This can involve actively supporting our historic house, serving on a committee, or simply supporting our activities through membership dues and attendance at events.

We offer a full schedule of educational programs, social events, and community engagement opportunities; we also sponsor or host projects relating to patriotic service, such as the nationwide Congressional Essay Contest.

Since the NSCDA’s founding in 1891, our organization has worked to help tell America’s many stories and amplify women’s voices. The NSCDA serves as stewards of historic properties, curators of collections, archivists of historic artifacts, and researchers of genealogical histories. We’re one of the first women’s organizations to honor women in the military, and during two world wars, we partnered with the Red Cross to support our troops.

To our founding Dames, what constituted a worthy ancestor was that he was indeed a great man. But 100+ years later, through our 250 by 250 Founding Females initiative, we’ve expanded our narrative to uncover stories of women who also contributed to our nation’s founding. These remarkable women worked as tavern keepers, merchants, business owners, educators, land owners, printers, writers, and so much more – they helped build our nation even though, legally, they didn’t exist. It is these women we want to celebrate, discover, and add to our register of ancestors.