DAR Service in World War I
Check out a lecture about the exhibit here
One hundred years ago, the United States of America entered World War 1. Although President Woodrow Wilson’s administration maintained a neutral stance during the early years of the conflict, Germany’s increased aggression towards the U.S. resulted in America declaring war on April 6, 1917.
Entry into the Great War elicited an extraordinary response from women across the country. Members of the DAR were no exception. Resilient women rose to the challenge, dedicating themselves to war relief activities that stretched from their living rooms to the battlefields of France, rendering service to their country worthy of their patriot ancestors. The DAR’s 26th Continental Congress commenced only ten days after war was declared. Sarah Mitchell Guernsey was sworn in as President General. A natural born leader, Mrs. Guernsey formed the War Relief Service Committee during her first week in office.
This exhibit honors the DAR members who selflessly and tirelessly dedicated themselves to the war relief effort. Their hard work and patriotic spirit contributed much to America’s victory. The accomplishments of selected DAR hidden heroes are highlighted. Featured are photographs, letters, bulletins, and scrapbooks from the NSDAR Archives.
“Every woman should take part individually in the campaign among American women for sufficient national defense which will insure peace and prosperity for this nation and enable us to stand up in the council of the nations a strong nation among the strong, and be a protecting friend of the weak. Our destiny is a high one as a nation, and the women of the country have as definite a duty today as they had in the time that tried the souls of men and women in 1776.”
– President General Story’s address to 25th Continental Congress, after President Wilson’s speech
On display: Photograph of President Woodrow Wilson attending Continental Congress at Memorial Continental Hall, 1916. (NSDAR Archives)
On display: War Time Pledge, circa 1917. (NSDAR Archives)
On display: Newspaper article “D.A.R. Enlists in War Relief Services” from the Letitia Green Stevenson Chapter (IL) Scrapbook, circa 1917. (NSDAR Archives)
“That the service of the home is not confined within the four walls of the house; that the service of the country is not confined within army posts or battlefields, even in war time; that the service of God cannot be bounded by the four walls of the church, but lies out in the open in our every-day lives – these are the Society’s deeper meanings which should inspire every Daughter of the American Revolution.”
On display: The Deeper Meaning of Our Daughters of the American Revolution Organization, 1918. (NSDAR Archives)
The War Relief Service Committee was a DAR National Committee formed to organize aid efforts during World War I. The Committee consisted of Chairman Julia Green Scott, Vice-Chairmen Adele Steiner Burleson and Mina Miller Edison, Director of Publicity Clara Hadley Wait, and Secretary Marie Wilkinson Hodgkins, with six district/division directors and vice-directors around the country to supervise the work. The Committee also called for the State Regents to form State Committees to cooperate with the National Committee and suggested that each Chapter begin a fund for war relief activities.
On display: Photograph of the War Relief Service Committee, South Portico of Memorial Continental Hall, from Clara Hadley Wait’s Scrapbook, 1917. (NSDAR Archives)
Julia Green Scott
National Chairman of War Relief Service Committee
President General Guernsey appointed Honorary President General Julia Green Scott National Chairman of the War Relief Service Committee. Mrs. Scott was a key figure in building DAR’s hand-in-hand relationships with other relief organizations. At 77 years of age, she took on the task of leading the committee, coordinating and communicating with the Daughters regarding their war-time service. She was able to achieve this by working closely with the Committee’s Director of Publicity, Clara Hadley Wait. Together, they collaborated with the state regents to do the work required of their states, and encouraged their chapter regents to reach individual members.
On display: Photograph of Julia Green Scott, no date. (NSDAR Archives)
On display: Firsthand account from the Orange Mountain Chapter (NJ) Scrapbook, 1917. (NSDAR Archives)
On display: Firsthand account from the Orange Mountain Chapter (NJ) Scrapbook, 1917. (NSDAR Archives)
Clara Hadley Wait
Director of Publicity of War Relief Service Committee
The prominent voice of the War Relief Service Committee was Michigan State Regent, Clara Hadley Wait. Besides leading her own State, her service in this position greatly impacted all of the DAR’s volunteer service efforts during the war. On behalf of the committee she issued 100,000 registration blanks to DAR members to survey the skills and services they could pledge. The information from these forms helped catalog resources for both the National Society’s and the U.S. government’s war efforts.
On display: Photograph of Clara Hadley Wait, from Clara Hadley Wait’s Scrapbook, no date. (NSDAR Archives)
Mrs. Wait wrote bulletins that were distributed to every chapter and read during their meetings. The bulletins were republished by newspapers around the country and used by the U.S. government through the Committee of the Council of National Defense. Copies were requested also by the Bureau of Public Information, the National YWCA, the National Committee of Patriotic Societies, and the press.
Throughout the war, Mrs. Wait compiled a record of the relief work the Daughters had completed. Bulletin No. 17 is a sample of the extent of the work completed by the DAR chapters and state societies during the first year of America’s involvement in the Great War.
On display: War Relief Service Committee Bulletin No. 17, “Summary of War Work from June 21, 1917 to October 1, 1917.” (NSDAR Archives)