Chapter House

Madonna of the Trail

Maryland Room

Fort Frederick

ABOUT US

Maryland Daughters of the American Revolution began in 1892 with the formation of Baltimore and Frederick Chapters. Since then we have grown to 47 chapters and more than 2750 members. Our headquarters is in Baltimore, and our members are distributed throughout the state, with half in the Washington/Baltimore metropolitan area, and half equally distributed in Western Maryland, the Eastern Shore, and Southern Maryland. No matter where they live, Maryland Daughters are vital and active members of their communities.

This year, they gave their time and talents to patriotic endeavors, such as Project Patriot, with our Boots for Troops campaign providing desert boots for our soldiers in Iraq. In their support of our active duty service men and women, our members volunteered many hundreds of hours, drove thousands of miles, and sent thousands of comfort items, cards, and cash contributions to our military in Landstuhl, Germany. In support of veterans, our members logged hundreds of volunteer hours, thousands of miles, and many thousands of dollars in cash and non-cash contributions for those who have given so much for to our country.

Education is key to the future, and Maryland Daughters worked tirelessly with schools throughout the state instilling patriotism and responsible citizenship in today's youth, enabling them to be prepared to lead in the future. We participated in scores of classrooms with DAR Good Citizens committee work. We sponsored more than 800 students pursuing American History through our essay contests, and hundreds of students in Junior American Citizens contests and activities.

We promoted literacy with members volunteering hundreds of hours and donating hundreds of books and thousands of dollars in support of child and adult literacy. We forwarded thousands of dollars in financial aid to DAR Schools and doubled the principal in our own state scholarship, awarding 10 state scholarships and 12 chapter scholarships.

This year was also a year of commemorations. We participated in our communities with programs, parades, and tree plantings to commemorate the 225th anniversary of Washington and Rochambeau's march to Yorktown; to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Maryland's colonial Fort Frederick, giving funds toward reconstruction of its officers' quarters; and to celebrate the Victory at Yorktown. We distributed thousands of flags at events and parades, including to newly naturalized citizens. Maryland Daughters are proud to have welcomed more than 550 naturalized citizens at naturalization ceremonies around the state.

We kept our members informed with monthly women's issues bulletins, established a sunshine fund for our members in need, and trained and mentored chairmen, chapter regents, and our younger members.