Mary Richardson Walker Chapter, NSDAR

06/01/2026

On Flag Day, June 14, the Betsy Ross House in Old City will receive a donation of Ross's original sewing table from one of Ross' descendants. 🔗: https://ebx.sh/x2QfXk

05/31/2026

🗝️ A symbol of revolution from one continent to another

in 1790, Thomas Paine sent the key to the Bastille, entrusted to him by the Marquis de Lafayette, to George Washington.

Shortly after Washington’s retirement from the presidency in 1797, the key was hung in the first-floor passage of the Mansion at Mount Vernon. It remained there for the next three generations of Washingtons who occupied Mount Vernon and can be seen there today!

05/30/2026

For a limited time, July-August 2, Fort Ticonderoga will display one of its most significant objects: Benjamin Warner’s Knapsack. Carried by Revolutionary War soldier Benjamin Warner and handed down to his descendants, the knapsack has survived with a call to future generations to defend America’s hard-won liberty against all threats.

The 250-year-old knapsack, made of painted linen, was carried by Benjamin Warner of New Haven, Connecticut, during service in the Revolutionary War that took him to Boston, Quebec, New York and elsewhere over his years in the ranks. Later in life, Warner left it to his son as a memento of his service and a reminder of what he fought for, writing:

“This Napsack I caryd (sic) Through the War of the Revolution to achieve the American Independence. I Transmit it to my olest sone (sic) Benjamin Warner Jr. with directions to keep it…and whilst one shred of it shall remain never surrender you libertys to a foren envador or an aspiring demegog (sic).”

The letter is signed, “Benjamin Warner Ticonderoga March 27, 1837.” Both the knapsack and its note are carefully preserved in the collection at Fort Ticonderoga where they have resided for almost a century but have not been on display for over a decade.

READ MORE: https://fortticonderoga.org/news/fort-ticonderoga-honors-250th-anniversary-of-american-independence-with-special-exhibit-highlighting-soldiers-knapsack-and-its-powerful-message/

05/16/2026

Fort Vancouver SAR, DAR and many others practicing today for the flag raising on Memorial Day. That flag is similar in size to the Star Spangled Banner from Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. I have had the honor of watching a replica flag hoisted over Fort McHenry and it takes a small army like this to handle a flag of that dimension. It’s a biggie.

05/16/2026

Fort Vancouver DAR ceremony for the Veterans buried at the poor house near Hazel Dell. Nice sign placed on the fence with the known soldiers buried nearby. The DAR is working with Parks and Rec. to make something more permanent and dignified in the future.

04/20/2026

The shot heard round the world - especially in Virginia.

, April 19th, is the 251st anniversary of the 1775 Battle of Lexington and Concord. Although it happened 600 miles away from Virginia, it had an immediate impact on local revolutionary rumblings. Just two days later, on April 21, 1775, the Royal Governor of Virginia removed the gunpowder from the public magazine in Williamsburg, enraging citizens, especially Patrick Henry.

By April 28, news of the skirmish at Lexington and Concord reached Virginia, which prompted Henry to march the Hanover militia to Williamsburg. The next day, the governor’s agent offered him £330 in exchange for the powder. Henry accepted and his men dispersed. He immediately set off for the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

There, Henry and representatives from all thirteen colonies voted to create the Continental Army with George Washington as the leading General. These events made rumor a reality - the revolution had begun.

📷 Library of Congress, "The battle of Lexington April 1775," by A. Doolittle.

04/08/2026

Can’t make it to Washington, D.C., to see our new exhibition, Voices of Revolution, in person? We’ve got you covered!

To accompany the exhibition, we’ve developed a digital interactive that allows users to learn about 25 battles of the Revolutionary War through people who experienced them. The digital interactive includes summaries for each battle, as well as quotes drawn from first-hand Continental, militia, British, Loyalist, German, Spanish, French, and Native American participants, along with civilian eyewitnesses, that demonstrate the complexities and variety of experiences of the Revolution. The best part is that you can experience it from anywhere!

Access the digital interactive and start exploring at: https://bit.ly/4mhrYWT

04/04/2026

03/30/2026

03/04/2026

As we continue honoring Women’s History Month, let’s talk about partnership — the kind that built a nation. 🇺🇸

When we read about Revolutionary-era patriots (their military service, political leadership, financial risk, or material support) we often picture individual heroism.

But here’s the historical reality:

A husband’s patriotic activity, whether military, political, financial, or material, was only possible because his wife maintained the household, managed its resources, and produced the very goods that sustained both the family and the army.

While he marched, debated, negotiated, or supplied, she kept the farm operating.
👉 She preserved food.
👉 She produced textiles.
👉 She allocated scarce resources.
👉 She stabilized the household economy in a time of profound uncertainty.

Under coverture, husband and wife were legally one entity. That legal unity means his service footprint is inseparable from hers. The law did not view their contributions as isolated — it treated them as integrated.

To recognize one without the other is to misapply the doctrine and overlook the historical reality of marital interdependence.

The Revolution was not carried on individual shoulders alone. It rested on households ... and those households were sustained by women’s labor, management, and resilience.

This , let’s honor the visible and the invisible, the named and the unnamed, because the story of American independence is, and always has been, a shared one.