Honorees included Admiral Linda
Fagan, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant, who received the DAR
Patriot Award, CeCe Moore, prominent
forensic genealogist, who received the DAR Medal of Honor, and Dr.
Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress,
who received the DAR History Award Medal
WASHINGTON, July 11,
2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Saturday, June 29
marked the final gala awards ceremony of the Daughters of the
American Revolution (DAR) 133rd Continental Congress as 3,500 DAR
members and guests gathered at the DAR Washington, D.C. headquarters, near the White
House. There was celebration and organizational business during the
weeklong Continental Congress, along with recognition of excellence
with 18 awards bestowed to distinguished persons and students for
historic preservation, education and patriotism, the three pillars
of the DAR mission.
"As part of our mission to preserve and
promote American history, education, and patriotism, DAR is honored
to share the stories and work of so many deserving individuals,
whether it's over a long professional career or students who give
us such hope for the future of our great country."
June 29 was the National Defense
Night Ceremony and Admiral Linda
Fagan, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), was
keynote speaker. She was recognized for her service to our country
with the DAR Patriot Award, which was established following the
Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on America to
honor a person who provides extraordinary service to protect
America's freedom. Admiral Fagan is the first woman to hold the
Commandant position of the USCG and oversees all global USCG
operations, including 42,000 active-duty, 7,000 reserve, 8,700
civilian personnel, and 21,000 Auxiliary volunteers.
During this ceremony, the DAR commemorated the 80th Anniversary
of D-Day with a special presentation and honored 100-year-old WWII
veteran and DAR member Marjorie
Stone with the President General's Medallion.
Other military-related awards bestowed on Saturday evening
were:
- Margaret Cochran Corbin Award (for
distinguished service by women in the military named for "Captain
Molly," who took over her husband's cannon during the Battle of
Fort Washington in 1776) – to Col. Allison
Black, USAF (ret.) for her 32-year career in the Air Force
including more than 2,000 hours of combat missions including her
first in Afghanistan during which
she earned the nickname the "Angel of Death."
- Dr. Anita
Newcomb McGee Award/Army Nurse of the Year (named for DAR's
first Librarian General, Dr. McGee, who practiced medicine in
Washington, D.C. and directed the
DAR Hospital Corp during the Spanish-American War and later, while
Acting Assistant U.S. Surgeon General, founded the Army Nurse Corp)
– to Col. Maria Bruton, chief
nursing officer at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas. She is a board-certified family nurse
practitioner and nurse executive and has served throughout
Texas, Italy, Germany, and Iraq. Her military awards including the
Meritorious Service Medal (3 OLC), Army Commendation Medal (3 OLC),
Army Achievement Medal (1 OLC), and the Iraqi Campaign Medal.
- Outstanding Veteran Volunteer – to
Arthur G. Austin, whose U.S. Army
service from 1977 to 2014 included the Cuban Refugee Crisis,
Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Operation Enduring
Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He now mentors with the
Enchanted Mountain Coalition and the LEEK Foundation Veteran
Hunting and Mountain Preserve in upstate New York, family-friendly all-inclusive
retreats for veterans with the mission of "Serving All Veterans,
All Wars."
- Outstanding Youth Volunteer – to
Elsie Van Beek, a South Dakota high school sophomore who has
earned the rank of Eagle Scout and raised $85,000 to sponsor the entirety of a Midwest
Honor Flight on May 31, 2023, which
became known as "The Elsie Honors Mission 15." She has more than
1,000 hours in service to veterans and has participated in all 18
Midwest Honor Flight Missions (based in Sioux Falls, S.D.).
- DAR Outstanding Service for Veterans
Award Winner – to Barbara Grant, a
member of the Eagle, Idaho DAR
chapter. As Idaho State Chaplain, she donated more than 600 hours
of service to veterans in 2023 alone. Additionally, she volunteers
weekly at the Boise VA Medical Center and the Idaho State Veterans'
Home, where she has been instrumental in screening veterans for
food insecurity.
Thursday evening, June 27 featured
multiple awards recognizing excellence in education, one of which
was DAR's award for Outstanding Teacher of American History earned
by Lois MacMillan.
A high school educator in Grants Pass,
Ore., MacMillan's 30-year career has spanned kindergarten
through high school, teaching American History, AP Government and
Politics, and World History. MacMillan received the Grammy Museum's
Jane Ortner Education Award in 2018 for creating a six-lesson, 8th
grade history unit based on the music of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway hit, "Hamilton." She also facilitated teaching a
Founding Era curriculum to over 750 Title I high schools in 14
cities nationwide.
Awards were given for the DAR American History Essay Contest in
which students drafted a mock newspaper article reporting on the
new John Philip Sousa march in 1897,
"The Stars and Stripes Forever." Winners were: Kate Womack, a 5th grader from Utah; Dheer Mehrotra, a 6th grader from
Georgia; Jackson Nerenberg, a 7th grader from
Ohio; and Ananya Mandrekar, an 8th grader from
New Jersey.
The DAR Patriots of the American Revolution Essay Contest winner
was Hansika Lenkala from East Granby,
Conn. The DAR Good Citizens Scholarship Award was won by
Christina Gogzheyan from
Cold Spring, Ky.
The DAR 2024 Continental Congress Opening Night Ceremony,
Wednesday, June 27, featured a
performance by Mark Schneider, a
Marquis de Lafayette historical
interpreter who the Parisian magazine, Le Figaro, has noted as
portraying one of the top Napoleons in film, ahead of Academy Award
winner Joaquin Phoenix. The
following award winners were recognized:
- DAR Medal of Honor – to CeCe Moore, a DNA detective and chief genetic
genealogist for Parabon Nanolabs where she has an unparalleled
record of solving more than 300 cold cases using genetic genealogy
and has appeared on 60 Minutes, The Today Show, Good Morning
America, NBC Nightly News, and the PBS Newshour. She also
contributed and worked as a full-time genetic genealogist on the
PBS Television documentary series, "Finding Your Roots," with
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
- DAR History Award Medal – to Dr.
Carla Hayden, the 14th Librarian of
Congress. She is the first woman and African American to lead the
national library and, since President Barack Obama nominated her in 2016. In her
tenure, she has made the library more accessible to the public
through her social media presence, events, and activities. People
can now see items from the extensive library collection online
without visiting Washington,
D.C.
- Historic Preservation Award – to
Steve Porterfield who has spent more
than 36 years conserving and collecting antique clothing to place
in museums and private collections worldwide. He has worked
extensively with the Ellen Noel Art Museum and the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. He
has provided vintage clothing, fabrics and accessories for films
including "Killers of the Flower Moon" (2023) and has appraised
textiles for PBS' "Antiques Roadshow" for 14 years.
- Founders Medal for Education – to
Bernice Steinhardt, president of Art
and Remembrance, an arts and educational non-profit that brings the
work and story of Holocaust survivor and fabric artist Esther
Nisenthal Krinitz, her mother, to a wider audience. Art and
Remembrance maximizes the educational potential of Esther's art and
promotes art and personal memoir as tools for healing and
awareness. Two pieces of Esther's art currently hang in the DAR
Museum's "Sewn in America" exhibit and Bernice will offer a Story
Cloth Workshop at the DAR Museum in October, where guests will
learn about this traditional craft and make their own story
cloth.
"Continental Congress is always a busy but exhilarating series
of days, and our award presentations are a particularly gratifying
and enjoyable part of the experience," said Pamela Wright, DAR President General. "As part
of our organization's mission to preserve and promote American
history, education, and patriotism, DAR is honored to share the
stories and work of so many deserving individuals, whether it's
over a long professional career or students who give us such hope
for the future of our great country. It is our absolute pleasure to
spotlight their excellent work impacting all of us across the
nation."
About the National Society of the Daughters of the American
Revolution (DAR)
One of the largest patriotic women's service organizations in the
world, DAR has 190,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters
across the country and several foreign countries. DAR members
promote historic preservation, education and patriotism via
commemorative events, scholarships and educational initiatives,
citizenship programs, service to veterans, meaningful community
service and more. For additional information about DAR and its
relevant mission, visit http://www.dar.org.
Media Contact
Bren Landon, Daughters of the
American Revolution, 202-572-0563, blandon@dar.org,
https://www.dar.org/
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SOURCE Daughters of the American Revolution