History’s Keepers: The Legacy of the NSCDA
Since 1891, The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America (NSCDA) has worked to inspire a spirit of patriotism and a genuine love of country by creating widespread interest in the stories of our nation’s founding and development. The legacy of the NSCDA is continued in the work of its 15,000+ members, placing it among the national leaders in the preservation of historic sites, buildings, gardens, art, and artifacts.
One hundred and twenty-five years ago, a group of about thirty men and women gathered in Philadelphia to consider forming a women’s organization dedicated to honoring the colonial history of the United States. Fifteen years earlier, the Centennial Exposition of 1876 revived popular interest in our nation’s earliest period. Architect Robert S. Peabody wrote at the time, “With our Centennial year have we not discovered that we too have a past worthy of study?”
Those gathered in Philadelphia agreed that our past was indeed worth studying, and the women in attendance formed the PA Society, the first Corporate Society of what would become the NSCDA, on April 8, 1891. Within three years, all thirteen of the original states and the District of Columbia had joined the NSCDA. By 1896, the NSCDA adopted a structure that would allow non-colonial states to join. Today, Corporate Societies in 43 states and D.C., made up of 15,000+ women descended from leaders in colonial America, work together Entrusted with History’s Future.
By promoting respect for the people, places, and events that led to the formation and development of our country, the NSCDA hopes to inspire patriotism while fostering awareness and understanding. We are proud of our history and of the dedicated work of our members throughout history. Who were the visionary women who started the NSCDA? Click the drop-down and scroll through a chronological list of our Societies and the women who founded them.
- Corporate Society Founders
Pennsylvania
June 13, 1891
Mrs. Crawford Arnold (Fanny Hollingsworth) Mrs. Alexander Biddle (Julia Williams Rush) Mrs. J. Edward Carpenter (Harriet Odin Dorr) Mrs. William Logan Fox (Rebecca Clifford Hollingsworth) Mrs. Archibald H. Gillespie (Elizabeth Duane) Mrs. Charles Custis Harrison (Ellen Waln) Mrs. William W. Irwin (Sophie Arabella Bache) Miss Emily Redwood Lyman Mrs. Thomas McKean (Elizabeth Wharton) Mrs. William Mifflin (Ann Poultney Large) Miss Lydia Thompson Morris Mrs. John Sanders (Maria Dallas Wilkins) Miss Hannah Lewis Scott Miss Anne Hollingsworth Wharton Mrs. William D. Winsor (Elizabeth Camac Chapman) Mrs. James D. Winsor (Rebecca Chapman) Mrs. Ernest Zantzinger (Hitty Markoe Wharton)
Maryland
December 29, 1891
Mrs. Frederick von Kapff (Anne Donnell Smith) Mrs. Eugene Blackford (Rebecca Chapman Gordon) Mrs. Edward Sinclair Beall (Ida Rebecca Winn) Mrs. William Reed (Emily McKim) Mrs. Richard Bassett Bayard (Ellen Howard) Mrs. Jospeh King (Jane Howard) Mrs. Robert Atkinson (Laura Robinson) Mrs. Henry Didier (Angelica Botiler) Mrs. Horatio L. Whitridge (Elizabeth Buchanan Hall)
New Jersey
April 7, 1892
Miss Elizabeth Alford Smith Miss Mary Dickinson Mrs. S. Meredith Dickinson Mrs. Cleaveland Hilson Mrs. S. Duncan Oliphant (Beluah) Mrs. Elmer E. Green Mrs. W.W.L. Phillips Mrs. Henry M. Barbour Mrs. Hugh H. Hamill Miss Caroline E. Nixon Mrs. Frederick C. Lewis Miss Anne deB. McIlvaine Justina Atterbury Mrs. Hughes Oliphant Miss Helen G. Green
Delaware
May 10, 1892
Mrs. Henry Banning (Emily Eschenburg) Mrs. William Corbit Spruance (M. Louise Spotswood) Miss Mary S. Boyd Mrs. William Lea (Sarah Bentley) Mrs. Edward H. Ford (Jennie Lovett Lea) Mrs. Arthur Chase (Edithe Bentley Lea) Mrs. Cornelia T. Staples Mrs. Elizabeth D. Knight Mrs. Wm. Poyntell Johnston (Jane Tilghman) Miss Alice Erwin Johnston Miss Catharine Brooks Wales Mrs. H.H. Hay (Sophia B. Rodney) Mrs. John H. Rodney (Annie Dorsey Reeves) Miss Margaret T. Canby Miss Susan B. Spotswood Miss Anne R. Spotswood
District of Columbia
May 20, 1892
Mrs. Beverley Kennon (Britannia Wellington Peter) Countess Esterhazy (Sarah V. Carroll) Mrs. James Blair (Mary Jesup) Miss Elizabeth Byrd Nicholas Mrs. Oswald H. Ernst (Elizabeth Amory)
Virginia
October 19, 1892
Mrs. William Russell Robinson (Evelyn Carter Byrd Cabel) Mrs. James Lyons (Elizabeth Henry) Mrs. Peterfield Trent (Lucy B. Burwell) Mrs. Mathew Franklin Pleasants (Lydia Mosby) Mrs. James H. Dooley (Sally May) Mrs. Annie Boyd Colston Camm Mrs. Herbert A. Claiborne Mrs. Simon Bolivar Buckner (Delia Hayes Claiborne) Mrs. George W. Mayo (Louisa Randolph) Mrs. Reginald Gilham (Isabella Adair Pleasants) Mrs. Charles Washington Coleman (Cynthia Beverley Tucker) Mrs. Roger A. Pryor Mrs. William L. Royall (Judith Page Aylett) Mrs. John F. T. Anderson (Elizabeth C. Cullen) Miss M.G. McClelland Miss Annie Rose Walker Mrs. Henry Wood Flournoy (Rosa Buena Wood) Mrs. Robert A. Lancaster (Williamine Cabell Carrington) Mrs. Thomas N. Carter (Agnes Mayo)
Rhode Island
February 21, 1893
Mrs. A. Livingston Mason (Edith Bucklin Hartshorn) Harriet Mansfield Center Mrs. William Richmond Talbot (Mary Cornelia Arnold) Mrs. Rowland Hazard (Margaret Rood) Mrs. Joseph Bridgham (Florence Madeleine Jenckes) Mrs. William B. Weeden (Jeannie Lippitt) Mrs. William Greene Roelker (Eleanor Jenckes) Elizabeth Bridgham Dexter Mrs. Edward C. Bucklin (Jessie Howard) Mrs. Samuel Pomeroy Colt (Elizabeth Mitchelson Bullock) Sophia Augusta Brown Julia Lippitt Mauran
Massachusetts
April 13, 1893
Mrs. George Baty Blake (Sara P. Lowell) Mrs. Arthur Theodore Lyman (Ella Lowell) Mrs. Charles Pratt Coffin (Grace Parkman) Mrs. Henry Winsor (Elizabeth Cabot Jackson) Mrs. Henry Parker Quincy (Mary Adams) Mrs. Alexander Cochrane (Mary Lynde) Mrs. Francis Peleg Sprague (Elizabeth R. Lowell)
New York
April 29, 1893
Mrs. Benjamin Silliman Church (Mary Van Wyck) Mrs. Wilmot Townsend Cox (Maria Duane Bleeker Miller) Mrs. Hamilton R. Fairfax (Eleanor C. Van Rensselaer) Miss Ruth Woodhull Lawrence Mrs. William Rhinelander (Matilda C. Oakley) Miss Katherine E. Turnbull
South Carolina
November 16, 1893
Mrs. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (Sarah H. Rutledge) Mrs. Henry E. Young (Elizabeth Rutledge) Miss Susan Pringle Mrs. Ernest H. Pringle (Mary Ford Pringle) Mrs. Samuel Wragg (Mary Roper) Miss Bessie Prioleau Ravenel Miss Isabelle deSaussure Miss Mary Fowles Mrs. Henry Buist (Eliza Rutledge Ingraham) Mrs. Charles Albert Hill (Jane Louise Allston) Mrs. John Drayton Grimke (Emma Sachtleben) Mrs. St. Julien Ravenel (Harriott Horry Rutledge) Mrs. Charles Boyle (Calixte Brownfield) Mrs. George Herbert Sass (Anna Ravenel) Mrs. William Munro (Elizabeth Berkely Grimball) Mrs. John Haskell (Lucy Hampton) Mrs. William Manigault Heyward (Mary Wragg) Mrs. Miles Bewton Hamiltion (Mary Ravenel Pringle) Miss Harriet Edwards Howe Mrs. Wilmot G. Holmes (Elise Edwards) Mrs. Rebecca Hayne Alston Mrs. James Peronneau deSaussure (Annie Isabella Laurens) Mrs. Robert A. Pringle (Harriet Simons) Miss Catherine Prioleau Ravenel Miss Rosa Pringle Ravenel Mrs. Arthur Blackwell Ryan (Rebecca Motte Hamilton) Mrs. R.G. Lindsay (Rose G. Trott) Miss Rosamond Miles Pringle Mrs. St. John P. Kinloch (Mary Bohun Sachtleben) Mrs. Simon Verdier Stewart (Emma Huger Lowndes) Mrs. Arnoldus Vanderhorst (Adele Allston) Miss Martha Blake Washington Mrs. John Johnson (Camille Floride Cantey) Miss Sarah Peronneau Gibbes Miss Emma Shoolbred Gibbes Mrs. Thomas T. Barnet (Clara Pringle) Mrs. Bonner N. McCraven (Sarah Amelia Pringle) Mrs. Robert Calloway Soaper (Anne Pringle) Miss Susan Pringle Alston Mrs. Errington Hume (Anna Eliza Pringle)
Connecticut
December 19, 1893
Mrs. Samuel Colt (Elizabeth Hart Jarvis) Miss Elizabeth James Hammersley Mrs. James Mason Hoppin (Mary Deming Perkins) Mrs. Edward Elbridge Salisbury (Evelyn McCurdy)
Georgia
January 14, 1894
Mrs. William Washington Gordon (Eleanor Kinzie) Mrs. Henry Rootes Jackson (Florence Barclay King) Mrs. Edward Clifford Anderson (Margaret Randolph) Mrs. Alexander Robert Lawton (Ella Beckwith) Miss Eugenia Marion Johnston Mrs. George Parsons Elliot (Meta Eugene Harden) Mrs. Thomas Saunderson Morgan (Sarah Berrien Casey) Mrs. Louis Gourdin Young (Mary Stuart Waller) Mrs. Joseph John Wilder (Georgia Page King) Mrs. Peter Wiltberger Meldrim (Frances Pamela Casey) Mrs. Thomas Foreman Screven (Sarah Lloyd Buchanan) Mrs. Charles Henry Dixon (Amelia Faries Pindar) Mrs. Joseph Rucker Lamar (Clarinda Huntingdon Pendleton) Mrs. Richard Sims Jefferies (Harriet Gould) Miss Emma Hamilton Bulloch Mrs. Justus Robbins Bulkley (Mary K. Adams) Mrs. St. John Moore (Julia Flournoy Carter) Mrs. William Lane Boyce (Caroline Carter) Mrs. Ferdinand Phinizy (Ann Barrett) Mrs. Fleming Grantland Bailey (Elizabeth Andrew Hill) Mrs. William Washington Gordon, Jr. (Ellen Buchanan Screven) Mrs. William Mackay Low (Juliette Magill Gordon) Mrs. John Nisbet (Virginia Lord King) Mrs. William Seabrook Lawton (Elizabeth Jones) Mrs. William Garrard (Mary Lawton) Mrs. Abram Carrington Read (Guilielma Seabrook Lawton) Mrs. Pleasant Alexander Stovall (Mary Ganahl) Mrs. Rowland Leigh (Mabel McLane Gordon)
New Hampshire
March 8, 1894
Mrs. Arthur Eastman Clarke (Martha Cilley Bouton) Mrs. True M. Ball (Alice Douglas Sistare) Mrs. Freeman P. Woodbury (Harriet McGaw) Mrs. Simon Goodell Griffin (Margaret Russell Lamson) Mrs. Nathaniel G. White (Mary Bell) Mrs. Charles Follen Blake (Mary Tufton Haven) Mrs. Emil Richter (Josephine Jenness) Mrs. John Smythe Fogg (Jane Louise Bouton) E. Josephine Wheeler Coit Mrs. Charles Henry Sawyer (Susan Ellen Cowan) Mrs. William Jewett Tucker (Charlotte Barrell Cheever) Mrs. William A. Winder (Abby Rice Goodwin) Mrs. Stephen Decatur (Mabel Storer) Mrs. Russell Jarvis (Mary Bean Deane) Mrs. Josiah Carpenter (Georgia Butters Drake) Mrs. James P. Bartlett (Frances Mary Harris) Mrs. David Cross (Anna Quackenbush Eastman) Mrs. Henry Elentheros Cooke (Esther Clarkson Russell) Mrs. Charles Henry Fish (Agnes Cheney) Mrs. Adelbert Ames (Blanche Butler)
North Carolina
June 20, 1894
Mrs. John W. Atkinson (Bettie) Mrs. Geo W. Kidder (Florence Hill) Mrs. Adam Empie (Virginia Gwathney) Mrs. Clayton Giles (Lucy Wright) Mrs. William Arthur Williams (Jane Iredell Meares) Mrs. James Hal Boatwright (Mary London Miller) Mrs. Elizabeth Savage Waddell Miss Caroline Green Meares Miss Adelaide Meares Mrs. Thomas Settle (Eliza Augusta Porter) Miss Hannah Pattison Bolles Mrs. Henry Boatwright (Augusta Lane McPherson)
Illinois
June 30, 1896
Mrs. Ralph Emerson (Adaline Elizabeth Talcott) Miss Effie L. Epler Mrs. Henry B. Favill (Susan Cleveland Pratt) Mrs. Charles H. Ferry (Emily Dwight Mansfield) Mrs. Horace E. Fisk (Julia Stimson Atterbury) Mrs. Daniel Goodwin (Isabella Duffield) Miss Maria S. Johnston Mrs. M.B. Kennedy (Rose Walker) Mrs. Samuel H. Kerfoot (Annie Warfield Lawrence) Mrs. Julia Duncan Kirby Miss Cornelia Gray Lunt Mrs. Thomas S. McClelland (Ella Gale) Mrs. Henry B. Mason (Frances F. Calhoun) Mrs. Samuel M. Nickerson Mrs. Ephraim A. Otis (Sara Kitchen) Mrs. James C. Peasley (Louisa Southard Green) Mrs. William S. Potwin Mrs. Henry S. Robbins (Frances Fuller Johnston) Mrs. Henry M. Shepard (Frances Welles) Mrs. Adlai E. Stevenson (Letitia Greene) Mrs. Martha G.W. Trippe Mrs. Caroline Rose Walker
Iowa
July 1, 1896
Mrs. William Stevens Perry (Sara Abbott Woods Smith) Mrs. Arthur Lewis Bennett (Anne Hanford Richardson Perry) Mrs. Charles Ashmead Schaeffer (Evelyn Schuyler) Mrs. Leon Menard Allen (Katherine Augusta Ballord) Mrs. Judson Keith Deming (Mary Colebrook Worthington) Mrs. Samuel Francis Smith, Jr. (Mary Reed) Mrs. Mary Lettie Bailey Mrs. Frank Webster Mahin (Abbie Anna Cadle) Miss Alice Virginia French Mrs. Esek Steere Ballord (Frances Aurilla Webb) Mrs. Emlin McClain (Ellen Griffiths)
Ohio
July 1, 1896
Mrs. Border Bowman (Mary Cowper Proudfit) Mrs. Bellamy Storer (Maria Longworth) Mrs. James Van Voast (Virginia Moss Harris) Mrs. Robert Bonner Bowler (Alice Bernard Williamson) Miss Mary Evelina Dandridge Miss Fanny Bryce Lehmer Mrs. Edmund Pitts Harrison (Carrie M. Andrews) Mrs. Herman J. Groesbeck (Elizabeth Perry) Mrs. Jay Osborne Moss (Fanny Lane Griswold Boalt) Mrs. Nathaniel Foster (Josephine Roberta Lytle) Mrs. Clement Bates (Fanny Lear Higbee) Mrs. Robert A. Gibson (Susan Baldwin Stuart) Miss Alice Scarborough Mrs. David C. Anderson (Annie Wallingford) Mrs. John Kilgour (Mary Catherine McIntosh) Mrs. Harry F. Woods (Katherine Longworth Anderson) Mrs. J. Burton Parsons (Amelia Griffith Andrews) Mrs. Larz Anderson (Emma Mendenhall) Mrs. Frank Hickok (Eliza Noble Acton) Mrs. George B. Beecher (Nanie O’Hara) Mrs. Manning F. Force (Frances Dabney Horton) Mrs. George Burnett Orr (Anna Ogden Spencer) Mrs. George Hoadley (Genevieve Groesbeck) Mrs. Aaron F. Perry (Elizabeth Williams)
Colorado
July 2, 1896
Mrs. Francis Wayland Goddard (Elizabeth Cass Ledyard)
Wisconsin
July 6, 1896
Mrs. Thomas Royce Mercein (Lucy Schley) Mrs. Sherburne Sanborn Merrill (Mary Ellen Freeman)
Indiana
July 7, 1896
Mrs. James Robert McKee (Mary Scott Harrison) Mrs. Bement Lyman (Ella Spears) Mrs. John O. Perrin (Ellenor Bates) Mrs. Charles French Sayles (Frances Tuttle) Ariana Holliday Bennett Mrs. William Johns Brown (Cornelia Garvin) Mrs. Frederick W. Chislett (Margaret Dwight Edwards) Mrs. Frank Graef Darlington (Elise Buckingham) Mrs. Edward Handy Dean (Kate Noble) Miss Alice Edwards Mrs. Edward Francis Hodges (Laura Fletcher) Mrs. William Jaquelin Holliday (Lucy Fitzhugh Redd) Mrs. Joseph A. Milburn (Lucy McDowell) Mrs. Benjamin Doolittle Walcott (Mary Newcomer) Mrs. Henry Lane Wallace (Margaret Vance Noble) Mrs. Wilbur Fisk Winchester (Fanny Ramsey Wilder)
Tennessee
July 7, 1896
Mrs. William Dudley Gale (Katharine Polk) Mrs. George A. Baxter (Ellen Douglas) Mrs. Horatio Berry (Nannie Smith) Mrs. James C. Bradford (Sarah Polk) Mrs. Bruce Douglas (Ella Kirkman) Miss Rebecca Edwards Jones Mrs. James S. Pilcher (Margaret Campbell) Mrs. Edward D. Richards (Margaret Douglas) Mrs. Clarence B. Wallace (Mary Barbour) Mrs. Shepard Webb (Mary Yeatman) Mrs. Andrew Wills (Eleanor Willhauer) Mrs. James R. Winchester (Eliza Atkinson)
Maine
July 8, 1896
Mrs. Henry Adams Neely (Mary Floyd) Miss M.P. Anderson Mrs. William Anderson (Alice Preble) Miss Annie F.H. Boyd Mrs. John Marshall Brown (Alida Catherine Carroll) Miss Mary A. Fiske Mrs. Frederic Henry Gerrish (Emily Swan) Miss Mary W. Glidden Miss Mary M. Leffingwell Mrs. C.S. Leffingwell (Catherine Beatty Alsop) Mrs. Charles D. Merrill (Elizabeth DeBlois) Mrs. Herbert Payson (Sally Carroll Brown) Miss E.B. Stevens Mrs. Theodore Clarence Woodbury (Cornelia Delafield)
California
July 15, 1896
Mrs. William C. Peyton (Anne Ridgely duPont) Mrs. George Augustus Crux (Cornelia A. Newton) Mrs. Seldon Stuart Wright (Joanna Maynard) Miss Anne Aylette Brooke Wright Mrs. John Drury Tallant (Eliza Shaw Wright) Miss Anna Brooke Rose Mrs. Chavalier Hamilton Jouett Mrs. Joseph Ledlie Moody (Ida Jorane Schander) Mrs. Samuel W. Holladay (Georgianna C. Ord) Miss Lulu Loraine Maddux Mrs. Cyrus Elwood Brown (Hulda Holmes Bergen) Mrs. Stuart Selden Wright
Minnesota
October 8, 1896
Mrs. George Brooks Young (Ellen Fellows) Mrs. George R. Metcalf (Julia Bowen French) Mrs. Daniel R. Noyes (Helen A. Gilman) Mrs. George H. Christian (Leonora Hall) Mrs. Charles P. Noyes (Emily Hoffman Gilman) Mrs. John Quincy Adams (Ada Walker) Mrs. Edwin C. Mason (Frances Kingsbury) Mrs. Charles Eliot Furness (Marion Ramsey) Mrs. Reese M. Newport (Eliza Thompson Edgerton) Mrs. Charles A. Bovey (Hannah Caroline Brooks) Mrs. Henry Hale (Mary Elizabeth Fletcher) Mrs. Charles Reeve (Christina McCormick Lawrence) Mrs. William H. Lee (Caroline Trumbull Isham)
Michigan
October 22, 1896
Mrs. Henry R, Rathbone Mrs. Benjamin J. Farnsworth Miss Katherine N. Terry Mrs. James Biddle (Margaret Terry) Mrs. Horatio Seymour (Abigail Adams Johnson) Mrs. Don M. Dickinson (Frances Swift Platt) Mrs. F.M. Olmstead Miss Mary Louise Stebbins Mrs. Richard Fyfe Mrs. Henry Bourne Joy (Helen Hall Newberry) Mrs. Henry F. Leyster Mrs. Henry W. Skinner
Louisiana
November 7, 1896
Mrs. Francis D. Blake (Sarah H. Polk) Mrs. Joseph Jones (Susan P.) Mrs. James McConnell, Jr. (Elizabeth Logan) Mrs. Henry Dickson Bruns (Kate Logan) Mrs. William Elliot Huger (Betty Parham Werlein) Mrs. Edward Chapman (Lucia P.) Mrs. Henry Richardson Labouisse (Frances Huger) Mrs. David Ponter Fenner (Amanda Logan) Mrs. Sylvester Welsh Labrot (Elizabeth H. Henderson) Miss Caroline Jones Miss Sally Bierne Miles Miss Ellen Hunt Henderson
Missouri
November 30, 1896
Mrs. James J. O’Fallon (Anna Marie Harris) Mrs. George Howell Shields (Mary Harrison Leighton) Mrs. Amos Madden Thayer (Sidney Hunton Brother) Mrs. William Augustus Hardaway (Lucy Nelson Page) Mrs. Horatio Nelson Spencer (Elizabeth Porcher Dwight) Mrs. Henry Ware Elliot (Charlotte Champe Stearns) Mrs. Albert Childs (Hannah M. Dudley) Mrs. William Bridges Thayer (Sallie Casey) Mrs. John Gerry Copelin (Emma Comfort Roe) Miss Mary Randolph Hutchinson Mrs. Hamilton Gamble (Sarah Minor) Mrs. William Sturdwick Long (Margaret Miller Breckinridge) Mrs. William Haskell DuBose (Deane Spencer) Mrs. William Marshall Warren (Carolyn Chase)
Kentucky
March 18, 1897
Mrs. St. John Boyle (Anna) Mrs. Simon Bolivar Buckner (Delia) Mrs. Urban Ewing Eaches (Somerville) Mrs. John Williams Green (Annie) Mrs. Thomas Marshall Green (Pattie) Mrs. Robert Powell Jacobs (Zillah) Mrs. William H. Mackoy (Margaret) Miss Belle Brent Palmer Mrs. Edward R. Palmer (Lucy) Miss Mary Cabell Richardson Mrs. Arthur Middleton Rutledge (Rosalie) Mrs. Powhatan Wooldridge (Mary)
Arkansas
January 26, 1898
Mrs. Rufus Julius Polk (Cynthia Martin) Mrs. Rudolph Fink (Cary Anne Nicholas) Mrs. Edwin Henry Skipwith (Katherine Henderson) Mrs. William Wallace Dickinson (Frances “Fanny” Rose) Mrs. Tilghman Howard Bunch (Laura Crease Lewis) Mrs. Frederick Hanger (Frances Marion Harrow) Francis M. Scott Mrs. Logan Holt Roots (Emily Margaret Blakeslee) Mrs. Sterling Robertson Cockerill (Mary Ashley Freeman) Mrs. Lewis Williamson Cherry, Sr. (Caroline “Lina” Vandergrift Dennison) Mrs. Benjamin Smith Johnson (Frances Ashley) Mrs. Sereno V. Norton (Helen Marie Blakeslee) Mrs. Hamilton Seymour Hornor (Charlotte Polk) Mrs. Calvin Washington Cherry (Sarah “Sallie” Blount Williamson)
Texas
February 26, 1898
Mrs. Samuel M. Welch (Elizabeth Fontaine McDowell) Mrs. George F. Pendexter (Martha Cowles Shearer) Mrs. Albert Sidney Burleson (Adele Steiner) Mrs. William Henry Tobin (Bendette Brace Moore) Mrs. Thos. Booth Lee (Ada Bealle Cochrane) Miss Julia M. Pease Mrs. J.H. Gray (Cara Belle Cowan) Miss Mary Josephine Palm Mrs. Claude Douglas Johns (Bessie Steiner) Mrs. John A. McClellan (Caroline Ennis Cargill) Mrs. Benjamin F. Weems (Marie Carrington) Mrs. C. Lombardi (Caroline Ennis) Mrs. John M. Wendelken (Sarah Sisson) Mrs. Pearl Buckner Cary Mrs. Edwin C. Thornton (Mary Fitzhugh Thornton) Mrs. John Lane Henry (Cornelia Jamison) Mrs. Kate Cabell Currie Mrs. Stella Hutcheson Dabney Mrs. Cabell Carrington Kinney (Annette Peabody Trowbridge) Mrs. Sawnie Robertson (Ellen Boren) Mrs. Geo. T. Winston (Caroline Sophie Taylor) Mrs. A.H. Belo (Jeanette Ennis)
Vermont
October 25, 1898
Mrs. Bradley Barlow Smalley (Caroline Maria Baxter) Mrs. David Lewis (Fannie Winslow Bradbury) Mrs. John A. Arthur (Harriet Fowler Hall) Mrs. Horace H. Dyer (Abigail Jane Hitchcock) Miss Mary A. Arthur Mrs. Caroline Deming Smalley
Florida
January 31, 1899
Mrs. Robert Howard Gamble (Angelica Elizabeth) Mrs. John G. Christopher (Henrietta Shoemaker) Mrs. Thomas Mayhew Woodruff (Annie Sampson) Miss Caroline M. Brevard Mrs. Duncan Upshaw Fletcher (Lulu Paine) Miss Ellen Perry Sampson Mrs. Daniel Griffith Ambler (Clarissa Coventry) Mrs. Percy St. John Stollenwerck (Ellen Terry)
Alabama
March 13, 1899
Mrs. Alfred A. Batre (Hortense Addison) Mrs. Douglas C. Peabody (Mary Jane Welles) Mrs. John Perkins Furniss (Elizabeth “Lizzie” Mathews Dawson) Mrs. Patrick Hues Mell, Jr. (Annie Rebecca White) Mrs. Harvey Ellis Jones (Marion Wilmer) Mrs. Benjamin Rhett (Mary Motte Pringle) Mrs. Edward Taylor Fowlkes (Mary Rosaline “Minnie” Kent) Mrs. Peter Bryce (Maria Ellen Clarkson) Elizabeth Richardson Benagh Mrs. Albert Thomas Henley (Anne “Nannie” Randolph Tayloe) Mrs. Minthorne Woolsey (Thomasene Harper Rigby) Mrs. Frank Wharton Gaines (Cornelia “Nellie” Fitts) Mrs. Samuel Gholson Woolf (Sarah “Sadie” Elizabeth Henley Lyon) Mrs. James Jefferson Mayfield (Susie Fitts Martin) Mrs. Joel H. Snow (Martha “Mattie” Goodenow) Mrs. Charles Shrader Shawhan (Narcissa Tayloe Maupin) Mrs. Fleming Tinsley (Martha “Mattie” Rodman Ruan)
Mississippi
April 6, 1900
Mrs. George Frederick Greene (Julia Dunbar) Mrs. Charlotte Dunbar Rust Mrs. S.R. Hughes (Ella Rigby) Mrs. Helen J. Harris Mrs. Frances Irwin Huntington Burton Mrs. Seymora Scudder Mrs. William Benneville Rhodes (Nannie Boyd) Mrs. Melchior Beltzhoover (Virginia Lee Kuntz) Mrs. Mamie R. Williamson
West Virginia
April 21, 1900
Mrs. E. Willis Wilson (Henrietta Fitzhugh Cotton) Mrs. Eugene Van Rensselear (Sarah Pendleton) Mrs. Frank Woodman (Nannie Marie Cotton) Mrs. Andrew Walker (Minnie Burdette) Mrs. William Boyd (Sallie Ashton Cotton Donnally) Mrs. Frank Markell (Mary Louise Kellar) Mrs. Augustus L. Langley (Mary Clarkson) Mrs. Frank Jacob Daniels (Ellen Frances Coolidge) Mrs. George Edmund Price (Sallie Ann Dorsey) Mrs. Samuel L. Flournoy (Katharine Cotton) Mrs. Garland Todd Thayer (Gertrude Venable) Miss Miriam W. Donnally
Kansas
November 19, 1905
Mrs. Ellwood D. Kimball (Luella A. Johnson) Mrs. George Kingsley (Ella Hill) Mrs. Edward Benton Purcell (Elizabeth Hoyt) Mrs. William Smith Hinman (Elizabeth Thacher) Mrs. William B. Brownell (Margaret Buckingham) Mrs. Alexander Miller Harvey (Isabelle Cone) Mrs. Howard Dunlap (Ella Cole) Mrs. John Burke Priddy (Lora Rockwell) Mrs. Clarence S. Sargent (Mary Prescott Zelie) Miss Flora Colby Clough Mrs. Herbert G. Rose (Elizabeth Adams Barnard) Miss Edith M. Clark Mrs. William Eugene Stanley (Emma Hills)
Washington
April 7, 1910
Mrs. John Ewing Price (Mary David Hickman) Mrs. Morris A. Arnold (Georgie Moss) Mrs. Henry Dickinson (Ida Hamilton Thompson) Mrs. Addison Gardner Foster (Martha Wetherbee) Mrs. Walter Oakes (Mary Beekman Taylor) Mrs. Harry S. Bolcom (Evelina Stone Marfield) Mrs. John Thomas Dovey (Anne S. Llyod) Mrs. Wallace Green Collins (Ina Wilkins) Mrs. Evan S. McCord (Elizabeth Bennett) Mrs. Frederick E. Swanstorm (Mary Ethel Semple) Mrs. Livingston Boyd Stedman (Ann Bonneville Leiper)
Wyoming
November 19, 1913
Mrs. Edward Gillette (Harriet “Hallie” Olive Coffeen) Mrs. Edwin L. Dana (Frances Broadwell) Mrs. William Colfax Dinwiddie (Juliet Maxwell) Mrs. Sherman D. Canfield (Florance Lewis) Mrs. John Victor Telander (Lois Mabel Coffeen) Mrs. Herbert Allen Coffeen (Jennie Heald) Miss Edna Juliet Dinwiddie Dr. Grace Raymond Hebard Mrs. Benjamin Benson Belken (Edith Gleason) Mrs. Jacob William Willey (Emogene S. Heald) Mrs. J.H. Bode (Lucy Dyolt) Miss Alice Marvin Hebard
Oklahoma
March 24, 1914
Pearl Banks Watkins Eleanor Edmondson Bond Mildred Baldwin Brooks Mary Elliot Carpenter Isabel Eastland Caro Emerson Fields Julia H. Adams Geissler Amenaide Collens Goldwire Olive Mills Huckins Annette Ross Hume Evelyn Tucker McGaughey Edith Allen Phelps Mary Scott Edmundson Smiley Adelaide Bulley Taylor Marian Scott Thorpe Ada Lewis Tucker Mary Lewis Williamson Camille Vance Huckins Julia Embrey Moore Florrie Beal Clark Aurin Fry Clarkson
Oregon
April 20, 1923
Mrs. William P. Lord Mrs. James B. Montgomery (Mary Phelps) Mrs. Wells S. Gilbert (Page Morris) Mrs. Charles Francis Beebe (Emma Bowne)
Arizona
November 29, 1961
Mrs. Frederick Corbus (Elizabeth Myers) Mrs. Charles Day (Sara Stafford) Mrs. Ernest Greene (Helen Kerr) Mrs. John A. Logan (Barbara R.) Mrs. Stuart Nicholas (Barbara P.) Mrs. Thomas Pierce (Louisa H.) Mrs. Angus M. Porter (Sophie S.)
New Mexico
June 26, 1986 – April 30, 2013
Mrs. Arthur R. McQuiddy (Aleen Frampton Hinkle) Mrs. William E. Blackwell (Jan Boyd) Mrs. Charles L. Saunders, Jr. (Marcia Wolcott Toll) Mrs. Pamela C. Coleman Mrs. Roy E. Oldrup (Jan Wolfe) Mrs. Thomas J. Hall, Jr. (Anne Hamilton Wright) Mrs. Earl Michael Boule (Amy Susan Brown) Miss Marcia Congdon Mrs. E. Barton Darrow (Ann Warner) Mrs. Frank J. Solinsky, III (Elizabeth Maria Shinn) Miss Jane Ann Oldrup Mrs. Frank A. Cronican (Harriet Colcord)
Hawaii
September 16, 1986
Mrs. Stanley H. Shirk (Evelyn Beebe) Mrs. Ronald Armstrong-Cassidy (Amanda Smead) Mrs. Fred Ross Peck, Jr. (Joan Boardman) Mrs. Raymond Starbuck (Elizabeth Elsworth) Mrs. John F. McDermott, Jr. (Sarah Schemm)
Nevada
August 13, 2010
Mrs. Richard Thomas Crawford (Jeri Lou Scudder)
With members spread across the United States, the task of unifying and organizing Societies falls to the National President. In 125 years there have been just 23 National Presidents. These dedicated and inspiring women have devoted their time to promoting the mission of the NSCDA and fostering collaboration and enthusiasm throughout the organization.
- NSCDA Honorary Presidents
President 1892-1894
Mrs. G. Dawson Coleman (Deborah)
Pennsylvania
President 1894-1902
Mrs. Howard Townsend (Justine)
New York
President 1902-1914
Mrs. William Ruffin Cox (Lettitia)
Virginia
President 1914-1927
Mrs. Joseph Rucker Lamar (Clarinda)
Georgia
President 1927-1935
Mrs. James Parkhill Andrews (Julia)
Connecticut
President 1935-1941
Mrs. Jospeh B. Hutchinson (Serena)
Pennsylvania
President 1941-1948
Mrs. Ethelbert Ide Low (Anna)
New York
President 1948-1952
Mrs. Thomas W. Streeter, Sr. (Ruth)
New Hampshire
President 1952-1956
Mrs. Malcom MacLean (Emily)
Georgia
President 1956-1962
Miss Marguerite Appleton
Rhode Island
President 1962-1968
Mrs. James L. Wendell (Marjorie)
Pennsylvania
President 1968-1972
Mrs. Harry Justice Warthen, Jr. (Martha)
Virginia
President 1972-1976
Mrs. William Curtis Pierce (Elizabeth)
New York
President 1976-1980
Mrs.Robert Vincent Martin (Julia)
Georgia
President 1980-July 1984
Mrs. James M. Tunnell (Mildred)
Delaware
Acting President July 1984-October 1984
Mrs. Edmund Underwood Ritter (Priscilla)
Massachusetts
President 1984-1988
Mrs. Bruce Bridgford (Inez)
Wyoming
President 1988-1994
Mrs. John Bagley Watkins (Jean)
Michigan
President 1994-2000
Mrs. A. Corkran Nimick (Nancy)
Pennsylvania
President 2000-2004
Mrs. A. A. Tilney Wickersham (Joan)
Rhode Island
President 2004-2008
Mrs. James R.C. Cobb (Stuart)
Arkansas
President 2008-2012
Hilary Field Gripekoven
Oregon
President 2012-2016
Marcy Moody
Florida
President 2016-2020
Anna Duff
New York
Explore our interactive timeline of the NSCDA’s history: