Chief John Ross Chapter, NSDAR, announces the election of their new Executive Board to serve during the Chapter’s historic 100th year. Elections for the Chapter’s Executive Board and Committee Chairs are held every three years, and during the June meeting at The Tea Cottage in Chattanooga, Chief John Ross Chapter’s Centennial Executive Board was installed, with the following members taking office:
Regent: Jennifer Sawyer Harvey
First Vice Regent: Christine Keefe
Second Vice Regent: Susan Whelchel
Chaplain: Teresa Webb Rimer
Recording Secretary: Donna Heard Dodson
Corresponding Secretary: Jean Bailey Drew
Treasurer: Debra Randolph Croft
Registrar: Susan Spears Sawyer
Historian: Linda Moss Mines
Librarian: Sheri Conlon
Parliamentarian (appointed): Luanne Hobbs DeWitt
Executive Board Members: Jessica Mines Dumitru, Tabitha Marie Lanning
The newly elected Board along with all Committee Chairs will hold a joint meeting on July 30 to plan for the upcoming year.
Chief John Ross Chapter was organized in Chattanooga on Dec. 23, 1922, and officially recognized by the National Board in Washington, DC, on April 14, 1923. The Chapter had 51 charter members and 28 organizing members. Membership was initially limited to 75 members, but in 1926 was open without a membership cap.
A regent from an already established chapter hoped the potential members on their waiting list could form the nucleus of a new chapter. With that hope, organizing members came together and the John Ross Chapter began. After a short period of time, the Chapter name was revised to include the title “Chief.”
Since its formation the Chapter has been involved in local activities and events that support the National Society’s mission of education, patriotism, and historic preservation. Chief John Ross Chapter members have presented genealogy workshops, taught American History, donated many books to local libraries, sewn items for active military, and presented Quilts of Valor to the most distinguished veterans. Members of the Chapter have served their society at the state and national levels as well. In addition, since September 23, 1933, the Chapter has shared ownership of the historic Brainerd Mission Cemetery with the other Chattanooga chapters of the DAR and the local SAR Society.
Chief John Ross Chapter has steadily grown in membership and is proud now to be the third largest chapter in the state of Tennessee with 179 members. The membership cap of 75 members has long been forgotten, and any female aged 18 years or older who can prove that a Revolutionary War patriot is in her direct line is eligible and welcome to join the Chief John Ross Chapter, NSDAR.
To learn more about DAR membership, visit www.tndar.org/-chiefjohnross/ or contact Jennifer Harvey, regent, at jenniferharveydar@yahoo.com.