In each issue, the bimonthly DAR magazine, American Spirit, highlights an object from the DAR Museum collection in its "National Treasures" feature. These objects always have a story to tell about American history.
National Treasures
Slave tags were used in Charleston, S.C., as a means of controlling the free and enslaved African population seeking work outside of their homes. Slave owners were required to purchase a tag each year...
Cast by Tiffany & Company in 1916, this medal is a testament to the generosity of the American people and DAR members toward the Belgian people during World War I. After Belgium was invaded by Germany...
This short cape, both warm and chic, reflects the enormous popularity of golf at the turn of the 20th century. Golf, along with tennis and bicycling, was embraced by young Americans who inspired the...
Urbano Lopez’s lithographic print shows San Francisco around the time of the 1849 California gold rush. Lopez, most likely of Mexican descent, depicted the “City by the Bay” right before its...
English engraver and entomologist Moses Harris first published The Aurelian: or, Natural History of English Insects in 1766. (A person who studies moths and butterflies is a lepidopterist, or what was...
Hester Bateman, a silversmith from London, England, made this ladle around 1777. Born in 1709 to a poor family, Bateman had no formal education. She married goldsmith John Bateman in 1730 and started...
Dating to about 1940, this dynamic quilt of birds in flight was owned by Blanche Ransom Coleman Parker, a skilled seamstress, educator and community leader in Tennessee and Missouri. It is presently...
Chairs in this baroque style are often associated with the work of Philadelphia cabinetmakers, but this example’s family history and design details also suggest a Maryland connection. Unlike...
This ceramic creamware jug was made in Liverpool, England, sometime between 1790 and 1800. Jugs like this often featured transfer-printed decorations. These embellishments included political...
Today’s pie crusts are sealed with fluted-edged pastry wheels made of stainless steel, while your ancestors used ones made of a much more interesting material—whale teeth. Sailors on whaling ships had...