Mary Desha (March 8, 1850 – January 29, 1911) was a founder of Daughters of the American Revolution.

Early life

Mary Desha attended the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

(at that time known as "Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky"), after which she taught at a private school which she and her mother had founded.

Career

After attending the University of Kentucky, she obtained a job with the Lexington public school system until December 1885, when she began work as a clerk in Washington, D.C. In 1888, she began teaching in Sitka, Alaska. She wrote to the government in Washington about the poor living conditions of the Alaskan natives, which resulted in a federal investigation. Also while in Sitka she whipped a student, and his father and others went to the school board to complain; this may have helped lead to the end of corporal punishment in Alaskan public schools. A note appeared in the Tacoma Ledger in January 1889, stating, "The Board of Education of Alaska has abolished flogging in the public school. This is a green laurel in the frosty crown of our northerly sister that will distinguish her as a leader in humanitarianism. Flogging school children is a relic of barbarism that casts a sad reflection upon our boasted civilization and scientific achievements." In 1889, she returned to Lexington, but soon went to Washington to work as a clerk in the pension office, and later worked as a copyist for the Office of Indian Affairs. For the rest of her life she continued working in the civil service, as well as acting as an Assistant Director of the Daughters of the American Revolution Hospital Corps during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

in 1898.

Founders of the Daughters of the American Revolution cropped

The first official meeting of the first chapter (branch) of the Daughters of the American Revolution began at 2 p.m. on October 11, 1890, in Strathmore Arms, the residence of Mary Smith Lockwood, one of the four co-founders.

Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. A non-profit corporation, it has described its purpose ...

members Registrar General Dr.

George Brown Goode George Brown Goode (February 13, 1851 – September 6, 1896), was an American ichthyologist and museum administrator. He graduated from Wesleyan University and studied at Harvard University. Early life and family George Brown Goode was born Februa ...

, Secretary General A. Howard Clark, William O. McDowell (SAR member #1), Wilson L. Gill (secretary at the inaugural meeting), and 18 other people also met at the Strathmore Arms that day, but Desha, Lockwood, Walworth, and Washington are called co-founders since they had held two or three planning meetings in August 1890.

Legacy

* At Desha's death the first memorial service ever held in Memorial Continental Hall was held for her by the Daughters of the American Revolution. * A memorial to the Daughters of the American Revolution's four founders (including Desha), located at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated on April 17, 1929.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (January 9, 1875 – April 18, 1942) was an American sculptor, art patron and collector, and founder in 1931 of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. She was a prominent social figure and hostess, ...

, who sculpted it, was a DAR member. * The Mary Desha Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution is located in the

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References

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Desha, Mary 1850 births 1911 deaths American educators University of Kentucky alumni Founders of lineage societies Activists from Kentucky