no author has explicitly unpacked the hereditary societies’ more recent role
as active advocates and allies for preservation.
52 “Chronological: The Hereditary Society Community,” Chronological | The Hereditary Society Community,
https://www.hereditary.us/directory-cronological.
35
CHAPTER IV
FINDINGS
In addition to an extensive literature review, interviews recounted  the
boots-on-the-ground experience of members of hereditary societies and associated professionals,
as well as to gather evidence to answer the research question of this project, which is; what are
the benefits of knitting hereditary organizations together with the professional field of historic
preservation? As previously described in Chapter II, ten people were interviewed and recorded
via Zoom over a two week period. Members and professionals were asked a separate list of
questions because of their different experiences. For example, members spoke about their
involvement in the organization and emotional ties to their organization, while professionals
provided their view of the amateur and unique challenges they face due to work with or adjacent
to these organizations. Ultimately, the questioning of the place of amateurs in preservation was
posed to and answered by all.
The goal of this chapter is twofold - to present the findings from eight hours of interviews
with ten interview subjects, and then analyze the implication of the findings. The findings are
presented thematically in the three overarching themes extrapolated from the literature review -
Preservation and Education, Forging Community, and Connection to and Memory of the Past. A
separate discussion section summarizes the key thematic findings, and then analyzes their
meaning and implications.
Interviews
Historic Preservation is now a professional field of study and practice and has its
grassroots in amateur public history. The word “professional” often implies an air of authority
36
and sophistication. Rightly so, professionals have spent valuable time, money, and energy on
their credentials, which have earned them the title of professional. On the other side of the
spectrum is the “amateur,” which, as Morgan put it, is in no way a put down. In fact, she noted
that public history has always sought to “challenge” authority, whether academic or institutional,
and that a more “sophisticated approach [to history] will take into account the amateur's history
and consider the amateur a resource.” Though she realized the difficulties of amateur
involvement, she viewed hereditary groups, in particular, as community historians can access
parts of history, family oral history, and legend that may otherwise have been unavailable or
unknowable to the removed professional. It was this connection with the community that made
hereditary societies part of the “broader picture of the continuing importance of the amateur.” Dr.
Linda Brett, a member of the DAR and chapter president of the CDA, further explained that
“amateur” should not necessarily mean an unpracticed participant in the field:
There's artists who have been trained formally and artists who haven’t. Those artists who
haven’t are called “outside artists” and they have a very interesting view on the world that
a trained artist doesn’t have…and they can visualize [the world] in a different way. I
would think that your trained professional versus your amateur - their knowledge base
may be similar even but that amateur is going to come about the information from a
different point of view and it gives more credence to both sides.
Lack of professionalization did not indicate less valuable skills or knowledge, but rather
demonstrated a broader view of the world.53 Brett’s mother and fellow Daughter member, Susan
Krecker, also remarked that because of the amateur’s approach, there was excitement in
professional’s work.
Other interviewees felt their amateur passion for history and preservation was encouraged
by a preservation-oriented culture. Tanzosh, a member of the DAR in Arizona, recalled her
childhood and early adulthood in the Northeast, where Revolutionary historic sites were
53 Catherine W. Bishir, “Yuppies, Bubbas, and the Politics of Culture,” (Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture 3,
1989), 11.
37
accessible and inextricably linked to the identity of the area, especially during her years in
Philadelphia. She tried to transfer this interest in preservation to active involvement in the DAR,
which supports historic preservation projects with grants, a fact supported by DAR member
Jessie Wicks. Further down south in Virginia, Marc Wheat, a member of this thesis committee
and Society of the Cincinnati, remarked that the “deep historical consciousness” of Virginia
enabled the state to support the livelihood of professionals on an impressive level with many
projects in museums, archaeology, and architectural preservation. This deep historical
consciousness manifested in impressive preservation projects ranging from famous Colonial
Williamsburg to the more remote Germanna archaeology site in the Piedmont region.
Despite these positive assessments of the amateur by both professionals and members of
hereditary societies themselves, amateurs still face some criticism, as Wheat explained that even
with good working relations between amateurs and professionals, “You’re always going to find
professionals who talk down to amateurs.” Museum director of the CDA-run Mount Vernon
Hotel Museum & Garden (MVHM&G), Nancy Hinkel, recognized how hard hereditary societies
must work to prove the legitimacy of their endeavors to both the public and professionals. House
museums like the MVHM&G, especially in the Southern and Northeastern United States, are
fairly common historic sites, with an estimated 15,000 house museums in the country, and they
are labeled as “charming places” with “kooky volunteers,” as Hinkel puts it.54 In her time at the
MVHM&G, Hinkel hoped to elevate the profile of this CDA-run museum, so that people cannot
write it off as such. Past CDA President General Brantley Knowles also felt the MVHM&G was
an incredibly professional endeavor. She remarked how impressive it was to be accredited by the
American Alliance of Museums as a house museum with a small staff, when only 8% of house
54 Susan R. Orr, Historic House Museum Sustainability in the 21st Century: Paths to Preservation (South Orange,
NJ: Seton Hall University, 2010), 7.
38
museums achieve this accreditation.55 Both Knowles and Hinkel explained the high standard to
which volunteers must be held at the house museum. Knowles stated that, “We need to show [the
public] that we’re not dilettante ladies that want to have their hands in some amusing project,” a
notion which women in these organizations have fought at least since Gibb’s publication in the
1950s.
The “kooky” volunteers that give their time to the projects of hereditary societies are
often the backbone of the institution. Hinkel is currently the sole staff member after the museum
battled COVID layoffs in Manhattan. She remarked that the size of the institution and hired staff
are some of the biggest challenges in running the museum according to best practices, and that
volunteers will be integral in rebuilding post-COVID engagement. Wheat clarified that many of
these institutions “cannot afford to hire the way they need to” and what money they do have is
used to seek out professionals, who are then supported by volunteers. In addition to providing
time and money, volunteers offer, as Hinkel said, a “never-ending source of wide-eyed
enthusiasm” that regenerates staff who might forget to stop and smell the roses, a sentiment
echoed by several other interviewees. She stated that, while professionals lend their formal
credentials to the authority of their place of employment, they may start to take “these incredible
places for granted.”
Shelby Carr, member of several hereditary societies and the Membership and Office
Coordinator for the Sons of the American Revolution in New York City (SAR), explained that
while the museum and lineage staff were separate at the SAR, the staff had a lot of cross
promotion, with most of their events being for and open to the public. Over with the Daughters
in a New York Chapter, Junior Member Katherine Johnson spoke of her chapter’s commitment to
55 “Accreditation by the Numbers,” American Alliance of Museums, July 1, 2022,
https://www.aam-us.org/programs/accreditation-excellence-programs/accreditation-by-the-numbers/.
39
preservation walks and historic house tours, as well as the talks and presentations given by
docents at chapter meetings.
At MVHM&G, Hinkel works closely with the CDA, whom she says is committed to their
“ancestry and philanthropic goals,” but her role is firmly focused on the philanthropic side,
which is the museum. Nevertheless, the sides are linked and invigorated by each other’s
achievements. The museum, like other house museums, depends on constant interaction with
both the public and scholars to avoid turning into a “time capsule,” which it cultivates through
regular programming and two annual William Randolph Hearst Fellows who conduct original
research projects. The American Revolution Institute, a museum for the public by the Society of
the Cincinnati, is similarly tied to the Society of the Cincinnati in terms of its governance and
support, but it is still its own endeavor created for the public. Another institution closely
associated with the Society of the Cincinnati is Anderson House in Washington D.C. Wheat
exclaimed Anderson House has a new $900,000 endowment in honor of their now-retired
librarian, Ellen McAllister Clarke. She was not associated with the society genealogically but
was so devoted to its library. Her skills as a librarian, mixed with the passion infused by
members, led to a world class collection on 18th century war literature.
In what could be considered a niche field within history and historic preservation,
Morgan and Hinkel shared their experiences in researching and working for these organizations.
Morgan was personally connected to the DAR through her mother and grandmother, who were
both members. Though she did not share their same feelings, its importance in her family’s life
opened her mind to “broader questions of heredity and inherited characteristics.” Hinkel was
more of a stranger to the CDA ahead of her employment, but soon found herself among a group
of “highly educated, highly professional” women who were so “interested in early American
40
history.” Now with a deeper understanding of the organization and its mission, she feels
comfortable shattering the idea that these organizations are filled with “ladies who lunch and
don’t do much else.”
These hereditary societies have similar goals of education and outreach, and their internal
goal of fostering community among members is shared, though how members have come to be
part of that community is varied. Women in the western states interviewed for this project mostly
joined as an activity to do with their mother or other friends. Tanzosh joined with her mother and
sister, though her mother’s retirement and need for an activity was what prompted their
application. Wicks and Brett also joined at the behest of their mothers. Krecker, mother of Brett,
was impressed by the women of hereditary societies who had spent a “lifetime gathering
information.” Brett moved back to Arizona in 2010 and found that DAR activity immediately
gave her “something to do” and was especially touched by her chapter’s interest in some of her
own family history projects. East coasters tended to also have family influence in their decision
to join, but also had social and philanthropic goals in their minds. Wheat received an heirloom
book on his family’s history at a young age, while Knowles joined CAR at 10 years old, which
filled her childhood with educational history-oriented field trips. Several interviewees on both
coasts confirmed their respective organizations offered an immediate network of “like-minded”
people and activities, particularly when moving to new cities.
All members recognized that older generations were generally more represented in
chapters than junior members. Tanzosh’s original thoughts were that it was going to “a lot of
older women.” While this was confirmed, she grew fond of the age demographic and felt she
gained surrogate aunts. Carr became involved in hereditary societies while living in Denver, and
experienced the same significant age gap as Tanzosh. Though the preponderance of retirees can
41
indicate a group with more financial means and time to volunteer, Carr did not feel her chapter
adequately catered to junior members with social activities or even convenient times for the
young professional or student. Once on the East Coast for her PhD studies, Carr affiliated with
chapters that fulfilled those wishes and consciously limited her time to organizations with “larger
junior contingents,” such as the Parent Chapter of CDA, which is the only CDA chapter with a
dedicated junior committee.
This study aimed to understand the unique emotional pull and outreach these hereditary
societies have for members. Johnson believed DAR emphasized a member’s “duty” to tell the
history of their ancestors and the country, and one of the ways that is done is through site
preservation. For Wheat, that duty is not just to the past, but also to the future. He explained that
his membership made him aware that he will one day be someone’s ancestor, and his
descendants may be the only ones that keep his memory alive. Memorably, he stated, “If it takes
you eight generations to get back, you may start thinking about eight generations going forward.”
Wheat further shared that “many people join because they want to keep green some aspect of
their family,” and be “part of a living inheritance.” Though Max Page claimed the past provided
this false sense of security to otherwise “modern people,” Wheat believed that the preservation
of “tangible memories,” through objects, land, or architecture, is “expression of gratitude for
these people who lived through important parts of American history or devoted particularly some
sort of sacrifice during that period.”56 Wheat further explained that genealogy is the avenue from
which a potential member joins, but it is the active research and preservation of shared history,
not just the history of famous people, that generates undeniable emotions and retains sustainable
membership.
56 Randall Mason and Max Page, Giving Preservation a History: Histories of Historic Preservation in the United
States(New York, NY: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2020), 29.
42
Discussion
These interviews revealed the importance of the amateur in historic preservation, and
what a large contingency of amateurs the hereditary society community represents. The
hereditary society community has established values around community, philanthropy,
volunteerism, family, and historic preservation. This community ultimately encourages a
preservation-oriented culture, from their fundraising efforts and community service projects to
activities and volunteer opportunities centered around history. While each chapter had their own
niche in their respective communities, they centered their engagement around preservation of a
site or documents, fundraising for scholarships, education, American holiday celebrations, and
veterans philanthropy.57
Each interviewee confirmed that non-members have a curiosity about their organizations
but whether that curiosity was rooted positively or negatively varied from person to person.
Especially in women’s hereditary societies, non-members tended to paint members as
“dilettante” ladies who lunched. Some were surprised the organizations exist, and others thought
it is a lot of older people lording over each other with their genealogy. While pride may be a
factor in joining for some, both Wheat and Knowles, who have been at the helm of significant
hereditary groups, pointed out that gratitude for the service or sacrifice of their ancestors was
more often the reasoning.
The Researcher’s Guide to Genealogy by Val D. Greenwood preached a philosophy
reflective of changes in historiography at the time. Far from the Hegelian histories of great men
doing great deeds, more modern modes of historiography analyze the stories of everyday people
and how they lived imperfect lives through historical events. His work picked up about 15 years
57“Volunteer Projects,” Daughters of the American Revolution, May 6, 2014,
https://www.dar.org/national-society/become-member/volunteer-projects.
43
after Alex Haley’s Roots sparked massive interest in family history, and home computers made
research even more accessible. While Greenwood did not address hereditary organizations, he
thoroughly explained the emotional connection people have to family history and the desire to
root oneself and find community. Quoting Old Testament scripture in his guide, genealogy
sought to “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their
fathers.”58 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which has been and continues to be a
significant contributor to genealogy, represented the earliest incarnation of the more democratic
form of genealogy argued for in Greenwood’s guide, and found scriptural justification for this in
the Book of Malachi 4:5-6.59 This connection to ancestral pasts breathes life into the past, and,
according to Greenwood’s research among psychologists, this understanding of the past and the
patterns within a family helped to create a more “secure, responsible, and self-directed person.”
Greenwood’s research skillfully illustrated the “why” behind genealogy for those who
have never been interested in it before. To him, family history was so valuable on an individual
level, and that value was why these organizations elicit such strong emotions from their
members. Family history merged genealogy with history to bring ancestors to life.60 According to
this guide, genealogy must fundamentally shift away from proving grand, perfect, or legitimate
lineages, and toward unpacking the proverbial skeletons in the closets and unmasking the
emotions of one’s ancestors. While DAR no doubt remembers famous names, the organization
now emphasizes members’ connections to regular people - the common wife or the young
drummer boy. The DAR’s philosophy is that an ancestor does not have to be noteworthy to be
important to a descendant or the broader historical narrative.
58 Greenwood, The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 566.
59 Greenwood, The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 566.
60 Greenwood, The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 567.
44
Pannekoek stated that “professional validation has become required to secure
recognition” and these societies certainly strive for that recognition by investing in
professionals.61 The interviewees who had knowledge and experience in this situation all
confirmed a harmonious relationship, and the professionals interviewed, especially Hinkel and
Morgan, expressed their appreciation for the amateur and, with Hinkel, pleasure in getting to
know just how knowledgeable members are. Beyond hereditary society members’ value as
advocates and allies, as I had originally posed, Morgan further insisted on their vitality in
accessing and documenting community history. Community history rejects top-down
historiographical approaches and instead embraces the local histories told by their respective
communities.62 It was hereditary society members’ unique involvement in history that was so
deeply rooted in specific communities that makes them terrific for engaging communities that
might otherwise be overlooked by or inaccessible to academics and professionals.
Morgan’s book, A Nation of Descendants, provided insight into the methodology of
genealogy outside of white Anglo-Saxon Protestants with colonial roots, particularly for African
American people who have more difficulty tracing family members because of the dehumanizing
institution of slavery, and Indigenous people who "fall outside the traditions of documentation."63
In addition to her highlighting of minority genealogies, she was one of only two authors to credit
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints with its contribution to genealogical research and the
expansion of genealogy beyond the upper classes. She also credited the pop culture influence of
television shows like Roots and Who Do You Think You Are with expanding the more recent
genealogy craze. However, Morgan's work acted more like a history of genealogy than a history
61 Frits Pannekoek, “The Rise of the Heritage Priesthood or the Decline of Community Based Heritage,” (Historic
Preservation Forum, Spring 1998, vol. 12. no.3), 5.
62Alison Twells, “Community History,” Community History - Articles - Making History (Institute of Historical
Research), https://archives.history.ac.uk/makinghistory/resources/articles/community_history.html.
63 Morgan, A Nation of Descendants, 5.
45
or exploration of hereditary organizations. But, in her writing about the DAR, she provided
examples of the DAR's establishment of libraries, mirroring women's suffrage groups, and their
more inclusive admissions requirements.64 While she correctly identified the blatant racism of
the earlier years of the DAR, such as when the DAR refused to let African American singer
Marian Anderson sing at Constitution Hall, Morgan’s book did not contend with the more recent
decades of the DAR, in which the DAR recognized its past wrongdoings.65 Her work also did not
address DAR’s tangible commitment to broadening paths to membership with only genealogy
courses, acceptance of DNA evidence, and the creation of Speciality Research guides for those
of African American, Spanish, Native American, or Jewish ancestry. 66 67
Despite the tendency of some authors to focus on the DAR’s political involvement and
institutional history, there is so much to be said about the Daughters’ role in preservation both
before and after the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. According to the DAR’s Historic
Sites and Properties Database, the DAR currently has a hand in 288 sites of historic significance
in all 50 states. In addition to the sites operated or owned by the DAR, they have contributed to
or commissioned several large scale memorials, such as the Women in Military Service
Memorial and permanent art at the United States Capitol Building, assisted in the marking
gravesites and reforestation of the country, and provided literacy outreach to underserved local
communities.
64 Morgan, A Nation of Descendants, 21, 28, 32
65“Dar Launches Archival Project to Celebrate the 80th Anniversary of Marian Anderson's Lincoln Memorial
Concert,” Daughters of the American Revolution, August 22, 2019,
https://www.dar.org/national-society/media-center/news-releases/dar-launches-archival-project-celebrate-80th-anniv
ersary.
66 “Dar Begins Accepting DNA Evidence and Launches New Online DNA Genealogy Class Family Tree DNA
Offers Special Discount on Y-DNA Testing for DAR Application Purposes,” Daughters of the American Revolution,
July 16, 2014,
https://www.dar.org/national-society/media-center/news-releases/dar-begins-accepting-dna-evidence-and-launches-n
ew
67 “Specialty Research,” Daughters of the American Revolution, October 26, 2022,
https://www.dar.org/national-society/genealogy/specialty-research.
46
Figure 3. DAR State Forest located in Figure 4. Portion of the DAR commissioned
southeastern Texas. Dedicated in 1929. art in the Capitol Building called “A
Courtesy of Texas State DAR. Bicentennial Tribute to the United States of
America”
These findings demonstrated strong relationships between the amateur and professional
in active preservation. It is important to note that hereditary societies serving as custodians of
history should not be interpreted as gatekeepers of history across the board. Certain hereditary
societies, namely the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy, propagate dangerous versions of
history like Lost Cause ideology, but these specific organizations are not representative of nor are
they wholeheartedly supported by the broader hereditary society community.68 The DAR feels a
particular kinship with being American and, more specifically, the American Revolution, but
they are by no means exclusionary in separating the American public from their own ancestral
history. Outside of chapter meetings, their work is focused on the public’s relationship with the
American past, from patriotic events and grave markings to funding historic preservation and
research. Hereditary groups embrace the value of the trained professional and dedicate
significant sums to supporting preservation projects. For example, the DAR Special Projects
Grants program provides $250,000 annually to preservation projects around the country and uses
68 Brendan Wolfe, “United Daughters of the Confederacy & White Supremacy,” Encyclopedia Virginia, November
16, 2020, https://encyclopediavirginia.org/united-daughters-of-the-confederacy-white-supremacy/.
47
professional preservationists to score the applications.69 These results show professional
preservationists and academics that hereditary societies welcome professionals and also that
these organizations are valuable resources for historians, curators, and preservationists alike in
their research and practice.
In researching the community and culture of hereditary groups, it was fascinating to
uncover how these organizations influenced the daily lives of members and what their
membership base looks like. Hereditary societies with regular meetings, activities, and
programming foster a strong membership base. The importance of these organizations to the
individual also affects how members give of their time, expertise, and money to support the
organization’s cause. The junior members interviewed in this project were divided in both their
original goal of joining and somewhat in what they get out of their membership. For the western
states, Tanzosh and Wicks both indicated they joined with their mothers as an activity to do
together, but ultimately found some fulfillment in taking leadership roles and having a service
oriented activity. They both noted that their chapters both have a significant portion of their
membership occupied by older generations. However, Carr and Johnson sought out these
organizations independent of their families and valued the strong friendships they have made
with junior peers in the organizations. Across the junior membership, though, was an agreement
that hereditary societies, namely the national multi-chapter organizations like DAR, provide
great networks and immediate connections when in a new town. For an increasingly mobile
generation of young professionals, setting up a sense of roots was deeply important for junior
members.
69 “Dar Historic Preservation Grants,” Daughters of the American Revolution, June 6, 2022,
https://www.dar.org/national-society/dar-historic-preservation-grants.
48
Davies’ work engaged the ways in which the DAR created community and a space for
women to exercise agency and leadership roles outside the home. Though the DAR did not play
a direct role in women’s suffrage, it was nevertheless an important part of women’s history in the
20th century. Today, the DAR is careful to not overstep its boundaries as an organization focused
on preservation and education, lest they lose their 501C3 status, and continues to provide women
with opportunities for community engagement, philanthropy, social events, and leadership roles.
As previously stated, Davies’ work was foundational in unpacking the history of
hereditary societies, but, having been written in the 1950s, lacks what is now 70 years of history
and evolution. Pieces of literature written in the intervening period between Davies’ and this
project only tackled certain parts of the hereditary society community, such as the history of
genealogy, neglected areas of history, such as women’s and minority histories, or questionable
political motivations that translated to public outreach. No authors tied the Daughters’ historic
past in the preservation movement with their current role as custodians of historic sites and the
benefits of their involvement in professional historical work.
These interviews revealed how family oriented these organizations were at heart. While it
may sound obvious to highlight that hereditary, i.e. family, societies were family oriented, it was
necessary to illustrate that these organizations were filled with a wealth of generational
knowledge and intergenerational connection, whether through junior memberships or entire
organizations dedicated to youth involvement, such as the CAR. Intergenerational membership
indicated that organizations were broad enough to encompass members across the age spectrum.
This is significant because, even though junior membership may often be overshadowed by older
women of the societies, their commitment to membership when their time is already spread
49
between careers, studies, relationships, and children suggests the value these memberships give
to their lives.
Growing the junior portion of the membership can be difficult, but junior members
interviewed suggested chapters schedule meetings and activities on weekends, during non-work
hours on weekdays, or offer programming in a hybrid format. Current juniors felt that junior
oriented programming and socials would also grow the junior membership. Wheat recommended
junior membership must be well integrated with the regular membership, and that their
relationship should be one of intergenerational exchange and accountability in their commitment
to the organization. Junior membership is a vital part of growing and sustaining membership and
renewing organizational investment in the future of preservation. Membership growth was only a
small part of this discussion in the interviews conducted, which may allude to members'
perception that sustainable growth is not a major concern. Finally, the emotional connection
hereditary society members felt to their specific ancestors, and certain portions of history should
not be discounted. As discussed in the literature review, one of Mayes’ reasons for why historic
places matter was the ancestral connection. When asked why they joined, several interviewees
used verbs like “honor” and “remember” to describe their motive. These words are verbs that
relate to someone other than the self; they are words that describe connection to and delineate
service of something greater than the individual.
50
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
The amateur ladies of the MVLA were the guardians of a major historic site when no one
else would take on the task, and today, the DAR and many other hereditary organizations
spearhead preservation projects around the country, both big and small. In unpacking the more
recent relationship between the amateur and the professional, the value of the amateur and
sincere interest in preservation is a continuous thread. Mayes explained that an estimated 73% of
Americans were interested in their family histories.70 This estimate is a boon not only for
hereditary societies but also historic sites and for-profit services such as Ancestry.com. People
are interested in both the tactile connection to their family histories and the stories that go along
with them. Hereditary societies’ role merits the recognition of their historic achievements and
their current commitments to continuously documenting and celebrating community history. The
DAR’s most recent project, funded by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, will celebrate
community history with new historic markers across the country as part of celebrating 250 years
since the country’s independence.71
70 Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 85.
71 “Dar and William G. Pomeroy Foundation® Launch Historic Marker Program to Commemorate Revolutionary
America,” Daughters of the American Revolution, October 25, 2022,
https://www.dar.org/national-society/media-center/news-releases/dar-and-william-g-pomeroy-foundation%C2%AE-l
aunch-historic.
51
Figure 5. Example of Revolutionary Marker that will be installed as part of a collaboration
between the DAR and William G. Pomeroy Foundation. Courtesy of the DAR.
The literature review revealed how women, particularly in the DAR, contributed to the
creation of national identity in the post Civil War period, and books by Strayer and Gibbs
illustrated the continued serious and professional preservation work undertaken by the DAR. The
findings from the interviews explained that a deep historical consciousness was one of the
reasons why certain states or regions may have more preservation oriented sites and projects.
Members did not mention whether they felt their organizations helped create the national
identity. Mendlicott’s article illustrated the DAR’s presence in the first half of the 20th century as
one of conservative values and active political involvement, which is not tolerated today, as it
would affect the DAR’s 501 (c)3 status. Members even mentioned that they enjoy that hereditary
societies are not politically affiliated now.
The issue of the amateur versus the professional was discussed at length in interviews.
Though it was not tackled in the reviewed literature to the same extent as in interviews,
interviewees explained that women in the early years of hereditary societies were not
professionally trained in historic preservation, conservation, or archaeology, because the field of
52
preservation was not yet professionalized. After their pioneering years in the late nineteenth
century, the field had a significant gap in documenting and recognizing hereditary societies’
contributions to the field. The findings revealed that amateur status was not necessarily an
indicator of a lack of knowledge or a group of “ladies who lunch.” Many of the interviewees
explained that members tend to have a great knowledge base in history, their own genealogy, and
ways to support their society’s mission. The findings also confirmed that some 60 years after
Strayer and Gibbs’ work in the mid twentieth century, the DAR and other women’s hereditary
societies are still deconstructing negative ideas about their identity. More recent literature also
addressed how professionalization risked alienating the necessary amateur.
Davies was the only author encountered in this project that wrote about hereditary
societies at length and connected them to the lineage of American historic preservation and the
Women’s Club Movement. Other than Davies, authors in the intervening period brushed over the
community that these organizations created or painted their historic predecessors as part of some
militant faction of patriotic women, namely Medlicott. It was understandable that a community
would not be treated seriously as a major draw or benefit of membership when outlining
quantitative accomplishments like fundraising and the number of sites maintained was much
easier and perhaps treated with greater respect. However, at over 190,000 members, the DAR
clearly possessed a large community that deserved analysis, and those interviewed for this
project agreed that the community forged within hereditary societies was beneficial to them. For
some, they gained aunt-like figures to mentor them, and others gained sincere friends among
their peers. The network provided was based on more than just genealogy; it was a genuine
interest in history, preservation, service, and community.
53
In Why Old Places Matters, Mayes listed that ancestors were one of the ways people
connected with historic places. Historic places can feel so removed from the present, and
historical figures can feel more literary than literal. Sometimes, it is the connection to someone
in your family tree that makes the past real and a historic structure more important, because, as
Wheat noted, it “brings you in touch with the emotions of your ancestors.” Uncovering this
personal connection explained why descendants hundreds of years later still feel a duty to the
past and carry out that duty through preservation, service, and the creation of genealogical
literature like Virkus’ Handbook.  In Morgan’s article, which covered a more historic era of
hereditary societies, she linked genealogy to deliberately improving one’s social capital.
However, Knowles stated, “In no way by joining any of the hereditary groups do I or any of the
people I know that are involved feel like in some way superior to others.” Statements like
Knowles spoke to more contemporary feelings about hereditary societies and how these
organizations evolved beyond creating or confirming social capital. Morgan’s book also
emphasized how genealogy informed one’s identity. This was confirmed in the interviews with
members, explaining how they felt a connection to the past, a duty to the future, and a kinship
with like-minded members because of these organizations.
The findings in this project largely supported and expanded the literature. This project
circulated a more contemporary account of the experience of hereditary societies membership
and filled in some of the preservation literature gaps previously outlined. From this project,
readers should better understand members’ perceptions, reasons for membership, and the breadth
of the hereditary society community. The professionals that had experience with hereditary
societies likewise confirmed that these organizations had so much to offer, not just in terms of
money and support for historic preservation, but also volunteers and actual historical knowledge.
54
The amateur greatly contributed to the field as custodians of historic sites and family histories
and practitioners of community history. The division between the professional and the amateur is
artificial, and a more modern divide codified by the Professional Qualifications Standards from
the Secretary of the Interior's Standards.72 But, a strong partnership between the amateurs in
hereditary societies and the professionals showed the permeability of these divisions. Their role
should not be discounted or evaluated on a purely historical level, which Mayes explained may
be the reason professionals are reluctant to engage members.73 From this work, professionals
should see the benefit of a bridged relationship with hereditary societies and actively seek out the
amateur as partners in their work.
Recommendations for the Future
In the future, this research can be expanded with more quantitative data to build solutions
for growing a sustainable junior membership in hereditary societies. Such research in partnership
with the Hereditary Society Community could build data that explains regional, cultural, and
generational discrepancies only touched upon in this project. Organizatio wide surveys or
surveys sent out by the Hereditary Society Community, the proverbial encyclopedia for
hereditary organizations, with both open format and multiple choice questions, may better
produce quantifiable data that could identify the extent of membership issues and propose
specific solutions for the growth of junior membership in several organizations. Furthermore,
research on and attendance at Hereditary Week may reveal more on how this yearly reunion
solidifies interest in hereditary societies, history, and builds community identity.
72Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration, Federal Register Vol. 48, No. 190,
September 29, 1983. Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration,
https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/FR-1983-09-29, 44739.
73 Mayes, Why Old Places Matter, 88.
55
APPENDIX
INTERVIEW PROTOCOL
The researcher, Jolie Vanier, from the University of Oregon is asking for your consent to this
research. The purpose of this research is to understand the perceived experience of either
membership with or employment by a lineage or hereditary organization. You are being asked to
participate because of your association with these organizations. 6-10 people will be interviewed
for this study. I expect that your participation will last no more than one hour during one visit.
Potential participants will be identified and recruited based on their association with lineage or
hereditary organizations or their connection to the field of historic preservation, or both. Potential
participants may be identified through previous or present professional connections of the
researcher and/or her thesis committee. Potential participants may also be identified through
published research, internet searches, or recommendations from the thesis committee or
University of Oregon’s Department of Historic Preservation. Potential participants will be
emailed about their invitation to participate in this study and provided with this informed consent
document ahead of their interview. Potential participants that complete this informed consent
document are considered official participants of the study, unless they later rescind their consent
and request the destruction of any information given to the researcher.
If you agree to participate in this research, your participation will be to answer a series of
questions pertaining to your association with a lineage or hereditary organization. There are no
right answers, I am interested in your experience as a whole. You may skip any question that
makes you uncomfortable and can request to terminate your participation. You may elect to have
your name kept anonymous in the final copy of my research. With your permission, your name
will be used in my thesis. This study will be conducted via telephone call or zoom call. I would
like to record this interview with your permission. Clips from the interview will not be published
in any capacity but are useful to me as a record.
I will take measures to protect your privacy. Despite taking steps to protect your privacy, I can
never fully guarantee your privacy will be protected. Measures I will take include: your
participation by Zoom or telephone will ensure participant privacy, as you may select the setting
in which you give your answers. Data will be stored on my personal laptop and discarded after
the final submission of my thesis. Individuals and organizations that conduct or monitor this
research may be permitted access to and inspect the research records. This may include access to
the information you provide to me. These individuals include my thesis committee members.
There may be risks of stress, emotional distress, inconvenience and possible loss of privacy and
confidentiality associated with participating in a research study. There are no known direct
56
benefits to you from participating in this study. However, it is hoped that information gained
from this study will help to grow the understanding of the contribution of hereditary and lineage
societies to historic preservation.
It is your choice to participate or not to participate in this research. If you do not wish to
interview via phone or Zoom, there are no alternatives to your participation. Taking part in this
research study is your decision. Your participation in this study is voluntary. You do not have to
take part in this study, but if you do, you can stop at any time. You have the right to choose not to
participate in any study-related activity or completely withdraw from continued participation at
any point in this study without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.
Your decision whether or not to participate will not affect your relationship with me or the
University of Oregon. You may request your information not be used up to one week after your
participation session and the recording of your participation will be deleted. There are no risks
associated with terminating your participation. There are no costs associated with this
participation in this research study. You will not be paid for taking part in this research
If you have questions, concerns, or have experienced a research related injury, contact the
researcher:
Jolie Vanier
(480)231-0072
jvanier@uoregon.edu or joliejvanier@yahoo.com
Statement of Consent
I have had the opportunity to read and consider the information in this form. I have asked any
questions necessary to make a decision about my participation. I understand that I can ask
additional questions throughout my participation.
I understand that by signing below, I volunteer to participate in this research. I understand that I
am not waiving any legal rights. I have been provided with a copy of this consent form. I
understand that if my ability to consent or assent for myself changes, either I or my legal
representative may be asked to re-consent prior to my continued participation in this study.
As described above, you will be recorded while performing the activities described above.
Recordings will be used for analysis only.
Initial the space below if you consent to the use of recordings as described.
____ I agree to the use of recordings.
With your permission, your name will be used in Jolie Vanier's thesis.
Initial in the space below if you consent to the use of your name as described.
57
____ I agree to the use of my name and the information and opinions I provide in the interview.
____ I confirm that I am an adult participant, over the age of 18 years old.
Name of Adult Participant _______________________________________________
Signature of Adult Participant _____________________________________________
Date _____________________________________________
I have explained the research to the participant and answered all of his/her questions. I believe
that he/she understands the information described in this consent form and freely consents to
participate.
Name of Research Team Member  _____________________________________________
Signature of Research Team Member  ___________________________________________
Date  _____________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Questions for Members:
Name? Location? Hereditary organizations you are involved with?
Leadership experience in these organizations?
What was your first impression of the DAR and other similar organizations?
What are your impressions of the DAR and other lineage organizations now?
What was your experience in applying to be a member? Were members helpful, withholding?
Why did you apply in the first place?
Tell me about your experience as a member. Are you involved?
What was your goal in becoming a member of this organization? Has the goal evolved?
How has DAR impacted your life, positively or negatively?
What do you know about historic preservation?
What do you know about the Daughters’ early history?
Do you feel that Daughters and lineage counterparts have a role to play in professional
preservation?
What are the benefits of nonprofessional entities such as lineage societies in historic
preservation?
58
How does the DAR work with professionals in preservation, academia, etc? Is the relationship
strained?
Do you feel judgment about being a member from non-members, friends, family, colleagues?
What sort of outreach does the DAR and/or your specific chapter perform?
Do you feel that your age range is well represented in your organization and/or chapter? If not,
why and is that a concern?
If you have children, do you envision your children being involved?
What skills or qualities do members of organizations possess that academics may lack?
What are the benefits of knitting lineage organizations together with the professional field of
historic preservation?
What are the benefits of non-professional entities such as lineage societies in historic
preservation?
How are the sites under the DAR’s charge being interpreted?
How do you envision the DAR growing?
Questions for Professionals:
Name? Location? Hereditary organizations you are involved with?
Why did you choose to research the practice of genealogy?
What was your first impression of these organizations?
What are your impressions now?
What do you know about historic preservation?
What do you know about the Daughters’ early history?
Do you feel that they have a role to play in professional preservation?
What are the benefits of nonprofessional entities such as lineage societies in historic
preservation?
Do you know how the DAR works with professionals in preservation, academia, etc? Is the
relationship strained?
What do you know about their outreach?
What skills or qualities do professionals possess that members may lack?
What skills or qualities do members of organizations possess that academics may lack?
Are there benefits? If so, What are the benefits of knitting lineage organizations together with the
professional field of historic preservation?
What are the benefits of non-professional entities such as lineage societies in historic
preservation?
________________________________________________________________________
Revisions to the U.S. Department Health and Human Services “Policy for Protection of Human
Research Subjects” exclude oral history from IRB review found under section §46.102:
1. Research means a systematic investigation, including research development, testing,
and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.
Activities that meet this definition constitute research for purposes of this policy,
59
whether or not they are conducted or supported under a program that is considered
research for other purposes. For example, some demonstration and service programs
may include research activities. For purposes of this part, the following activities are
deemed not to be research:
1. Scholarly and journalistic activities (e.g., oral history, journalism, biography,
literary criticism, legal research, and historical scholarship), including the
collection and use of information, that focus directly on the specific
individuals about whom the information is collected.
60
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Bishir, Catherine W. “Yuppies, Bubbas, and the Politics of Culture.” Perspectives in vernacular
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roy-foundation%C2%AE-launch-historic.
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on-members-its-founding.
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Davies, Wallace Evan. Patriotism on Parade; the Story of Veterans’ and Hereditary
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https://www.dar.org/national-society/did-you-know.
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Gallery.https://www.mountvernon.org/preservation/mount-vernon-ladies-association/mou
nt-vernon-through-time/mount-vernon-then-now-photographs/
Gibbs, Margaret. The DAR, 1st ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969.
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