I remember when I would walk to NFA in the mid-1960s either from my home on Spaulding Street or from our next home on Pratt Street. I would walk past the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Chapter building at 42 Rockwell St. The stately edifice held presence on that street with its granite two-storied building with a sweeping veranda seemingly awaiting rocking chairs.

I didn’t know much about this organization until well after my high school time. I’d see a car or float in the various parades but I paid no heed to the women, unless I knew them. I knew that they would take old worn-out American flags and with a solemn ceremony, the flags would be burned properly.

The history of the D.A.R. began in the last part of the 19th century. Much had been written about the growth of American business and the growth of trade to foreign lands, but the view of the history behind our country lagged in the area of its growth and magnitude. The United States’ spear of influence found its way into all areas of an expanding world for the good of most, and yet the negative effect on some. Throughout the world, England led the way (not always politely) in showing strength and influences in countries with the United States coming up from the rear and closing quickly in their own sphere of influence. Many concerned citizens formed historical preservation societies in their area of the world. In the United States there was no difference as citizens developed historical organizations such as the Sons of the American Revolution. Of course, it was strictly a men’s organization. So, on July 13, 1890, Mary Smith Lockwood published a story about an American Revolutionary woman named Hannah White Arnett. The story tells of her overhearing a meeting at her residence where her husband was taking part. A group of men were talking about proclaiming their support of the British crown so they could keep their money, houses and businesses and Mrs. Arnett walked into this men’s meeting and began nagging and harassing them until they reneged this unthinkable thing. While in full nagging mode, she announced her intention to leave her husband until he acquiesced to her demand. Mrs. Arnett was a force to be reckoned with, yet the story wasn’t made known until 31 years after her death and many more years since the Revolutionary War.

The first Chapter of the D.A.R. was organized on Oct. 11, 1890, at the home of Mary Smith Lockwood, one of the four co-founders. An influential First Lady of the United States of America lent her status to the need and importance of this emerging organization. First Lady Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison served this organization as their first President General and helped established, in 1896, their goals when it was incorporated by Congressional charter. The structure of the D.A.R. has three levels: the National Society, the State Society and the Chapter which must follow guidelines; at least 12 members or prospective members who live in the same city or town with the correct lineage, that being a direct bloodline descendant from an ancestor who added achievement for the War of American Independence. The Chapter is overseen by an executive board composed of various officers. There are many areas in which the Chapter provides guidance in historical events such as placing flags on Revolutionary grave markers on Memorial Day. But it must be said that each Chapter has their own responsibilities which they are able to do to stress the history found in their city or town such as Norwich.

Norwich’s Faith Trumbull Chapter was founded on Nov. 23, 1893. This Chapter was named after Faith Robinson Trumbull who had married Jonathan Trumbull in the year 1735. During the Revolutionary War, she assisted the effort to provide items which she collected for the war. During the presidential visit of President William Howard Taft in the summer of 1909, the D.A.R. presented the City of Norwich with a memorial fountain located on The Little Plain located on the triangle of land between Union Street and Broadway (near St. Patrick’s Cathedral). This provided a remembrance of the donation of the land as a park for the people of Norwich to enjoy for many years to come to sit and relax under the trees. The land had been given to the city by two outstanding citizens, Captain Hezekiah Perkins and the Honorable Jabez Huntington, in the year 1811. Over 2,000 people attended this event where Mrs. Ellen M.R. Bishop made the presentation of the fountain to the City of Norwich Mayor Costello Lippett. During this event, Rev. Edwin W. Bishop D.D. stated, “One of the crowning glories of Norwich is that it has had men of vision.” The sermon was given be Rev. Joseph F. Cobb, pastor of the Universalist Church who said, “Ask not of the days that are past.”

On the Fourth of July, 1901, The Faith Trumbull Chapter of the D.A.R. unveiled a bronze plaque on a large granite bolder near the entrance of the Olde Burial Ground in Norwich Town, in memory of the unnamed twenty French soldiers who died here during the Revolutionary War. These men had been serving under the leadership of The Marque de Lafayette.

The idea of fostering the concepts found in the American culture continued in Norwich when the Faith Trumbull Chapter was allowed to purchase the Perkins-Rockwell residence on Rockwell Street in 1934. This home was purchased by Mrs. Cole, a relative of the Rockwell family. This informative museum was added onto with the purchase of the Nathanial Backus House in 1952.

In just about any organization, you can find areas that go unseen or even dismissed due to the norms of the locale. When this happens, we or the organization tend to follow the past when facing something not to our liking.

At the D.A.R. Constitution Hall in 1939, the great Marian Anderson, a black opera singer, was denied permission to sing to the public. This situation must be introduced by a previous event. In the year 1932, the D.A.R. adopted a new rule which excluded African-American artists from performing at their events due to mixed racial seating at musical performances that would take place there. Because of this D.A.R. rule, an event happened. The First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, resigned from the D.A.R. organization. She wrote a scathing letter to the D.A.R. in which she said, “I am in complete disagreement with the attitude taken in refusing Constitution Hall to a great artist ... You had an opportunity to lead in an enlightened way and it seems to me that your organization has failed.” At Mrs. Roosevelt’s request, an open-air concert was held at the Lincoln Memorial with 75,000 concertgoers of all races attending. In 1952, the D.A.R. reversed its course and allowed all races welcomed. In 1977, the first Black American was accepted in the Detroit Chapter, yet in 1984, a Black woman was not allowed in the Washington, D.C. Chapter. The reason may be other than race. There are many reasons why a person may not be acceptable as a member such as: lineage requirements (related to a Revolutionary relative), divorce, spite or even neighbors’ dislike following the inquest into the candidate’s background. In 2019, a woman of color was elected to the D.A.R. National Board of Management when she was installed as the New York State Regent. Notable American women that have been accepted into the D.A.R. are: Ada E. Brown, an African-American woman who is a federal judge in the Northern District of Texas; Laura Bush, former First Lady of the United States; and Elizabeth Dole, former U.S. Senator from North Carolina, former president of the American Red Cross and former transportation secretary of the United States.

Many organizations do not change one iota since their founding and they tend to go out of style. Those that change and adapt to the new norms seem to grow and prosper. Because of the health concerns of the covid pandemic, the Faith Trumbull Chapter Museum has been closed. The future of this civic and historical organization will continue to grow and prosper as we, the citizens and new immigrants, remember those five important American words, “Liberty and Freedom For All.” As the future generation look back at the history that we are part of, I hope that those not yet born will look at us in a favorable view.

Bill Shannon is a retired Norwich Public Schools teacher and a lifelong resident of Norwich.