In this special America 250: Illuminate Our Legacy episode, we reflect on the 135th Continental Congress of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, held in Washington, D.C., during this historic season of preparation for our nation’s 250th birthday. Continental Congress 2026 brought Daughters together from across the country and around the world for a week filled with business, celebration, remembrance, service, fellowship, and patriotic purpose. From meaningful ceremonies and inspiring reports to moments of sisterhood, gratitude, and reflection, this Congress reminded us of the strength of our Society and the enduring legacy we are called to carry forward. As America prepares to celebrate 250 years, Daughters continue to honor the past, serve the present, and inspire the future. This episode captures the spirit of Congress, the beauty of our shared mission, and the many ways DAR members are illuminating our legacy through service, remembrance, education, and love of country.
In this special America 250: Illuminate Our Legacy episode, we reflect on the 135th Continental Congress of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, held in Washington, D.C., as our nation prepares to commemorate its 250th birthday.
Daughters from across the country and around the world gathered for a memorable week of service, celebration, remembrance, fellowship, and patriotic purpose. Meaningful ceremonies, inspiring reports, and special moments of sisterhood and gratitude demonstrated the strength of our Society and the enduring legacy we are called to carry forward.
In this episode, we explore:
Memorable moments from Continental Congress 2026
The spirit of service and sisterhood shared by attending Daughters
DAR’s role in commemorating America’s 250th anniversary
How members honor the past, serve the present, and inspire the future
The many ways Daughters illuminate our legacy through historic preservation, education, patriotism, and service
Join us as we celebrate the beauty of our shared mission, reflect on an unforgettable Continental Congress, and look ahead to America’s 250th anniversary with gratitude, purpose, and love of country.
Welcome to the DAR Today Podcast, and here we are, 15th of July. And daughters, we just want to thank you for a wonderful 135th Continental Congress. I am True Lewis, your host, and daughters, unpack your Congress bags, find that one missing shoe, refill your coffee, and take a deep breath. Because what a June we just had.
The 135th Continental Congress has come and gone. America has celebrated her big 250th birthday, and we are still glowing from the fellowship service ceremony, all our laughter and legacy that filled Washington DC in Constitution Hall. This month on the DAR Today Podcast, we are taking a joyful look back at the highlights and the hard moments and the history-making memories of Congress Week.
From opening night to the final gavel, from the hall to the hotel, from service night to sisterhood, and all the little moments in between that remind us of why we love this society. So settle in, smile with us, and let's revisit the magic, the mission, and the momentum of the 135th Continental Congress.
Before we move through our Congress highlights, we want to pause and give a special thank you to everyone who helped capture the heart of the one hundred thirty fifth Continental Congress through the Congress Herald and the DAR blog. Those daily updates gave daughters a beautiful way to follow along, whether they were seated in Constitution Hall, serving behind the scenes or watching from home or catching up after a very full Congress day.
For the most complete day by day details, official highlights, photographs, award information, and those special moments just made Congress so memorable. So we encourage you to visit the Congress Herald and the DAR blog, and they offer a closer look at the ceremonies, speakers, service, and fellowship and all the moving parts that helped make this historic America two hundred and fifty so special and how it shined.
On Wednesday, the PBS documentary The American Revolution by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt received the DAR Media and Entertainment Award, and Ken Burns received the DAR Medal of Honor. Liberty Voices received recognition and what a sight to see from Lincoln, a bald eagle. He made his surprise flight through Constitution Hall. And I was so caught off guard and amazed, and it was just a thrilling moment. On Thursday, we all were centered on education and youth achievement. DAR honored American History essay contest winners, the Patriots of the American Revolution High School essay contest winner.
The DAR Good Citizen of the Year, and the 2026 Outstanding Teacher of American History. ⁓ it was just so fabulous. On Friday, we want to give a special shout out to the Service of America Committee for Friday evening's Illuminate Our Legacy Night during Continental Congress. What a beautiful milestone achievement for the Storage administration. Across the ballroom, so many national vice chairs, committee members and dedicated daughters helped bring that evening to life through committee booths, service displays, and meaningful conversations, and each one carried forward the flame of our torch of service, reminding us that our work is not only remembered in words, but it was reflected in that action. And we also want to congratulate all who were recognized through the American Heritage Awards . They were celebrating creativity, preservation, and many ways that daughters continue to honor our nation's story.
To every daughter who planned, prepared, served, and just welcomed, all the decorations, the presentations, and just supported that special evening, we just want to say thank you because your dedication helped us to continue to illuminate our legacy together.
And thank you to my two national vice chairs that made it while I wasn't there at our DAR Today podcast committee booth. And I hope you all enjoyed those cherry blossoms, Lindor chocolates. So that's what happened on Friday.
And on Saturday, the weekend, National Defense Night. It focused on military personnel, veterans, and a major 25th anniversary commemoration of September 11th, 2001. It was honoring the remembrance through service. Recognitions included the 9/11 Memorial Museum, the New York Medical Examiner's Office, WTC DNA Identification Office, Voices, Center for Resilience, Nine Eleven Day, and Colonel Marilyn Wills, Donna Herman, and Colonel Nicole Malokowski, Army Nurse Corps honorees, and DAR service for America awardees.
Next we're going to talk about the Past Congress Monumental Moments. We wanted to share some Past Congress Monumental Moments. So DAR's first Continental Congress was held February 22nd through the 24th, 1892 at the Church of Our Father in Washington, D.C.
Official DAR History says it was the society's first annual gathering and Carolyn Scott Harrison spoke there as President General. Indiana's historical marker project also cites the contemporary newspaper coverage from the New York Tribune on February 23rd, 1892, and that tied President General Harrison directly to that first Congress. So for references, please go to the DAR official history page, the founding of the DAR, and DAR President's General page under Carolyn Scott Harrison. Besides the New York Tribune on February 23rd, 1892 those are a couple places that we got those references from. Constitution Hall was completed in 1929 and it was built to house the annual convention.
The President General Page notes that it was dedicated on April 17th, 1929 during the 38th Continental Congress. This is one of the great milestone years because Congress had outgrown earlier space and now occupied a hall designed for national scale. And I was finding this fascinating because I wanted to find the some past history on years that ended with a six because we're in 2026.
So that's why I felt like this segment would be pretty special for other daughters if you're new and seasoned that we go back and remind ourselves of these monumental moments. The 55th Continental Congress in 1946, that was held in an Atlantic city, and it was covered in newspapers as a major post war gathering.
DAR's President General History says President General Mrs. Talmadge called for support as DAR and Americans would lead the world in the task of rebuilding. And at that same time, again, the contemporary newspaper coverage shows that Congress was also shadowed by public controversy over racial discrimination that was connected to Constitution Hall policy, which the papers reported directly from Atlantic City.
In 1926, our 85th Continental Congress, Miss America 1976, Tawny Godin performed an original music composition on piano. She had just became a DAR member only a few months prior, and performing at Congress was her first official DAR event, and she was the first Miss America to be a DAR member. So her quote was "Everywhere I go, people are interested in my membership. They have read about it in the paper, and I think that's a credit to Americans, that they are getting into the bicentennial spirit, that they are becoming more and more interested in their heritage because one of my greatest joys is the pride that I have, my heritage, which entitled me to become a member of the DAR. And I just wanted to spread this Yankee Doodle spirit all across the country and make people know what the DAR is all about". That was fascinating.
2006, the 115th Continental Congress, President General Presley Waggnor's project of preserving our patriotic heritage that focused on the service of members who told the stories of patriot ancestors with genealogy. And you know how I love that, especially as a family historian.
But that year, members were in process of scanning more than 9 million pieces of supporting documentation that accompanied original applications, and that led to the shift to more online research that was beginning. So on opening night, the Society recognized the 65th anniversary of the USO and presented Wayne Newton with Ellen Harden Walworth Founders Medal for Patriotism.
Newton performed his first USO show at eight years old, and then he went on to become chairman of the USO Celebrity Circle from 2001 to 2004. So I hope you all enjoyed some of those tidbits. I was a little tongue-tied on that, but I really enjoyed that research and just coming up with some of those monumental moments just to reflect back on the past that now we're here in 2026.
We also want to give a special thank you to the Pages, the Children of the American Revolution, the House Committee, and all of the Continental Congress support committees and volunteers. From the tiers to the platform, from hospitality to the hallways, your care, the precision, especially all your patients, your service moved smoothly from beginning to end. You guided us, welcomed us, supported us, and just made sure that we Daughters were cared for throughout the week. Your work may have happened behind the scenes, but it is felt in every smooth transition, every kind direction, and every moment of order and grace. So we thank you for serving Congress so beautifully.
As we bring this July episode of the DAR Today podcast to a close, we just do so with full hearts, grateful spirits, and just a renewed appreciation for the monumental moments that have carried our national society from one generation to the next. From the early days of Continental Congress to the milestones celebrated through the decades, every gathering of daughters has added another stitch to the great American story. Each Congress, each administration, each chapter report, each act of service, and each daughter are just willing to step forward has helped build a legacy we now carry into 2026 and the semi quincentennial celebration of our nation's 250th birthday. And what a beautiful time this is. We are in our season of America two hundred fifty. We are not simply remembering history. We are illuminating it. We are lifting up the names of the stories, the service, and the sacrifices that made this country possible.
And under our President General's inspiring theme, Illuminate Our Legacy, we are reminded always that legacy is not something that just sits quietly on a shelf. Legacy shines, legacy moves. It calls us to serve with purpose, to tell the stories well, and to make room for every daughter, every chapter, every and every community to see themselves in this great work.
So here on the DAR Today podcast, you know, we are always celebrating a monumental moment of our own because we have reached over more than a 100 episodes, and that is no small thing, daughters. And that milestone belongs not just to this committee, but to every guest who said yes, to every daughter out there who has listened to America, every chapter that shared an episode and every national chair who brought her work forward and every member who believed this podcast would become a bridge across our society and America.
So this season has been full, it has been fruitful, and we have lifted up national committees, again, shared chapter stories, celebrated service, honored our patriots, and we welcomed voices from across the society.
And we continue to build this platform that helps daughters always feel informed, connected, and hopefully we have inspired you. And that is something worth celebrating, and it is something worth being proud of.
To our daughters in every chapter, from the smallest towns to the largest cities, even in the hollers of Kentucky, from where I'm from, thank you for the programs that you prepare the flags you raise, the students that you encourage, the veterans you honor, and just all the records that you preserve, the graves that you mark, the stories that you uncovered, and all those quiet acts of service that they just never make a headline, but they surely make a difference. You are the heartbeat of this society. So as July and August come with their warmth, their travel, their family time, and their slower summer rhythm. We hope this episode leaves you encouraged and ready for the historic season ahead in the fall.
Daughters, keep listening, keep sharing, keep serving, and keep illuminating the legacy that was entrusted to us. Keep passing that torch forward. So come back next week on July 22nd as your National Vice Chair Haley Lancaster gives us another episode of What Our Chapter's Doing?
Membership in the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution is open to any woman eighteen years of age or older, regardless of race, religion, or ethnic background who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution.
The DAR Today Podcast is produced by the DAR Today Podcast Committee of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution under the administration of President General Mrs. Ginne Sebastian Storage and the leadership of our Liaison Curator General Mrs. Renee Pace.
We are always so grateful for their continued encouragement and support as we share the stories of service and Legacy of Daughters Across Our Society .
So from all of us at the DAR Today Podcast, especially your national vice chairs, we thank you for joining us for this special July episode. May this summer be bright and may your chapters keep the flame lit on our Torch, and may we all carry forward the fire of service, patriotism, education, and remembrance. Until next time, I'm True Lewis.
And this has been the DAR Today Podcast, where we celebrate God, home and country, and the work of daughters today, and we honor the legacy of those who came before us.
Happy birthday, America!