Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Alleghany Chapter, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Records must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Alleghany Chapter, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Records, 1890-2010, Ms1995-019, Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The initial collection was donated to Special Collections in July 1995.

Accruals

Additional materials were donated in May 1997, June 1998, November 2000, April 2009, February 2011, and January 2012. Additional donations are expected in the future.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the July 1995 donation and May 1997 accrual of the Alleghany Chapter, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Records was completed in November 1996 and October 1997 by student assistants Helen Harrison and Gina Ellis, and by Laura Katz Smith, Manuscripts Curator. The June 1998, November 2000, and April 2009 accruals were processed in April 2009 by Kira A. Dietz, Processing and Acquisitions Archivist. The 2011 accrual was processed in December 2011, at which time minor changes were made to the descriptive information. January 2012 materials were added to the collection at the time of their donation.

Historical Information

The Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) was formed in 1890 as an organization to "perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence, by the acquisition and protection of historical spots, and the erection of monuments; by the encouragement of historical research in relation to the Revolution and the publication of its results; by the preservation of documents and relics, and of the records of the individual services of the Revolutionary soldiers and patriots, and by the promotion of celebrations of all patriotic anniversaries." The motto is "God, Home, and Country." Membership in the D.A.R. is eligible to "any woman 18 years or older, regardless of race, religion, or ethnic background, who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution." "Patriot" includes several types of military, civil, or other service in the course of the Revolution.

The Alleghany Chapter was organized in Blacksburg, Virginia, in January 1911. The first officers of the chapter were Mrs. Paul Barringer, Regent; Miss Ellen McDonald, Vice–Regent; Mrs. Alexander Black, Treasurer; Mrs. J.S.A. Johnson, Recording Secretary; Mrs. Nelson Mayo, Corresponding Secretary; and Mrs. James Otey, Registrar and Chair of the History Committee. Many of the charter members were descended from pioneers who held land in the New River section of the Alleghany Mountains, now known as "Trans–Alleghany Pioneers." The original members chose the name "Alleghany" over an individual hero of the Revolutionary War as their name, to preserve the colonial history and traditions of the region.

The chapter members erected several markers in Blacksburg and the region memorializing people and events of its colonial history. Most noteworthy is the marker at Barger Fort on Ribbles Spring in Christiansburg, on the grave of Revolutionary soldier and early settler Giles Thomas in the Blacksburg Cemetery, and in memory of Col. William Patton and the pioneers who lost their lives in the Drapers Meadow Massacre in 1755, placed near Smithfield Plantation in Blacksburg.

Scope and Content

The Alleghany Chapter, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Records contain several types of materials including bound books and ledgers, published bulletins and magazines, conference and committee programs, scrapbooks, and historical newsclippings. The collection also contains the original charter and framed awards.

Two boxes of the collection consist of bound books or ledgers. Box 1 contains Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution rosters from the founding of the DAR in 1890 through the mid-1930s, and a National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution lineage book from 1898. Box 9 holds Alleghany Chapter ledgers: membership records, 1911-1991; meeting minutes, 1911-2009; and financial records, 1957-2010.

The collection houses the Virigina DAR News Bulletin from 1962-1991 and the Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine from 1928-1932, 1987. It also contains incomplete runs of Alleghany Chapter yearbooks and supplements from 1947 to 2009 and the Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution yearbooks from 1980 to 1991.

The programs in the collection relate to chapter, state, and national Daughters of the American Revolution conferences and committees. Examples include materials from Alleghany Chapter annual meetings, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Continental Congress programs and centennial celebration literature, and Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution State Conferences.

The collection includes several scrapbooks and folders of loose newsclippings. The scrapbooks feature photographs of local and national events, programs, and correspondence related to scholarships and service. Scrapbooks in this collection date from 1931 through 2008. The newsclippings often relate to individual members of the Alleghany Chapter, as well as to chapter projects and interests (i.e. the Preston family, the Smithfield plantation, and grave/memorial markers). Clippings in the collection range from the 1920s to the 1970s and come from a variety of local and regional newspapers.

An oversize box (Box 8) contains the original framed charter for the Alleghany Chapter from 1911.The application for the charter is also a part of the collection and can be found in Box 10. Box 8 also houses several framed awards the chapter received between 1942 and 1953.

Arrangement

Materials in this collection are arranged in the following series: Series I: Administrative Information (including chapter history, membership records, constitution and by-laws), 1890-2010; Series II: Awards, 1912-1953; Markers and Memorials (including information on placement of grave and memorial markers and obituaries), 1968-2006; Minutes and Financial Records (ledgers), 1911-2010; Publications (including yearbooks, conference programs, bulletins, and newspaper clippings), 1910-2009; and Scrapbooks and Photographs, 1938-2010.

Series are arranged in alphabetical order. Materials within each series are arranged by material type, then chronologically.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Daughters of the American Revolution. Alleghany Chapter.

Subjects:

• Local/Regional History
• Montgomery County (Va.)