Short History of
the Sons of the American Revolution
and the Center for Advancing America's Heritage
The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution is a patriotic organization
formed in 1889 and chartered by the United States Congress in 1906. SAR has more than
27,000 members living in all of the 50 states and 23 foreign countries.
Throughout its 116-year history, SAR has admitted more than 165,000 members. Among
them are 15 Presidents of the United States, including George W. Bush and his father
George H. W. Bush, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry Truman and Theodore Roosevelt. SAR
also has among its members Sir Winston Churchill and King Juan Carlos I of Spain,
both of whom trace their ancestry to Revolutionary War patriots.
The SAR National Headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, is more properly a historic
shrine honoring our Patriot Ancestors. It is a museum of art and artifacts from the
colonial and revolutionary periods, and a genealogical library. The museum includes
an extensive collection of historical American paintings and an exact replica of the
Liberty Bell.
The existing SAR Library contains 50,000 books, periodicals, journals microfilm,
and microfiche, including 5,000 family genealogies in hard copy and 8,000 books on
the American Revolution. The Library has three nationally important collections of
materials relating to George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and George Rogers Clark.
The mission of SAR is to promote patriotism and to reaffirm those values on which
our country was established. To achieve its goals, SAR has embarked upon a campaign
to raise $6 million. Funds will be used for the construction of a new SAR Genealogical
Library and for an endowment that will provide a permanent source of support for SAR
programs and facilities.
With the success of this fund-raising campaign, SAR will continue its quest of becoming
the foremost repository of Revolutionary War era documents and artifacts. Construction
of a new Genealogical Library will enable SAR to expand upon its already outstanding
collection of military and genealogical records, books, manuscripts and other pertinent
historical materials. All of these materials will be available to scholars and the
public for genealogical and historical research.
Now, more than ever, we must preserve and sharpen the national memory of the American
Revolution and the freedoms our Patriot Ancestors gave us.
For more information please contact:
, Chairman of the Fund Raising Committee
|
Methods of Giving
