Mary Desha (March 8, 1850 – January 29, 1911) was a founder of

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

Early life

Mary Desha attended the

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

(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 Sitka (; ) is a municipal home rule, unified Consolidated city-county, city-borough in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. It was under Russian America, Russian rule from 1799 to 1867. The city is situated on the west side of Ba ...

. 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 The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, as well as acting as an Assistant Director of the Daughters of the American Revolution Hospital Corps during the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

in 1898.

Founders of the Daughters of the American Revolution cropped

The first official meeting of the first chapter (branch) of the

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 Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered patriotic organization. The National Society, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Louisvi ...

members Registrar General Dr.

George Brown Goode George Brown Goode (February 13, 1851 – September 6, 1896), was an American ichthyologist and museum administrator. Early life and family George Brown Goode was born February 13, 1851, in New Albany, Indiana, to Francis Collier Goode and Sarah ...

, 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, during the administration of President General

Grace Lincoln Hall Brosseau Grace Lincoln Hall Brosseau (December 6, 1872 – April 20, 1959), also known as Mrs. Alfred J. Brosseau, was an American writer and socialite who served as the 13th president general of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution fr ...

. The sculptor,

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, ...

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

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

References

Works cited

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