Special bronze DAR 250 Patriots Marker to be dedicated Memorial Day at TPWM Center

On Memorial Day, Monday, May 27, the heroic contributions of men and women of the American Revolution will be honored by dedicating the impressive DAR American 250 Patriots Marker at 1 p.m., at the Texas Panhandle War Memorial Center on 4115 S. Georgia. The unveiling and presentation of the marker follows the war memorial's annual ceremony being held earlier in the day.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution established the DAR America 250 Patriots Marker project to raise public awareness of the men and women who fought to achieve American independence. The National Society’s goal is to place at least one marker in every state in advance of the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary in 2026.

The United States Semiquincentennial Commission, established in July 2016, was charged with planning nationwide celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the United States. DAR Honorary President General Lynn Forney Young has been honored with a seat on this national commission and will be the guest speaker for the dedication of the Texas District 1, DAR America 250 Patriots Marker. Young is also the Honorary Texas State Regent.

Deborah Hendrick, corresponding secretary of NSDAR Esther McCrory Chapter of Amarillo, said that the 250 Patriots Marker was a huge monument and would really be a great thing for this area.

Jeanne Ann Gibson, Vice Regent of the Esther McCrory Chapter in Amarillo, has been heading up the project for this area and said that it has been a long time in the making. In fact, Gibson said the whole process started around three years ago.

“We had to apply to the international office, which resides in Washington, D.C.,” Gibson said. “After we filled out the 30-page application, each chapter had to apply for a grant for the marker. Once they were all approved and they received the money, it went into a pool, and we sent out the final application for approval.”

The 30x30-inch marker is made of solid bronze and will be supported by an eight-foot pole in the garden area. The marker and pole actually arrived in February via UPS, and the pole was sunk in concrete with a circular base. Flowers will be planted in the area to highlight the beautiful marker, according to Gibson.

The ceremony will be very impressive, with men in revolutionary-style uniforms advancing the colors, which are planned to be the Betsy Ross flag, and a revolutionary-style cannon will be fired once after the dedication. In addition, the Pledge to the American flag, the American Crede and the Texas pledge will be recited by those in attendance.

The first America 250 Marker in Texas was dedicated by the Texas DAR at the Spanish Governor’s Palace in San Antonio on Nov. 12, 2022. This marker will be the seventh in Texas to be dedicated.

Other District 1 DAR Chapters include Esther McCrory and Molly Goodnight in Amarillo; Josiah Bartlett in Borger; Comancheria in Canadian; Molino de Viento in Dalhart; Francis Rainey and Nancy Anderson in Lubbock; Mary McCoy Baines in Plainview; Wolf Creek in Perryton; Western Trail in Vernon; La Paisana in Wellington and Major Francis Grice in Wichita Falls. There are 39 counties total that the District covers.

According to the DAR website, The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded on Oct. 11, 1890, during a time that was marked by a revival in patriotism and intense interest in the beginnings of the United States of America. Women felt the desire to express their patriotic feelings and were frustrated by their exclusion from men's organizations formed to perpetuate the memory of ancestors who fought to make this country free and independent. As a result, a group of pioneering women in the nation's capital formed their own organization and the Daughters of the American Revolution has carried the torch of patriotism ever since.

The objectives laid forth in the first meeting of the DAR have remained the same in 125 years of active service to the nation. Those objectives are: historical - to perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence; educational - to carry out the injunction of Washington in his farewell address to the American people, "to promote, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge, thus developing an enlightened public opinion; and patriotic - to cherish, maintain, and extend the institutions of American freedom, to foster true patriotism and love of country, and to aid in securing for mankind all the blessings of liberty.

Through the DAR Genealogical Research System (www.dar.org/GRS), the public can access a free database of information amassed by the DAR about these patriots.

DAR is a nonprofit, nonpolitical women’s service organization with more than 185,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide. In 2023, DAR members across the nation and around the world volunteered more than 7 million hours of public service.

On July 21, 1890, William O. McDowell, a great-grandson of Hannah White Arnett, published an article in the Washington Post, offering to help form a society to be known as the Daughters of the American Revolution. The first meeting of the society was held in Aug. 9 of that year.

The first DAR chapter was organized on Oct. 11, 1890, at the Strathmore Arms, home of Mary Smith Lockwood, one of the DAR’s four co-founders. Other founders were Eugenia Washington, a great-grandniece of George Washington, Ellen Hardin Walworth and Mary Desha.

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 is eligible for membership. DAR members passionately carry out the timeless mission of promoting historic preservation, education and patriotism.

To learn more about the work of today’s DAR, visit www.dar.org.

More information about the Amarillo Chapter of Texas Daughters of the American Republic can be found by contacting Deborah Hendrick by email at deborah@sanleon.net, or by phone at 806-324-3679.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Bronze DAR American 250 Patriots Marker to be dedicated at TPWM Center