No Longer Forgotten – Update on the E Pluribus Unum Educational Initiative

Denise Doring VanBuren, President General

February 1, 2021

E Pluribus Unum – “out of many, one” – was first featured on the original 1776 design of the Great Seal of the United States and was formally adopted by the U.S. Congress as our nation’s official motto in 1782. The Latin phrase reminds us that from the original Thirteen Colonies emerged a single nation.

I also believe the unifying phrase is a fitting description for the diverse men and women who joined together in order to create and then sustain our nation. I believe it is critically important for DAR to raise appreciation for the sacrifice and courage of ALL Revolutionary War Patriots. For across the broad spectrum of the American experience, we came together in that great “melting pot” to unite as one people and one nation – and I believe that DAR can and should be a leader in identifying the Patriots who for too long have gone unacknowledged for their bravery, sacrifice and commitment.

In 2020, we launched an important five-year effort called the “E Pluribus Unum Educational Initiative” to increase awareness of non-traditional Revolutionary War Patriots, including those who were African American, Native American and female. Given DAR’s purpose to perpetuate the legacy of all of the men and women who achieved independence, we believe we have a decided role to play in researching and promoting how diversified participants assisted in the creation of our nation. We are committed to better telling the stories of these Patriots, who have all too often been left out of the pages of history.

We have established the three primary goals of the E Pluribus Unum Educational Initiative:

Expand research on the experiences of people of color, including Patriots of African, Indigenous and non-European or mixed-heritage descent.
Discover additional names and stories of Patriots of color who supported the American Revolution and contributed to the cause of Independence.
Provide more historical, educational and genealogical resources about people of color and women during the Colonial period on our DAR website.

A cross-departmental team from DAR Headquarters has been exploring and developing recommendations for the initiative and establishing contacts within historical, genealogical and academic communities to ensure that our work merits professional credibility. We are pursuing a multi-phased approach that will expand genealogical research/access, support scholarship on the history of people of color during the American Revolution and present information in an easily accessible way to DAR members and the public alike.

We are currently in Phase One of the initiative by expanding, enhancing and making more accessible the research DAR started decades ago with the Forgotten Patriots Project. The DAR publication, Forgotten Patriots - African American and American Indian Patriots of the Revolutionary War: A Guide to Service, Sources, and Studies, already lists more than 6,600 names of Black, Indigenous and mixed-heritage people who contributed to American Independence; it was originally published in 2001 and then greatly expanded when republished in 2008 (and currently available as a free PDF download on the DAR website). The book spawned a symposium on the topic by the DAR Library and an exhibit within the DAR Museum.

Another key goal of the initiative is to fund original research concentrated on people of color who contributed to the American Revolution. I am immensely pleased to report that the National Society will be creating a new position within our DAR Library staff focused on this important work. The staff member will work not only with DAR staff who are researching Applications, but he/she will also consult with other outside organizations and professionals engaged in similar research in order to help identify and verify Patriots of color to expand our list in the Forgotten Patriots Project.

We are excited for the many ways we hope this educational initiative will bring more awareness to, and appreciation of, Revolutionary War Patriots of ALL backgrounds as we approach the 250^th anniversary of the founding of our country. We hope to ignite a desire in more people to research their own lineage and connect with their past, as we encourage them to also consider membership in the DAR. I look forward to sharing many more updates with you throughout 2021 as the components of the project come together and new resources are created.

We have historically referred to these men and women as Forgotten Patriots. It is my hope that they will no longer be “forgotten,” and that we can instead point with pride to their myriad contributions to our independence. I hope that you will join me to support this DAR effort to illustrate that from many, we are, indeed, one.

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