The Daughters of the American Revolution is often portrayed as a slightly uptight service organization for debutante ball hostesses, but as Gaspar de Portolà chapter member Hilary Paulson put it, “We’re really just a bunch of history geeks.” Attending their meetings, this is apparent: members boast extensive knowledge of their ancestors, participate in plays about America’s past, and eat historical snacks.
The DAR is nothing if not dedicated: meetings open with members reciting the DAR pledge, the Pledge of Allegiance, the American’s Creed, the preamble to the Constitution, and the national anthem.
Despite the formalities, meetings are casual—they’re held at members’ homes, where they joke with each other, chat about vacation plans, and enjoy snacks, which are plenty and on theme. Their April meeting included gingerbread cake made with a recipe from George Washington’s mother and hot chocolate, a colonial delicacy. Member Rita Lucas presented the month’s intermission minute, which chapter Regent Linda White described as a presentation about “absolutely nothing of relevance, importance, or interest to anybody,” on dobby borders, the horizontal bands at the bottom of towels.
“We’re a traditional chapter, but we have a lot more fun than most of them. We’re a lot more laid back,” White said. “There are other chapters that are all different. And they’re all unique in their own way, and you just have to pick the one that fits your personality.”
The DAR was founded in 1890 after the Sons of the American Revolution voted against including women. Today, there are over 3,000 DAR chapters around the world. The Gaspar de Portolà Chapter, named after the Spanish explorer, was founded in 1924. The chapter is based in Stanford, but its bounds extend from Redwood City to Salinas.
To join the DAR, members must prove direct descent from someone who served in or supported patriot forces during the American Revolution. The national DAR runs a database called the Genealogical Research System for prospective members to trace ancestry.
“My patriot’s a man by the name of Captain David Strong, and his family came up on the fifth ship to America called the Mary and John. Last year, I figured out I can trace my family back to the Mayflower, which was kind of fun. I’m related to William Bradford, who was the founder of Plymouth,” Paulson said. “It’s very fun when something pops up on your screen like that.”
“My patriot did service in Pennsylvania and in Maryland, so he sucked it up two times,” member Bev Weager said. “I spent many nights at two or three in the morning researching on the computer trying to find something, and I finally, after a year, found one. Since then, I’ve found several more ancestors, but I’m not spending as much time with that.”
Monthly meetings are just a fraction of the Gaspar de Portolà Chapter’s work, and most time is spent discussing upcoming projects. The group participates in local events, like the Historic Union of Redwood City’s Memorial Day celebration, and hosts their own. They recently collaborated with the Los Altos DAR chapter to celebrate the Battle of Lexington’s 250th anniversary. Gaspar de Portolà members also organize gravestone cleanings, little free libraries, and historical markers. Last year, they exceeded the California DAR state society’s service requirement by 500 hours.
Bev Weager, a former chapter regent, organizes the chapter’s volunteer work for the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center. “It’s heartwarming to see the veterans who leave with a smile because they’ve had good care at the Palo Alto facility,” she said. “They’ll stop at the front desk and thank us for being there. They’re thanking us, and it’s like, no, what they have done for our country is everything. So that’s my passion, and I don’t know that I would have done it so much if I hadn’t joined the DAR.”
The chapter also organizes an annual play based on a historical theme. This year’s was Road to Revolution: Not Your Mother’s Colonial Dames. Performers were assigned characters from American history, dressed up in historical garb, and read monologues.
“We take characters from American history, and the members bring them to life. We really enjoy this. Everybody lets their hair down,” White said.
“We’ve done historical assassins, we’ve done the Continental Congress, and we did one that was based on the ’60s music scene—so real variety. It’s usually in somebody’s living room, and we do it once a year. We’ve done it for quite a while,” Paulson said.
Events and meetings may be the DAR’s bread and butter, but community is the real driver of the organization. “Most of us join because we want to make new friendships and the ties that bind and all that,” White said. “It tends to be skewed towards older women, because younger women have so many options, so many other things—they have families and they’re building careers. But we have a good smattering of people. There’s something for everyone, and there are a lot of activities for younger women who want to join.”
“These meetings are a hoot,” treasurer Marsha Abbott said. “There’s a lot of laughter—it’s great. But people are also very dedicated to their service.”
“Some of the other chapters, they do the business and then they go home,” Weager said. “This group, you can see they all get along. Everyone is just really super nice.”
