Dazzling Daughters Collection

653) Gertrude Carraway

“You didn’t want to physically be in the way of Gertrude. If Gertrude would have stood up to Hitler, it would have been a two-year war. She just flat out got it done,” -Nelson McDaniel, President of the New Bern [North Carolina] Historical Society

653: Gertrude Carraway

Journalist, Teacher, Speaker, Historian, Director and President General of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution

Born: 6 August 1896, New Bern, North Carolina, United States of America

Died: 7 May 1993, New Bern, North Carolina, United States of America

Gertrude graduated from high school at the age of fifteen. Her father was a banker, and she was raised from the get-go to be a strong, iron willed woman. She went to college, taught English, and coached the basketball and debate teams at the school where she worked. Eventually, Gertrude left teaching to become a journalist for a variety of publications, including the Associated Press, before turning to freelance writing.

Her job as a freelance writer left Gertrude with plenty of free time. She filled this time with a variety of efforts and projects, including leading the charge to restore Tryon Palace in her home state of North Carolina. Rebuilding Tryon Palace wasn’t as simple as putting a few bricks back in their place. The palace had burned to the ground in 1798, and Gertrude's work on rebuilding began in the early 1920’s. Blueprints for the palace had long since disappeared, and houses and other construction works had sprung up in its place, but Gertrude didn’t give up. She talked to the grandchildren of the original architect before finally uncovering the blueprints at a historical society in New York. Gertrude even got her friend to pledge to donate her entire estate, worth $1 Million, after her death to see the palace finished. When Mrs. Latham died in 1951, the state of North Carolina accepted the money, and construction on Tryon Palace's restoration started soon after.

When the palace opened in 1959, Gertrude instructed tour guides in a lengthy course. The guides were to know everything about the palace, from the history behind it to the wallpapers and doorknobs in each of the rooms (most of the decor had been personally chosen by Gertrude herself).

Gertrude even found the time to travel the world twice, visiting every state except Alaska and journeying as far as China. She also helped create the North Carolina Historical Marker Program.

When Gertrude ran for the office of President General of the NSDAR, she ran unopposed. She also led the effort to make her friend, President of the United States Dwight Eisenhower, create the national Constitution Week holiday. Gertrude was appointed publicity committee chair of the North Carolina DAR before her application had even been approved at the National Level, meaning she was a state committee chair without a national number for fifteen days! She served as state regent and national vice president before her election as President General. Gertrude even went on to create the National Magazine as a way to stop DAR from collapsing into bankruptcy. Today’s magazine, American Spirit, is highly subscribed to by DAR members and outsiders alike.

The DAR came under fire during the era of the Civil Rights movement for their refusal to let singer Marian Anderson sing at Constitutional Hall, one of the most prestigious concert halls in Washington DC, in 1939. In response to the controversy, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from DAR and referred to the organization as narrow minded.

This was Gertrude’s response to the First Lady’s remarks: “If being patriotic, with deep love of country and its welfare, and being zealous to maintain our American Way of Life can be considered ‘narrow and conservative,’ then we plead guilty, and are proud to be guilty of such a worthy characteristic.”

Gertrude knew every first lady of the United States between Eleanor Roosevelt and Barbara Bush. She was also interviewed by Jackie before she became a Kennedy.

While Gertrude was President General membership increased at an unprecedented rate that hasn’t been seen since. Junior Membership rates increased, the society’s debt was paid off, no new debt was incurred, and Gertrude oversaw the unveiling of the painting The Battle of Bennington by famed artist Anna Mary Robertson Moses (better known as Grandma Moses).

Gertrude was born and died in the same bed, having never married or had children. Gertrude wasn’t meant for homemaking, she was made to work, and she worked hard every day of her life.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.ourstate.com/gertrude-carraway/

http://www.ncdar.org/ncdar/html/history.html

https://www.dar.org/national-society/dar-presidents-general

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25430672/gertrude-sprague-carraway

423) Joan Whitney-Payson

423: Joan Whitney-Payson

Businesswoman and Major League Baseball Executive

Born: 5 February 1903, New York City, New York, United States of America

Died: 4 October 1975, New York City, New York, United States of America

Joan was the first woman to buy majority control of a team in a North American Sports League and was the third woman overall to own a major baseball club. When she invested into the expansion of the New York Mets in 1962, she became the club’s first majority stockholder.

She was also the owner of several racehorses; two of whom won the Kentucky Derby. While she loved going to the races, Joan was also focused on her baseball teams as well, carrying a portable radio in her purse to listen on the go, or while at stuffy society dinners and functions.

Joan’s passion for sports derived from her parents’ own love of all things sport: whether it be rowing, horse racing, or baseball. Joan’s mother even earned the title, “First Lady of the American Turf” after she overtook the family horse racing legacy once her husband passed away.

Just before her nineteenth birthday, Joan was admitted and introduced to society after her parents threw her a ball at The Plaza. Two years later, after another party to announce her coming of age, Joan was engaged to a man of equal society rank. Their wedding plans made headlines.

The day before the stock market crash that signaled the start of the Great Depression, Joan and an old school friend opened Young Books. Luckily Joan was wealthy enough and had a strong enough business-sense the store remained open for nearly a decade. Besides the bookstore, Joan and her brother Jock also invested in the movie business, with one notable contribution being helping pay for the production of Gone With the Wind.

Joan’s oldest son, PFC Daniel C. Payson, was killed in action at the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. She and her husband had five children in total.

Besides the businesses and sports, Joan was also active in politics, and was a member of the Women’s National Republican Club. During the 1956 Presidential Election, it was noted that Joan made the second highest individual contribution, donating over $65,000 to the Republican Party.

As an heiress she used much of her own money to invest in hospitals and advancing medical research. In fact, she donated $8.3 Million to the New York Hospital, the place she would later take her last breath. Other medical centers that received donations from Joan include St. Mary’s Hospital in Long Beach, Florida, The United Hospital Fund, the North Shore Hospital in Manhasset, New York, The Lighthouse in Manhattan, and the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation. She was also the owner of several art galleries.

One of her daughters would assume the title of President of the New York Mets after Joan’s death. In 1980, the Payson family made the decision to sell the New York Mets. The following year, the new owners established a Mets Hall of Fame. Joan was one of the first two admitted into it. The family also decided to sell some of Joan’s works of art, one of which, a Van Gogh, sold for $39.9 Million—the proceeds were donated to charity.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/88dc3fa9

https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/05/archives/joan-whitney-payson-72-mets-owner-dies-head-of-greentree-stables-in.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8748/joan-payson

368) Emily Warren Roebling

"The name of Emily Warren Roebling will...be inseparably associated with all that is admirable in human nature and all that is wonderful in the constructive world of art" -Abram Hewitt

(On the Bridge itself):

"An everlasting monument to the self-sacrificing devotion of a woman and of her capacity for that higher education from which she has been too long disbarred," -Abram Hewitt

368: Emily Warren Roebling

Engineer Known For Her Contributions in Completing the Brooklyn Bridge

Born: 23 September 1843, Cold Spring, New York, United States of America

Died: 28 February 1903, Trenton, New Jersey, United States of America

Emily was well educated and looked after by her older, and favorite, brother, General Kemble Warren, who served in the War Between the States. While visiting him one day, Emily was introduced to Washington Roebling, the man who become her husband a year later.

Soon after the wedding, Emily and Washington went to Europe after Emily’s father-in-law requested they travel abroad to study caissons disease, better known as “the bends”. While overseas, Emily would give birth to their only child, a son named John. Emily’s father-in-law had sent them on this mission because he was beginning the monumental task that would eventually formulate in the Brooklyn Bridge.

Emily’s father-in-law died in 1869 of tetanus, and Washington was named Chief Engineer in his father’s place. Three years after taking over, Washington became ill with the bends and would remain bedridden for the remainder of the project—launching Emily into history. Though Washington retained the title of Chief Engineer, Emily took over the majority of the tasks involved, working as a liaison between her husband and the men working onsite.

She was the first person to cross the bridge upon its opening in 1883.

Emily also earned her law degree in 1899; spending the last years of her life as a society figure. She attended functions for the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Huguenot Society, and other groups. Emily was even present for the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II in Russia and was presented to Queen Victoria in England in 1896.

Her construction pursuits also continued after the bridge was finished. Emily oversaw the building of the Roebling Mansion in Trenton, New Jersey, and the soldier’s camp built in Long Island for soldiers returning from the Spanish American War. While there, Emily also worked as a nurse.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Bygone Badass Broads by Mackenzi Lee

The Who, the What, and the When: 65 Artists Illustrate the Secret Sidekicks of History by Jenny Volvovski, Julia Rothman, and Matt LaMothe

Sources:

http://roeblingmuseum.org/ourstory/emily-warren-roebling/

https://www.asce.org/templates/person-bio-detail.aspx?id=11203

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9190747/emily-roebling

A Dazzling Daughter is a woman who was (or is) a member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, and made their mark on history. They were outstanding in whatever field it is they chose to partake in, and as a member of NSDAR myself, I feel so privileged to be able to share these stories with you. Who knows, maybe someday I'll be a Dazzling Daughter myself!

PS, also included are the women who have a DAR chapter named after them. In those cases the woman in question was not a member of DAR but has been honored by the ladies of the organization instead.

Entries:

Alice Paul, Women's Suffrage Advocate
Barbara Bush, Former First Lady of the United States
Charlotte Parkhurst, Stagecoach Driver in the Old West (Not a DAR Member, but has a chapter named after her)
Clara Barton, Union Battlefield Nurse and Founder of the American Red Cross
Eleanor Roosevelt, the Longest Serving First Lady in United States History
Emily Geiger, Revolutionary War Civilian Volunteer (not a DAR Member, but has a Chapter named for her)
Emily Warren Roebling, Engineer Noted for Her Work in Completing the Brooklyn Bridge
Gertrude Carraway, Former President General of Whom the Society Owes So Much
Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, Computer Programmer Who Served in the US Navy for Over Thirty Years
Harriet Taylor Upton, Women's Suffrage Advocate, Political Icon, Dazzling Daughter, Need I Go On...
Jessie Fremont, Author & Wife of John C Fremont
Joan Whitney-Payson, The First Majority Shareholder of the New York Mets, Socialite, and Businesswoman
Julia Grant, Former First Lady of the United States
Laura Bush, Former First Lady of the United States
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, The First Woman in US History to be Awarded the Medal of Honor
Nancy Reagan, Former First Lady of the United States
Nancy Ward, The Last Beloved Woman of the Cherokee (Has a Chapter Named After Her)
Phyllis Schlafly, Conservative Advocate
Rosalynn Carter, Former First Lady of the United States of America
Dr. Susan Anderson, One of the First Female Doctors in Colorado (Not an Actual DAR Member, but There is a Chapter Named After Her in the Colorado State Society so Consider Her an Honorable Mention)
Susan B Anthony, Leader in the United States' Women's Suffrage Fight

144) Clara Barton

Courtesy of the American Battlefield Trust

"When you were weak and I was strong, I toiled for you. Now you are strong...and I ask your aid...for the ballet." -Clara's plea for women's suffrage in the United States

144) Clara Barton

Arguably the Most Famous Nurse in United States' History

Born: 25 December 1821, Oxford, Massachusetts, United States of America

Died: 12 April 1912, Glen Echo, Maryland, United States of America

Her real name was actually Clarissa (my cousin named her first born Clarisa—partially in honor of Clara).

Clara was the founder of the American Red Cross (which she would head up for the first twenty-three years of the organization’s history) and was called the Angel of the Battlefield during the War Between the States.

She is featured in the Magic Treehouse book Civil War on Sunday by Mary Pope Osborne, which is personally my favorite in the series.

When the war began, she was working in the US Patent Office in Washington DC.

Clara was the first woman to work as a patent clerk in the US however the next year she was demoted and then fired completely by the Buchanan Administration (however she was rehired once Lincoln became president).

Clara was also a member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and is remembered as a distinguished daughter today. She served as the DAR's First Surgeon General, a position that is no longer filled today. She also attended the society's first Continental Congress in 1892.

Clara was even an ardent supporter of women’s suffrage.

In 1975 her Glen Echo, Maryland home was named a National Historic site—the first site dedicated purely to the achievements of a woman in United States history.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

After the Fact: The Surprising Fates of American History's Heroes, Villains, and Supporting Characters by Owen Hurd

America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins

Uppity Women Speak Their Minds by Vicki León

Legends & Lies: The Civil War by Bill O'Reilly and David Fisher

Whose Who in American History: Leaders, Visionaries, and Icons who Shaped Our Nation by John M Thompson, William R Gray, and KM Kostyal

Sources:

https://www.redcross.org/about-us/who-we-are/history/clara-barton.html

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/clara-barton

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Information Archives

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63/clarissa-harlowe-barton

129) Laura Welch Bush

129: Laura Bush

Former First Lady of the United States During Her Husband George W Bush’s Administration

Born: 4 November 1946, Midland, Texas, United States of America

Her advocacy focuses while in office and now after are literacy, education, and women’s rights.

In 2001 she was the first First Lady to deliver the President’s weekly radio address—her address focused on trying to bring international attention to how the Taliban treats women.

The George W Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas is home to a museum and library as well as a public policy center that was built to help advance the causes of human freedom, education reform, global health, and economic growth.

She currently serves as chair of the Bush Institute’s Women’s Initiative—they work primarily in helping empower women in Africa. Laura also continues to work to preserve the rights of women in Afghanistan.

Starting in 2003 she has served as the United Nations Honorary Ambassador for the Literary Decade.

She also works to bring attention to women and heart disease and in 2006 she helped launch the first international partnerships for research and raising breast cancer awareness.

Laura also currently serves on boards for the Salvation Army, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

She is a mother to twin girls and has two grandchildren.

Badges Earned:

Located In My Personal Library:

Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women by Susan Swain and C-SPAN

Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady by Ronald Kessler

The Smithsonian First Ladies Collection by Lisa Kathleen Graddy and Amy Pastan

Sources:

https://www.bushcenter.org/people/laura-bush.html

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/first-ladies/laura-welch-bush/

111) Rosalynn Carter

Former First Lady of the United States During Her Husband Jimmy Carter’s Administration

Born: 18 August 1927, Plains, Georgia, United States of America

Died: 19 November 2023, Plains, Georgia, United States of America

Original Name: Eleanor Rosalynn Smith Carter

In 1982 she and her husband founded the Carter Center which works to improve mental health, early childhood immunization, care giving, better conflict resolution, and human rights.

Rosalynn has been working in mental health since 1980 when she participated in the President’s Commission on Mental Health as an honorary member—the Commission would help pass the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980.

Since 1984 she has participated with Habitat For Humanity every year in the week long Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project.

She graduated from Georgia Southwestern College in 1946.

Rosalynn has four children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and she has written five books.

She passed away at her family home at the age of ninety-six. Rosalynn and her husband had been married for seventy-seven years.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women by Susan Swain and C-SPAN

The Smithsonian First Ladies Collection by Lisa Kathleen Graddy and Amy Pastan

Sources:

https://www.cartercenter.org/about/experts/rosalynn_carter.html

https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2023/statement-rosalynn-carter-111923.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7748385/rosalynn-carter

109) Barbara Bush

Former First Lady of the United States During Her Husband George H W Bush’s Administration

Born: 8 June 1925, New York City, New York, United States of America

Died: 17 April 2018, Houston, Texas, United States of America

She was also mother to the 43rd President—George W Bush—and mother to the 43rd Governor of Florida—Jeb! Bush (I'm sorry, I had to).

Barbara met her husband when she was sixteen and they were engaged a year and a half later—George then left to serve as a navy bomber pilot in World War II.

Two weeks after he returned home, they married; they had six children. Their daughter Robin died just before her fourth birthday from leukemia.

In forty-four years of marriage the family would move twenty-nine times.

As First Lady (and Second Lady before that) her chosen issue was literacy. She also worked to help the homeless, spread awareness of AIDS, and to volunteer to help the elderly and school volunteer programs.

Her husband would pass away only a few months after her.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women by Susan Swain and C-SPAN

The Smithsonian First Ladies Collection by Lisa Kathleen Graddy and Amy Pastan

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Barbara-Bush

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/first-ladies/barbara-pierce-bush/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7748443/barbara-bush

108) Nancy Reagan

Former First Lady of the United States during her husband Ronald Reagan’s term

Born: 6 July 1921, Manhattan, New York, United States of America

Died: 6 March 2016, Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Original Name: Anne Frances (Robbins) Reagan

She was much more conservative than her husband Ronald who was a former Democrat.

They were both former Hollywood actors turned politicians.

Nancy also founded the Just Say No anti-drug campaign which was her focus as First Lady.

After her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, she also became an advocate for finding a cure.

Nancy earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1943.

In 1949 she was awarded a seven-year contract with MGM however she was soon blacklisted as a potential Communist which is laughable if you actually study her political leanings to any degree—the mix up came from the fact another actress with her same name was a bit of a communist.

Nancy contacted Ronald Reagan for help because he was serving as the President of the Screen Actors Guild at the time.

They began dating but were not monogamous and saw other people however they did marry in 1952.

Ronald and Nancy would have two children together and Nancy would become stepmother to Ronald’s two children from his previous marriage.

She faced much negative press as First Lady of California and then the United States for being snobbish and over spending. Public opinion changed somewhat after she began her drug trafficking battle and while campaigning against drugs in several countries and in front of the United Nations.

She also underwent a mastectomy to battle breast cancer.

Nancy was an advocate for stem cell research after her husband’s death.

Badges Earned:

Find A Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham

Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women by Susan Swain and C-SPAN

Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Bad Days in History by Michael Farquhar

The Smithsonian First Ladies Collection by Lisa Kathleen Graddy and Amy Pastan

Whose Who in American History: Leaders, Visionaries, and Icons who Shaped Our Nation by John M Thompson, William R Gray, and KM Kostyal

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/us-first-lady/nancy-reagan

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nancy-Reagan

104) Eleanor Roosevelt

Former First Lady of the United States During Her Husband Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Administration

Born: 11 October 1884, New York City, New York, United States of America

Died: 7 November 1962, New York City, New York, United States of America

Original Name: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt

She was a niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and a distant cousin to her husband (her maiden name was also Roosevelt, meaning she never had to change her name after getting married).

Eleanor was orphaned and suffered the loss of one of her brothers before the age of ten, so she and her remaining brother were sent to live with relatives. She spent three years in a boarding school outside London under the direction of an influential French headmistress.

Eleanor returned to New York the summer she turned eighteen for her coming out into society.

She and her husband would have six children (one of whom died in infancy) but she often commented that her own serious nature didn’t fit well with her husband’s and he often had to find pleasure elsewhere (for example see Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd).

Her husband became assistant secretary to the Navy in 1913 prompting the family’s move to DC.

During World War One, Eleanor volunteered with wounded soldiers and the Red Cross.

In 1918 Eleanor discovered the affair her personal secretary Lucy and her husband had taken up—and while Franklin promised to end it history shows that is not the case as Lucy was present with Franklin when he died in 1945.

History shows that the Roosevelts would remain married and dedicated to one another but were never intimate again.

In the 1920’s Eleanor’s interest in politics increased (partly due to helping Franklin’s career after he was struck with polio in 1921). She joined the Women’s Trade Union League and the Democrat Party of New York State after returning there to live.
During her twelve years as First Lady of the United States she achieved many firsts including hosting female only journalist press conferences (thanks to her good friend Lorena Hickok--see note).

She had various interests during her tenure including child welfare, equal rights for women and minorities, and housing reform.

Eleanor resigned her membership in the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution in 1939 after the DAR refused to let African American singer Marian Anderson perform in Constitution Hall.

Eleanor was appointed as a delegate to the United Nations after her husband’s death. She played a major role in drafting and the eventual adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

In 1961, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy appointed her to chair the Commission on the Status of Women.

She died from a rare strain of tuberculosis.

Note:

Lorena Hickok and Eleanor were friends, best friends, and perhaps more. Though never definitely proven one way or the other, it seems more than likely that when Franklin reached out to Lucy Rutherford, Eleanor turned to Lorena.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Affairs of State: The Untold History of Presidential Love, Sex, and Scandal (1789-1900) by Robert Watson

America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins

Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed by Maureen Callahan

Bad Days in History by Michael Farquhar

The Book of Awesome Women: Boundary Breakers, Freedom Fighters, Sheroes, and Female Firsts by Becca Anderson

Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned by Kenneth C Davis

Eleanor and Hick by Susan Quinn

Eunice: The Kennedy Who Changed the World by Eileen McNamara