Elijah Clarke Chapter
National Society
Daughters of the American Revolution
Our History
As the twentieth century dawned, many Americans looked back in history to find inspiration for our national future. Particularly dedicated were the ladies who met in Washington, D.C., in 1890, to establish the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. The founders of this new organization pledged to perpetuate the memory of the founders of our country by keeping alive their ideals of truth, freedom, and democracy. They vowed to educate future generations of Americans about the lives and sacrifices of our earliest citizens. They also promised to collect and preserve documents and records of the Revolutionary War period.
Interest in the NSDAR spread quickly across the country, and by 1892, the Athens Chapter of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution was established. Among its seventeen charter members was a "real" Daughter, Mary Jordan Newton, whose father was a Revolutionary War soldier. After a faltering start, the Athens Chapter disbanded several years later. Enthusiasm for the purposes of the national organization remained strong in Athens, however, and on February 12, 1901, fourteen local ladies gathered at the home of Anna Camak to reorganize a local DAR chapter. This they did, and they chose to name their new chapter in honor of Gen. Elijah Clarke, a Revolutionary War general who defended the frontier of northern Georgia.
The early members of the Elijah Clarke Chapter moved quickly to establish a positive presence in the community. In 1904, the chapter presented its first of many gifts to Athens, the handsome monument to General Clarke that now stands in the middle of Broad Street downtown. Over the years, the chapter has marked many historic sites in and around Athens--including the graves of Elijah and Hanna Clarke in nearby Lincoln County, and the graves of two Revolutionary War soldiers buried in the Old Athens Cemetery on Jackson Street.
The ladies of the Elijah Clarke Chapter have even made a remarkably significant contribution to the national organization. May Erwin Talmadge, who served as regent of the local chapter 1916-1919, went on to become President General of the NSDAR. Mrs. Talmadge, who held the organization’s highest office between 1944 and 1947, is the only Georgian ever to serve in that capacity.
Local Daughters actively support many DAR academic scholarship and educational programs to benefit area youngsters in public, private, and parochial schools. For example, high school seniors in Clarke, Oconee, and Madison counties compete for college scholarship prizes in the annual DAR Good Citizen Scholarship Contest. In addition, local elementary school students participate in the American History Essay Award Contest held every February. The Elijah Clarke Chapter annually awards medals to outstanding cadets in ROTC programs at area high schools and at the University of Georgia.
The chapter successfully encourages the local government to officially proclaim the week of September 17 Constitution Week in Athens-Clarke County. Library displays, educational handouts for local middle and high school students, and pealing of bells in downtown churches--and the University of Georgia Chapel--at the hour of the Constitution’s signing more than two centuries ago are part of the chapter’s annual celebration.
Conservation and town beautification efforts have long been a focus of chapter work. A white oak tree planted on the grounds of Chase Street School in 1935 to honor retiring Chapter Regent Annie Crawford was the first of many "Regent’s Trees" rooted in Elijah Clarke tradition. Since then, many oaks, dogwoods, and maples have been dedicated to the chapter’s retiring regents at schools and other public sites all over town.
With a century of service behind them, the ladies of the Elijah Clarke Chapter will not be content to rest as the twenty-first century begins. Instead, the nearly 150 local Daughters will continue to look for new and relevant ways to make the national organization’s motto, "God, Home, and Country," even more meaningful to our community and our nation.
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