Regent Sarah Shea Lynch welcomed The Manhattan Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) to the historic Fraunces Tavern for their year end meeting and luncheon. The group celebrated recent inductees and discussed service projects for the new year. New York City was hit hard by the pandemic but the Manhattan Chapter NSDAR pooled their resources to make a difference with local charities.
NSDAR is a non-profit and non-political society led, staffed, and funded entirely by women, dedicated to supporting the mission and interests: of education, historic preservation, and inclusive patriotism. The DAR organization is one of the most inclusive genealogical societies in the United States. Membership in the DAR today is open to all women, regardless of race or religion, who can prove lineal bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving United States independence.
Each year, DAR members donate their resources and volunteer thousands of hours of service to local communities. The Manhattan Chapter NSDAR holds an annual gift drive for veterans in the New York City VA system. Graduating ROTC cadets receive copies of the Constitution, and one senior is given a scholarship through the Wilhelmena Rhodes Kelly Award. Manhattan Chapter NSDAR holds programs throughout the year at the Fraunces Tavern Museum. Recent notable guest speakers included Emmy Winning News Anchor Cheryl Wills, author, journalist, former Presidential aide Sydney Blumenthal, and Pulitzer Prize Winner Ron Chernow, among others. These are just a few examples of the mission-based initiatives supported by the women of the Manhattan Chapter NSDAR.
Manhattan Chapter NSDAR members enjoyed lunch at Fraunces Tavern, New York’s oldest and most historic bar and restaurant; Fraunces Tavern® is a National Landmark building that once served as a meeting place for many of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. In 1783 George Washington gathered his officers at Fraunces Tavern to thank them for their service and bid them farewell before returning home. The building has become the site for the Fraunces Tavern Museum which houses a collection of historical artifacts about the American Revolution.
The Manhattan Chapter NSDAR’s current leadership is Sarah Shea Lynch (Regent), Linda Rhodes Jones (Vice Regent), Evelyn Carmichael (Chaplain), Audrey Fields (Recording Secretary), Maggie Rhodes Nugent (Corresponding Secretary), Melanie Wells (Treasurer), Alyssa Ritch-Frel (Registrar), Eugenia Askren (Historian), Donna Horak (Librarian) and Linda Rhodes Jones (District Director I, II & XII).
Members include: Anne Elizabeth Fisk Bergan, Kathy Punzalan, Patricia Altschul, Elizabeth Boltres, Katherine Bryan, Betty Murray, Hannah Krause, Joan Pedley, Donna Horak, Nicole Buzzelli, Renee Phillips, Karen Reynolds, Courtney Katzenstein, Mary Marshall Anderson, Evelyn Carmichael, Holly Villaire, Virginia Mugan, Linda Rhodes Jones, Emma Stuhlmann, Joyce Hanly, Maureen Bagwell, Grace Sallustio, Maggie Elizabeth Rhodes, Hannah Streck, Jessica Huff, Karen Compton, Adriana Pezzulli, Jennifer Christine Vaughan Maanavi, Loraine Faina, Heather Lottner, Misty Beckenbach-Perez, Alexandra Spinks, Martha Millard, Becky Gliber, Heather L Barlow, Colette Coffman, Charlotte Hsu, Jennifer Cullinan, Muriel Roberts, Melanie Wells, Sherry Crichfield, Sandra Pezzulli, Kelly Costello, Rebecca Hsu, Sarah Shea Lynch, Elizabeth Remington, Miranda Patterson, Sue Scott, Audrey Fields, Eugenia Askren, Margaret.L. Moser, Sarah Hsu, Alyssa Haak, Crystal House, Elizabeth Davis Reynard, Alyssa Ritch Frel, Mary Catherine Ludlam, Michelle Kinney, Donna Pointer, Margaret Spencer, Rebecca Kay Grindrod Schacht, Vivian Taylor, Suzanne Mancuso, Sarah de Donato, Linda Brooke, Kerensa Harrell, Bonnie Comley, Ellen Rhett Hasell, Victoria Hamill Chall, Colleen Manzo, Katherine Terry, Mary Kate Gorman and Carolyn Jones Borris.
DAR members are women who come from diverse backgrounds and have various interests. Their common bond is their lineal descent from the Patriots of the American Revolution. To learn more about The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, see: www.DAR.org
