You Never Know

On the second Thursday of each month the William Candler Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution meet at the first Presbyterian church on Enota Street in our town. Someone is always responsible for bringing drinks and snacks. When everyone has settled in and are seated at some round tables, our Regent brings the meeting to order and we begin by going through our ritual. The ritual expresses our mission and all participate in a litany which reflects this goal. We have the pledge to the American flag, the Americans Creed, and the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America. It is always the same and one line I really like especially. It is a response, "Yea, I have a goodly heritage".

If we have a speaker that day, that is next on the agenda. Yesterday we had a lady come ,who had been there before. Her background is varied, but fashion design is one facet of her many talents. The last time she came she was dressed in period costume. This day, she was dressed in the style of the 1980's. She gave a history of clothing from the time of the Pilgrims up to the present. Also she had some vintage clothes which had belonged to her grandmother. She wore white gloves when she handled them. She touched them gingerly as she told about them. One tip for those who had old and delicate clothing was never to fold them, rather roll them for storage and once a month bring them out for a good airing.

We had been invited to bring to this meeting any vintage clothing that we had inherited. Some of the ladies did. The thing that impressed all of us was the very small waists of the dresses. They did wear corsets, skirt hoops, lace and ruffles too, which all seemed extreme in light of how simply we ladies dress today. The clothing which was brought in was for formal occasions mostly, like weddings. They were quite old and some had disintegrated in places, but still were impressive in their embroidery and hand work. In some cases they were made of silk. I think seeing these old styles made us appreciate our comfortable styles of today and also our many choices of fabrics.

One lady brought in a book which had pictures of her families from the past. Seeing them reminded me of my mother in her wedding attire. I am guessing that it was her wedding attire as she wore an elaborate blouse with many tucks and turns with blousing sleeves and of course the tiny waist. The picture of my father of that same year shows a hat worn at a jaunty angle and him seated in a casual pose. His white shirt had a very high collar, stylish at that time. No one was smiling, and I notice the same thing in other vintage family pictures. It was just not in vogue to smile for your portrait. It makes one wonder, if the folks of that time ( around 1900) had good dentistry services available. The pictures which I have of my fraternal grandmother and my maternal grandmother shows the same straight look, no smiling. In their portraits they wore dark clothing and were probably in their seventies. Perhaps these ladies were not smiling as they led austere lives in a time when the living was hard for most people, especially women. The dressy attire. lace and ruffles were reserved for special occasions and youth. I am still guessing, but I wonder if they had to sit very still for the cameras of their day.

Regarding the hair styles, I remember when my mother had her hair "bobbed". It was a big step. In her youth she had long hair but it was pulled over a round, rolled form, around her face. This form was called a "rat". Someone told me that they were now called "bumps" and were coming back into style. They are worn in back at the top of the head, maybe they replace wigs, for some women do have balding there, later in life. For whatever reason, we adapt to the present , according to what is available to us. We are now living in an age of rapid change. Hopefully the changes will be better for ourselves , our children, and grandchildren. It can be fun to look back, but looking forward can be more productive.

Trying on New Hats

Yesterday I had a new and interesting experience. It all started in Abingdon, Va. and my brother who lives there. For many years he has been doing research on our ancestors, uncovering many interesting things about them and how they lived. He has become quite skilled at gleaning information from libraries and historical societies across the country. He has made friends with many historians and other distant family members who have added to his collections of family stories. I believe that interest is what led him to become an owner of a computer when he had disdained them before. Thankfully he did change his position on that issue and his computer has served him well in many different ways. He recently informed me that he was a member of the SAR (Sons of the American Revolution) and that if I so desired I too could qualify as a DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). His interest in things of our past family ignited an interest in me and he counseled me as to how I would proceed.

As a consequence, I have gathered, with his help the proper qualifying papers, ordered the birth certificates, etc. and am ready for the next step. One of the first things I have done, after talking with the president of the local chapter, was to visit a regularly scheduled meeting of this group.
That took place yesterday at 2:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, Ga. When I found a seat at a table there before me was the order for the opening of the meeting. It is a ritual where we all read/respond to the leaders statements. Part of this was the pledge to the flag. Also on the table was a leaflet entitled "What the Constitution Means to You". On the back is a statement of The Citizen's Responsibility, taken from The National Republic and published by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

The meeting took two hours in which many reports were given regarding what each committee head had done with her given responsibility. This gave me a good overview of what they were all about. They are about many things, all stemming from appreciation of the Constitution and educating others about our Constitution. They have a national magazine and one lady has the job and recruiting members to subscribe to it. Another has the job of distributing books to the schools which tell about our Constitution, another on furthering knowledge through various means, like having the mayor declare Constitution Week.

The speaker for the day was dressed in period costume and gave an overview of how the Constitution came to be starting with the Articles of Confederation back in the 1780's. It was really interesting and informative. I wish that she had passed out a copy of the talk as I wanted to read it again.

After two hours of hearing all of this I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. How could I fit into this group? What could I possibly bring to the table to become a valued member? Well, it had to sink in overnight and I had to give it some more thought. My first thought was that I could not keep up with this group of younger, energetic women and I began to think of my excuses. I was definitely having second thoughts. But things always look brighter after a night of sleep, so now I am thinking of ways I could be a viable part of the group.

Over the years I have worn many hats. My first was as a daughter and sister, then friend, student and later a wife. These hats were donned and removed making way for others such as teacher, mother, S.S. teacher, and even one I wore unwilling, a widow. As I began to have new experiences new hats were tried on, such as gardener, property owner, and now I may be wearing a new hat as a member of a group as old as our country. It should be interesting for sure. If they need an idea person, I already have some to offer but I may have to tread lightly as newcomers must do. I once read that just because someone comes up with a silly idea does not mean you have to fall in line behind them. That is a good thing to remember as some really outlandish ideas do come to the surface from time to time. Even from ME !!

One thing that does stand out in my mind re: the meeting yesterday was what one teacher had to offer. She had recently learned something about her great grandfather who was a minister in Macon, Ga. She had learned that in the 1830's when the Cherokee Indians in Georgia were forced on a long walk to Oklahoma for resettlement (the Trail of Tears) her grandfather went along to ensure that the Indians were not mistreated on the journey. She said she had not known much about her grandfather but that this story gave her much insight into his character.
I hope that more such stories will become known as I begin a journey with these dedicated ladies, and that I can earn the privilege of wearing yet another new hat.