The Colonial Dames of America

12/07/2023

CDA SWANS 🦢
~~~Anna, Vicki, Jenny, Sharon, PG Rebecca, Angela, Caroline

12/07/2023

BEAUTIFUL JERRE LYNN VANIER
~~~Of the AZ Chapter gives puppy “Todd” Christmas 🌲 Cuddles.

12/07/2023

DAUGHTER DAME MAKES DEBUT IN ALABAMA NUTCRACKER PERFORMANCE
~~~Today is the biggest day for Edie Cayse , daughter of Dames Alden Cayse, and granddaughter of Cynthia Speake of Chapter ###IX-Birmingham. The Huntsville Ballet sponsors the ballet where Edie is performing, and her mother, Alden, is the ballet guild membership chair. The Cayse family resides in Huntsville.

12/07/2023

THE HOMESTEAD PRE-DATES AMERICA
~~~It has colonial origins !

12/07/2023

LAURIE ALDINGER LOOKING VERY DAME-LIKE
~~~Cerulean blue attire-check; CDA garden scarf-check; wearing CDA insignia perfectly-check

AMERICAS FIRST COLONIAL DAMES
~~~CDA 1890
www.cda1890.org

12/06/2023

CDA COMMITTEES INNOVATE
~~~Nom Comm met in NYC . Four there , one recovering from Covid by zoom. CDA can make it work for the good of the Society with a mixture of technology. Captions under photos.

12/06/2023

Christmas Robin

“I heard a bird sing In the dark of December A magical thing And sweet to remember.
‘We are nearer to Spring Than we were in September,’ I heard a bird sing In the dark of December.”
By Oliver Herford, I Heard a Bird Sing

Photo by Leigh Rebecca

12/06/2023

The Conservancy mourns the passing of Mica Ertegun who we honored as a New York Living Landmark in 2007.

She was a celebrated interior designer and passionate philanthropist who supported a number of worthy causes including Jazz at Lincoln Center, the World Monuments Fund, the restoration of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, as well as the Landmarks Conservancy.

12/06/2023

TWO. GA PEACHES 🍑
~~~CDA members now in other places. L- Angela a member of the CDA board of managers lives in New York; R-SJ is chairman of the CDA PR Committee and lives in Huntsville, AL.

12/06/2023

LILY CHRISTOPHER OF CHAPTER VIII-HOUSTON
~~~Helped the First Lady, Jill Biden decorate the White House during the Thanksgiving Holidays!

12/06/2023

PAST PRESIDENT GENERAL BRANTLEY KNOWLES
~~~Celebrates her birthday !!! 🎂

12/06/2023

CHAPTER III-DC DAMES
~~~Susanna Hastings and her mother, Linda Aguirre at a private club in New York. Attending a Dames Dinner!!

12/06/2023

WONDERFUL DAMES
~~~Honored at a special gathering by the CDA PG in NYC.

12/05/2023

CHAPTER III-DC DAME
~~~SJ Burnley on her way down Park Ave for a CDA Committee meeting. We are so glad she’s here in NYC.

CDA 1890
~~~Americas first Colonial Dames
Www.cda1890.org

12/05/2023

JR DAMES CHAIR COCO HEIN
~~~With Kathy Springhorn and Katherine Johnson

12/05/2023

THE FISHERS ENJOY THE FESTIVITIES
~~~All the way from Delaware

12/05/2023

AT THE DAMES HOLIDAY PARTY 🌲

12/05/2023

SENSATIONAL CDA HOLIDAY PARTY
~~~They only get better and better!! Over 100 in attendance at an elegant NYC private club, with PG Rebecca Madsen as our vibrant hostess. Fabulous hors d’oeuvres and Alex Donner music, carols sung by Dames and friends. A good time was had by all!!! 🌲
Captions under photos.

12/04/2023

In the Pennsylvania German tradition, elaborate designs known as fraktur memorialized important texts with exuberant decoration.

Records such as birth and marriage certificates were lavishly decorated with birds, flowers, and other motifs of cultural and religious significance. They were often colored in vibrant oranges, reds, greens, and yellows, speaking to the frequently celebratory nature of the documents. Additional texts such as writing samplers, music books, and religious writings were afforded equally elaborate treatment, underlining the importance of their contents and serving as a cue to the reader to take their meaning to heart.

Artist Unidentified, Religious Text with Spiritual Chimes for Elisabeth Geissinger, Pennsylvania, 1803, Watercolor and ink on paper, 12 7/8 x 15 7/8 in., American Folk Art Museum, New York, gift of Ralph Esmerian, 2005.8.42.

12/04/2023

HOLLY HUNT HOSTS CDA CHRISTMAS PARTY
~~~Following Park AVE tree lighting. Hot chocolate , seasonal confections, and delicious savories in her beautiful house. Thank you Holly !!

12/04/2023

CDA PARK AVE TREE LIGHTING
~~~Over 35 Dames in attendance! 🌲L to R: PG Rebecca Madsen, Katherine Johnson, beau George, Marisol de Luna.

12/03/2023

DAMES IN THE CITY
~~~Sharon Hare-President of the Illinois Chapter, Kathy Springhorn former CDA VP , and Board of Managers member Vicki Smith enjoyed a repast at the Tiffany blue Box Cafe’. The Neapolitan crèche at the Met was a post prandial stop. The Dames are in town for tomorrow nights CDA Holiday Party which is always a grand, festive soiree!! 🌲

12/03/2023

CHAPTER II-PHILADELPHIA PRESIDENT
~~~Colleen McCauley and husband, Sean, enjoy the 140th Radnor Hunt Ball.

12/03/2023

Thar She Blows!

I really love doing my walking tours but sometimes I think I like researching them just as much. Before I started giving my NYC History walks, I was a volunteer at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden where I came across and researched this very interesting fellow whom you’ve probably never heard of.

The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden at 421 East 61st Street was built in 1799 as a carriage house for a home across the street, After that house burned down, it was converted into a popular country resort in 1826 by lawyer Joseph Coleman Hart who was also a novelist.

In 1835, Hart wrote “Miriam Coffin; or, The Whale-Fisherman”. This was the first novel to deal with whaling in Nantucket. It enjoyed considerable success and Hart wrote another novel in 1846 called “The Romance of Yachting” where he, among other things, was one of the first people to expound the theory that Shakespeare did not write his plays alone.

One man in particular did not appreciate “Miriam Coffin”. He scathingly described Hart's book in his review as "an abortion" which "deserves to be burnt in a fire of and by the hand that wrote it.". That man was the grandson of Revolutionary War Brigadier General Peter Gansevoort (whom the street at the beginning of the High Line is named after) who had also published a novel about whaling in 1851 which was not well received until after his death.

You guessed it; the critic was Herman Melville author of “Moby Dick”.

Photo of Mount Vernon Hotel Museum in comments. It is well worth a visit. One of the most out of place buildings in Manhattan.

12/02/2023

DAMES IN RED
~~~At the St Nicholas Society Ball at a private NYC Club: Katherine Ann Johnson, Anna Rich, Camilla Bowden-granddaughter of past CDA President General Ellie Penniman. Count down to CDA Holiday Party on Monday, the best party of them all! 🌲❤️🌲

12/02/2023

THE BURNLEY FAMILY CELEBRATES MUMMY’S BIRTHDAY DEC 1
~~~At “Burritt on the Mountain’s Candlelight Christmas” in Alabama. SJ Burnley of Chapter III-DC, now in Huntsville, with husband Todd and girls Catherine & Caroline ( and the jolly old elf) enjoy a pre-Christmas of festivities and crafts.

AMERICAS FIRST COLONIAL DAMES
~~~CDA 1890
www.cda1890.Org

11/30/2023

COLONIAL DAME KATHERINE BOULUD
~~~and husband, Daniel, ring opening bell at the NY Stock Exchange this morning!

11/30/2023

11/29/2023

PARENT CHAPTER MEMBER KATHERINE ANN
~~~and beau George celebrate St Andrews Day a tad early. Every day is a celebration of Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 especially with the St Andrews Society of New York, where Katherine serves on the board.

11/29/2023

It's opening night! 𝗔 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘁'𝘀 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 is back for our 11th holiday season.

Join Mr. Dickens, portrayed by John Kevin Jones of Summoners Ensemble Theatre, as he tells his timeless Christmas tale our elegant intact Greek Revival double parlor. Surrounded by 19th century holiday decorations, flickering candles, and richly appointed period furnishings, audiences will be transported back to 1867 in this captivating one-hour performance created from Dickens’ own script.

Tickets are selling fast! www.merchantshouse.org/christmascarol

11/26/2023

THANKSGIVING GREETINGS FROM
~~~Colleen McCauley President of Chapter II-Philadelphia.

11/26/2023

We're celebrating National Cake Day, because cake is for celebration! In 1836 Dolley sent a cake to Martha Jefferson Randolph, whose latest great-grandchild had just been born. As Martha wrote to thank Dolley: “your beautiful and excellent cake came just in time to add to the rejoicings for Mr Taylor Junior’s arrival in this bustling world.”
The 1803 silver cake basket on the right descended in the Madison family and is now on exhibit in Montpelier’s dining room.

Loaned courtesy of Martha Madison Campbell, photo by Larry Bouterie.

11/26/2023

A BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION FOR LAURIE ALDINGER
~~~SC Chapter With her Tom. !!! 🎂

11/25/2023

11/24/2023

EXQUISITE
~~~Hillwood is the former home of Colonial Dame Marjorie Merriweather Post of Chapter XVII-Palm 🌴 Beach.

Happy ! This week’s features chrysanthemums, orchids, delphiniums, and roses.

📷: Ami Wilber, Hillwood’s floral and event décor designer

11/24/2023

CHERYL LAW OF CHAPTER XXIII-VA
~~~Celebrates the holiday with family at St SImons Island, GA 🦃

11/22/2023

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

11/18/2023

CDA GAVE A GRANT TO JAMESTOWN REDISCOVERY
~~~To help study this collection several years ago.

It’s National Button Day! Jamestown's collection contains approximately 850 buttons. As part of our ongoing work to establish reference collections for each artifact type, intern Ava Geisel sorted, measured, and rehoused the majority of our 17th-century buttons over the course of her year-long internship. Learn more about her internship at https://historicjamestowne.org/working-with-old-stuff-part-2/.

You can explore just a few of the buttons in our collection in our latest artifact page: https://historicjamestowne.org/collections/artifacts/buttons/.

One of our favorite buttons is the lobed button, which is a type of doublet button composed of three different material types! It consists of a lobed glass body, a decorative copper alloy top, and an iron shank. Archaeologists have uncovered 13 lobed buttons, all likely from the same garment. Learn more about them here: https://historicjamestowne.org/collections/artifacts/lobed-button/

11/16/2023

NEWS FROM CHAPTER VIII-HOUSTON
~~~Click on copy to read exciting article about the “La Belle”.