THE DAR

by Margaret Gibbs ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 21, 1969

A very firm exposure of the public record of the Daughters of the American Revolution, now the biggest (over 180,000 members) of the patriotic societies entered by means of genealogical proof of antecedents. Since its founding in 1890, the organization has rapidly moved from a fairly progressive attitude toward social change into the farthest corner of the rampant Right -- clucking out resolutions at annual conferences against the UN, acting out anti-Negro sympathies by finding excuses not to rent DAR facilities to Negro artists, and (in the early '60's) crusading against any commentary critical of U.S. actions in school history texts. The author attributes the recent relative quiet from the petticoat patriots to the threat of taxation; had they continued to sound and behave like political lobbyists, the Internal Revenue Service might have moved in on the DAR's 10 million dollar tax-free D.C. properties. The publishing business has already found out that the DAR can generate enough heat to burn books; school and public librarians will find this up-dating short history amusing, informative, and a refresher course on how local institutions can panic when these chickens scream like American eagles at bay.

Pub Date: April 21, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION