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Visiting the Land of Lincoln

Lynn Young, President General

On April 14, 2016, I flew to St. Louis and drove a rental car 170 miles to Bloomington for the 120th Illinois State Conference, Sharon Crumbaker Frizzell, State Regent. The Illinois Society has 7600 members in 106 chapters and a large number attended the conference.  Sharon’s theme is “Be Yourself, Be Together, Be DAR” and not surprisingly, her emblem is the bee.  With a motto of “Communicate, Educate, Motivate" bees and beehives were everywhere!  For Sharon’s project, members have generously sponsored one of the baseball dugouts at the new KDS ball field.

I arrived just in time to join many of the Illinois Daughters in placing a wreath at the graves of Letitia Green Stevenson and her sister, Julia Green Scott, the only sisters to serve as Presidents General.  Letitia Green Stevenson, wife of Adlai E. Stevenson, Vice President of the United States, was the second and fourth President General of the National Society,serving two terms from 1893–1895 and from 1896–1898.  Mrs. Stevenson saw the need for a “Continental Hall, quarters for officers and a commodious hall for memorial occasions, committee rooms and rooms for small gatherings.”  She then appointed a committee to raise funds for the construction of Memorial Continental Hall.  It was during her administration that the monument to Mary Ball Washington was dedicated in 1894. 

Julia Green Scott, wife of Matthew T. Scott, was elected as the eighth President General, serving 1909–1913.  In 1908 she dedicated the first Illinois State Park and her remarks are still relevant to our own National Headquarters.  She said, in part, that “the monuments of a nation are an epitome of its history, whose real worth is not in their architectural beauty, but in the scenes and the qualities of character which they commemorate.  The Daughters of the American Revolution successfully teaches the value of the preservation of historic locations all across our great nation.”  Mrs. Scott initiated the Penny-a-Day Plan to pay the remaining debt on Memorial Continental Hall and during her term more than $100,000 was raised.  She was the first to preside in the completed Memorial Continental Hall on February 11, 1910, which she called “the temple of Patriotism,” “the Valhalla,” “a symphony in stone.” You can learn more about these ladies and our other Presidents General here.

We returned to the hotel in time for the State Officers’ Club dinner, Pamela Bork, President.   Christian McWhirter, a social and cultural historian and Assistant Editor for the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, presented an interesting program on the Music of Lincoln’s Time.   He surprised most of us by giving the history of the song “Dixie.”  Premiering in New York in 1859 it was one of Abraham Lincoln’s favorite songs and it was played at his inauguration.  Mr. McWhirter, author of Battle Hymns: The Power and Popularity of Music in the Civil War, said America has unique tradition of not only creating more music but also having it more widely available than anywhere else.  His talk closed with “Battle Hymn of the Republic” composed by Julia Ward Howe and it was a pleasure to mention that she was a DAR member.   Pamela presented an Honorarium to the Guardian Trust Campaign from the State Officers’ Club.

Friday morning began with the Cameo Society Breakfast in which retired judge and attorney Susan Snow presented a marvelous history lesson on the Magna Carta.  Several members illustrated the issue as they demanded their land and money back from King John.  For those wanting to learn more, she provided a bibliography of her sources and particularly recommended Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty by Dan Jones.

The centerpieces were fabric fortune cookies which Susan had made and we enjoyed sharing our fortunes with our tablemates.  We chuckled when Honorary Vice President General, Georganne Marty’s fortune said she “would meet the President General. “  That was the first fortune to come true as I was seated next to her.  Cameo Club President Christina Bannon announced a contribution to the Guardian Trust Campaign.

Club Chaplain Julie Davila performed a touching Memorial Service in which she displayed photographs and biographies of the deceased members, then played the guitar and sang “Amazing Grace.”  It was a pleasure to bring greetings and display the special commemorative 125th Congress certificate which members may order online

With a short time to spare before the next event, we visited the exhibit room in which almost every committee had a display.

During the administration of State Regent Frances Grant Triebel in 1983, the state began acquiring replicas of historic flags.  In 1999 the Illinois Pages started the tradition of adding a flag to honor the outgoing state regent.  The collection now has 39 flags, including the state flag designed by a DAR member, which served as a beautiful backdrop for the platform.

Following the reports of the State Officers and prior to the discussion on bylaw amendments, Sharon read from an excerpt from Roberts Rules of Order, page 453, “…under the chairmanship of an invited nonmember who is skilled at presiding...”  and appointed Kay Crews, PRP, who presided beautifully over a spirited bylaws discussion with kindness and humor.  As one member stated, it was “an exercise in democracy.”

The American History Luncheon featured Dr. Mike Lockett, professional storyteller, former teacher and administrator, who spoke on “Accepting Freedom’s Challenge – Lesser Known Stories of Citizens Who Have Kept America Free”.  He played the mandolin and shared vignettes unfamiliar to most of us about people who have impacted our nation’s history: George Washington, Stephen Decatur, Ulysses S. Grant, Sally Tomkins.

The District Directors and State Chairs reported in the afternoon following the remainder of the Bylaws discussion. 

  • One district reported more than 18,500 hours of community service
  • One chapter achieved a 10% net increase in membership
  • American Heritage committee announced the national first place winner
  • The Chapter Development and Revitalization Chair reported sobering statistics and encouraged chapter officers and members to complete the GEP training and officer training

DAR Service for Veterans Chair Cyndi Valencia presented the Outstanding Veteran Volunteer, Chuck Schreyer, a Vietnam Veteran, and he is also the National winner.  He was overwhelmed by the warm response of the Illinois Daughters and said it was the greatest honor of his life.  Cyndi reported that 77% of Illinois Chapters are partners of the Vietnam 50th anniversary commemoration and have held 162 events.  Cyndi presented me with a two volume roster of the names of thousands of more than 20,000 Vietnam veterans in Illinois. 

It was delightful to welcome members to the Heritage Club reception in which I had the opportunity to thank them for their financial support of the National Society and our objectives as well as answer questions.

After dinner on Friday evening, the 144th Illinois Army National Guard Band entertained with a concert prior to the evening session. My keynote speech that night was on the Guardian Trust Campaign and our need to create an endowment fund to provide for the future restoration, preservation and conservation of our headquarters. 

When I last visited the Illinois State Conference in 2008, I mentioned my lifelong admiration for Abraham Lincoln and recited a poem I wrote in second grade:

Abraham Lincoln was tall and skinny
He had two legs and that’s not many.

Sharon read the short poem then added to it:

Old Abe is gone and that's a fact.
All that's left is his black top hat.

She then presented me with a top hat charm for my bracelet and a gift to the Guardian Trust Campaign.  Hilarious!

It was most impressive to learn that each of the Illinois Chapters have earned 100% participation certificates and an honor to present them to the Chapter Regents.

Following the announcement of Outstanding Junior, Julia Davila, who had served as my Page at the wonderful 125th anniversary celebration of the Chicago Chapter, nominations were given for the Candidates for State Office.  Illinois has a unique situation in which half of their state officers are elected each of the two year administration.

The evening ended as we greeted the members and guests in a receiving line followed by birthday cake to celebrate our 125th. Regrettably, I had to leave the busy bees of Illinois during the State Chairman’s Club breakfast on Saturday to return to St. Louis for the Missouri State Conference.