A dessert meeting was held at Rosewood Estates Meeting room March 5 with Lynne Messersmith as hostess. A St Patrick’s Day theme was served to six members on a snowy day.
Regent Audrey Hoerler, at 1:20 p.m. led us in the Opening Ritual and the Pledge of Allegiance. She read the President General’s Message for March: Our National Society was proud to recently announce that ours is the first heritage society to sign a formal partnership agreement with America250, the organization planning the federal government’s Semiquicetennial observances. The CEO, Joe Daniels said “DAR’s leadership and its members have been at the forefront of promoting historic preservation and education to honor the legacy of all Patriots who fought for America’s independence.”
Indian Minutes: Native Americans have risen above unparalleled challenges to defend our nation with pride and honor, often providing unique talents critical to the war effort. In today’s military, American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians serve at one of the highest rates per capita of all population groups. Native people have served in the US Armed Forces since the American Revolution.
National Defense Report: When Dogs Went to War: On March 13,1942, the US Army Quartermaster Corps began training dogs for the newly established War Dog Program of “K-9 Corps.”They were trained for the US Navy, Marines and Coast Guard as well. They narrowed it down to 7 breeds of dogs: German Shepherds, Belgian Sheepdogs, Doberman Pinschers, Collies, Siberian Huskies, Malumutes and Eskimo Dogs. They were trained for 8 to 12 weeks and then were sent through one of four specialized programs, sentry, scout or patrol, messenger, or mine-detection dogs.
Secretary’s Report was accepted as read.
Program: Lynne Messersmith had a reading from The DAR Spirit Magazine about Lydia Barrington Darragh. She was a seamstress and was one of George Washington’s spies during the Revolution . He had built an espionage network in and around major concentrations of British troops. Lydia was born in 1729 in Dublin, Ireland and married William Darragh in 1753. They immigrated to Philadelphia, where she worked as a midwife and he a tutor. After occupying Philadelphia the British General William Howe set his headquarters across the street from the Darraghs’ home. This enabled Lydia to observe British activities without suspicion. Lydia’s intelligence, saying 5000 men, 13 pieces of cannon, Baggage Waggons, and 11 Boats on Waggon Wheels gave Washington enough time to prepare for the attack and hold off the enemy. The next June the British evacuated. Her husband died in 1783 and she raised their children and worked in a store until she died in 1789. They are buried in the Friends Arch Street Meeting House Burial Ground in Philadelphia.
We thanked Lynne for being our Hostess. Our next meeting will be at the home of Dorothy Carnine.
April 2. Meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.