Colonial Dames of America

Not to be confused with The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America or National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century.

The Colonial Dames of America (CDA) is an American organization comprising women who descend from one or more ancestors who lived in British North America between 1607 and 1775, and who aided the colonies in public office, in military service, or in another acceptable capacity. The CDA is listed as an approved lineage society with the Hereditary Society Community of the United States of America.

Colonial Dames of America

The Society of the Colonial Dames of America
The Colonial Dames of America logo
Mount Vernon Hotel Museum in New York City
Abbreviation	CDA
Founded	1890
Founders	Maria Denning Van Rensselaer
Type	Non-profit, lineage society
Focus	Historic preservation, education, patriotism
Headquarters	Mount Vernon Hotel Museum, New York City, New York, United States
Executive Director	Nicole Scholet
Website	cda1890.org

The National Headquarters is at Mount Vernon Hotel Museum in New York City, a building purchased by the CDA in 1924.

History

The organization was founded in 1890, shortly before the founding of two similar societies, The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America and the Daughters of the American Revolution. In April 1890, Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer (Maria Denning Van Rensselaer), Mrs. John Lyon Gardiner, and Mrs. Archibald Gracie King decided to found a patriotic society of women descended from Colonial ancestry.^[1]

The original CDA insignia was designed by Tiffany & Co.^[1]

Notable members

• Lillie Stella Acer Ballagh, founder of Matinee Musical Club, Los Angeles^[2]
• Fanny Yarborough Bickett (1870-1941), First Lady of North Carolina and first female president of the North Carolina Railroad
• Margaret Ann Scruggs Carruth (1892–1988), etcher, printmaker, illustrator and educator
• Florence Anderson Clark (1835–1918), author, newspaper editor, librarian, university dean
• Cynthia Beverley Tucker Washington Coleman (1832–1908), writer and preservationist in Williamsburg, Virginia.^[3]
• Elizabeth Jarvis Colt, businesswoman and philanthropist; founder of the Connecticut chapter of CDA^[4]
• Pauline Smith Crenshaw (1878-1956), historian, co-founder and president of the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
• Susan Topliff Davis (1862-1931), non-profit executive
• Julia Livingston Delafield (1837–1914), philanthropist and historian
• Laura Dayton Fessenden (1852-1924), author
• Laura Montgomery Henderson (1867-1940), president, Alabama Federation of Women's Clubs
• Sallie Foster Harshbarger, active in civic and fraternal work^[2]
• Mary Hilliard Hinton, historian, painter, anti-suffragist, and white supremacist
• Alice Curtice Moyer^[5]
• Dale Mercer, socialite and television personality
• Jeannie Blackburn Moran (1842/50–1929), author, community leader, socialite, and philanthropist; CDA charter member
• Edith Allen Phelps, twice president of the Oklahoma Library Association, the first professional in the Library Science field in the Oklahoma City system^[2]
• Adelaide Hamilton (1830-1915), last surviving granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton. She joined the organisation when it was first launched.
• Daisy Allen Story, socialite, suffragist, and clubwoman
• Florence Warfield Sillers, historian and socialite
• May Erwin Talmadge, 19th President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution
• Fay Webb-Gardner, First Lady of North Carolina
• Lynn Forney Young, lineage society leader