Colonial Dames of America

Colonial Dames of America
The Society of the Colonial Dames of America
	The Colonial Dames of America logo
Abbreviation	CDA
Founded	1890
Founders	Maria Denning Van Rensselaer
Type	Non-profit, lineage society
Focus	Historic preservation, education, patriotism
Headquarters	Mount Vernon Hotel Museum,; New York City, New York, United States
Executive Director	Nicole Scholet
Website	cda1890.org

The Colonial Dames of America (CDA) is an American organization comprising women who descend from one or more ancestors who lived in British North America between 1607 and 1775, and who aided the colonies in public office, in military service, or in another acceptable capacity. The CDA is listed as an approved lineage society with the Hereditary Society Community of the United States of America.

The National Headquarters is at Mount Vernon Hotel Museum in New York City, which was purchased by the CDA in 1924.

History

National Headquarters at Mount Vernon Hotel Museum in New York City

The organization was founded in 1890, shortly before the founding of two similar societies, The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America and the Daughters of the American Revolution. In April 1890, Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer (Maria Denning Van Rensselaer), Mrs. John Lyon Gardiner, and Mrs. Archibald Gracie King decided to found a patriotic society of women descended from Colonial ancestry.^[1]

The original CDA insignia was designed by Tiffany & Co.^[1]

Notable members

Lillie Stella Acer Ballagh, founder of Matinee Musical Club, Los Angeles^[2]
Fanny Yarborough Bickett (1870-1941), First Lady of North Carolina and first female president of the North Carolina Railroad
Florence Anderson Clark (1835–1918), author, newspaper editor, librarian, university dean
Cynthia Beverley Tucker Washington Coleman (1832–1908), writer and preservationist in Williamsburg, Virginia.^[3]
Elizabeth Jarvis Colt, businesswoman and philanthropist; founder of the Connecticut chapter of CDA^[4]
Julia Livingston Delafield (1837–1914), philanthropist and historian
Laura Dayton Fessenden (1852-1924), author
Laura Montgomery Henderson (1867-1940), president, Alabama Federation of Women's Clubs
Sallie Foster Harshbarger, active in civic and fraternal work^[2]
Mary Hilliard Hinton, historian, painter, anti-suffragist, and white supremacist
Alice Curtice Moyer^[5]
Dale Mercer, socialite and television personality
Edith Allen Phelps, twice president of the Oklahoma Library Association, the first professional in the Library Science field in the Oklahoma City system^[2]
Adelaide Hamilton (1830-1915), last surviving granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton. She joined the organisation when it was first launched.
Daisy Allen Story, socialite, suffragist, and clubwoman
Florence Warfield Sillers, historian and socialite
May Erwin Talmadge, 19th President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution
Fay Webb-Gardner, First Lady of North Carolina
Lynn Forney Young, lineage society leader

References

^ ^a ^b "About CDA – the Colonial Dames of America".
^ ^a ^b ^c Binheim, Max; Elvin, Charles A (1928). Women of the West; a series of biographical sketches of living eminent women in the eleven western states of the United States of America. Retrieved 8 August 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "Dictionary of Virginia Biography - Cynthia Beverley Tucker Washington Coleman Biography". www.lva.virginia.gov. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
^ Woodward, Walt (22 November 2021). "A Formidable Founding – The National Society of Colonial Dames of America in Connecticut". Today in Connecticut History. Office of the Connecticut State Historian. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
^ Johnson, Anne (1914). Notable women of St. Louis, 1914. St. Louis, Woodward. p. 166. Retrieved 17 August 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

External links

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[cda1890-1] "About CDA – the Colonial Dames of America".

[Binheim-2] Binheim, Max; Elvin, Charles A (1928). Women of the West; a series of biographical sketches of living eminent women in the eleven western states of the United States of America. Retrieved 8 August 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[3] "Dictionary of Virginia Biography - Cynthia Beverley Tucker Washington Coleman Biography". www.lva.virginia.gov. Retrieved 2021-05-15.

[Colt-4] Woodward, Walt (22 November 2021). "A Formidable Founding – The National Society of Colonial Dames of America in Connecticut". Today in Connecticut History. Office of the Connecticut State Historian. Retrieved 26 November 2021.

[Johnson-5] Johnson, Anne (1914). Notable women of St. Louis, 1914. St. Louis, Woodward. p. 166. Retrieved 17 August 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

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