Photographs of the first Daughters of the American Revolution Continental Congress in 1892 are, in a word, scary.
Back then, ankle-length dresses that looked like recycled castle drapes and stern hair-dos were apparently trs chic. Meanwhile, smiling for the camera was frowned upon. From the looks of them, you would not want to meet the original DAR ladies in a blind alley.
Mark KennedyNow, move ahead 123 years.
Michelle Olivier, a 33-year-old Chattanooga stay-at-home mom with a master's degree, is part of a new wave of younger DAR members in the Chattanooga area who are connecting with their family roots through the venerable preservation society. That the DAR survives -- and even thrives -- in the 21st century is a testament to a deep vein of patriotism that remains strong in America. Yes, the DAR appears to be in our DNA.
As recently as 2011, 11,676 women were newly confirmed nationally for DAR membership, according to the group, the biggest one-year surge since 13,805 members were minted in 1921.
Members credit the Internet. To become a member, a woman must be at least 18 years old and be able to trace her family history to someone who "provided service or direct assistance in achieving America's independence," often a Revolutionary War soldier. Genealogy databases and DAR-kept family histories have made this kind of genealogical research -- once done with stacks of dusty old family Bibles -- a snap.
Olivier said she got interested in genealogy after she put together a family tree for a reunion of cousins about a decade ago. When she moved to Chattanooga four years ago, Olivier said she was looking for a service club to join and remembered that her
grandmother was a DAR member. Olivier dug up her grandmother's DAR papers and learned that she was related to a Revolutionary War drummer named Thomas Brown, an Irish immigrant who served in several Virginia military units.
The idea of being part of a service organization with patriotic roots like the DAR appealed to her, she said.
"A lot of people my age don't want to just give money to a charity; we want to be involved in groups that actually do things," she said.
Olivier, with the help of her DAR friends, recently put together CARE packages for U.S. armed service folks stationed abroad. She also appreciates that the DAR is deeply committed to public service projects such as sprucing up the national cemetery here.
While she is -- by far -- the youngest member in her DAR chapter, she says another group with younger members meets on weekends to accommodate working moms. Olivier says she likes the timeless conventions of DAR meetings, which include history talks and committee work. She is especially fond of the conservation committee's efforts on recycling and tree planting -- anything to help the planet, she says.
Perhaps more importantly, she says the DAR makes her feel more connected to the past. Now, when she reads a book about American history she can imagine someone from her family living in that moment.
In researching her family history, Olivier, who is originally from Ohio, discovered she is the direct descendent of a boy who was born into captivity among the Cherokee living near Chattanooga five generations ago -- a geographical coincidence that fascinates her.
"For the people involved in DAR, it holds a strong place in their hearts," she says. "They feel like they know their ancestors. People who are involved in DAR pass it to their kids."
Olivier says she already has plans for her 2-year-old daughter, Clara, to become a member of the CAR, the Children of the American Revolution. And the older women in the DAR have taken to calling Clara their little "DAR-let."
Ironically, the Internet and its vast ability to connect the dots on family histories may usher in a golden age of historic preservation.
And, in that sense, the time machines foretold in science fiction may finally be at hand.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645. Follow him on Twitter @TFPCOLUMNIST. Subscribe to his Facebook updates at facebook.com/mkennedycolumnist.