America's Women in the Revolutionary Era 1760-1790:
A History Through Bibliography

America’s Women in the Revolutionary Era 1760-1790: A History Through Bibliography, edited by DAR Library Director Eric G. Grundset, is an authoritative guide to women’s and girls’ lives in the era of the American Revolution. DAR Library researchers made an effort to locate every relevant published resource about Revolutionary women possible, including books, articles, dissertations and online documents, in order to aid researchers, understand existing literature and illuminate gaps to encourage future research. This encyclopedic bibliography is sorted in several ways to make it as useful as possible, including by topic, geography and a chronology that shows how historians’ understanding of these women and girls has developed over time.

The book documents sources about America’s women from the famous to the obscure. Researchers discovered references to some unique women, such as one woman who lived as a hermit in a cave on the border of Connecticut and Massachusetts, along with documentation about famous, influential women and, most importantly, a great wealth of resources describing the daily lives of regular women of different races and classes. This focus on “average” women was a driving force of the research behind the book, which aims to find resources that paint a holistic picture of life in the revolutionary era.

Providing the outline for this broad picture are 30 chapters on specific subjects, including overviews of women’s and girls’ lives; the unique experiences of African American and Native American women; religion; sickness and health; work both in and outside of the home; poetry and literature; and many more. These chapters include references for specific women whose individual lives illuminate each topic more fully. Genealogy, the subject for which the DAR Library is best known, is covered more briefly in this publication, with information about how and why to research female ancestors.

The three-volume set America’s Women in the Revolutionary Era 1760-1790: A History Through Bibliography is now available for $195 including shipping from The DAR Store, by phone at 1-888-673-2732 or online at the DAR Store. Check to make sure your local library has a copy today!

Forgotten Patriots – African American and American Indian Patriots of the Revolutionary War:
A Guide to Service, Sources, and Studies

Currently out of print.

The second edition of Forgotten Patriots identifies over 6,600 names of African Americans and American Indians who contributed to American Independence and is a nearly five-fold expansion in pages over the 2001 edition. The 9” x 12” hardbound book with 872 pages contains details of the documented service of the listed Patriots, historical commentary on happenings of the time, an assortment of illustrations, and an extensive bibliography of research sources related to the topic.

Following an introduction that provides context to the service of these often overlooked Patriots and the challenges faced in documenting their service, the book organizes its findings into chapters that include historical commentary, sources cited, names of identified Patriots and a bibliography directly related to each state and region of the country. Additional chapters also cover miscellaneous naval and military records, foreign allies, and the West Indies.

Seven appendices are included to elaborate on topics not often addressed in other publications:

• Map of the Enslaved Population, 1790 Census
• Documenting the Color of Participants in the American Revolution
• Names as Clues to Finding Forgotten Patriots
• The Numbers of Minority Participants in the Revolution
• Glossary of Terms Used
• Master List of Source Abbreviations Used in This Book
• Contacting the DAR

Just as important to researchers will be the vast array of thousands of sources found in the book’s extensive bibliography that provides a roadmap for those seeking to discover even more information on the topic.

The Forgotten Patriots research guide is an indispensable tool for students, scholars, historians, and genealogists interested in the important contributions of African Americans and American Indians in America’s fight for Independence. On an additional level, the hope is that it will also encourage the female descendents of these patriots to join the important volunteer and educational work of the DAR.

For more information and to read excerpts from the book, visit the Forgotten Patriots page of the DAR Library section.

American Genealogical Research at the DAR, Washington, D.C.

Whether you're planning a visit to DAR National Headquarters, interested in learning about the amazing resources at the DAR Library or simply trying to pin down the last pieces of information needed to complete your application, look no further than American Genealogical Research at the DAR.

This new edition, 175-page guidebook offers an indispensable glimpse into the DAR's wonderful reference collections. Founded in 1890, the DAR has gathered 140,000 books, 250,000 files, manuscript collections and other important historical and genealogical materials. This second edition of the guidebook offers tips on making the most of these resources, as well as logistical tips on getting to the building and navigating the library stacks.

To order your own copy of American Genealogical Research at the DAR ($25.00 + shipping) call the DAR Store at 1-888-673-2732.

Look inside this book! 
View excerpts from the book's Introduction.

For more information on all of our publications, see DAR Publications.

Guide to Minority Service Research Files at the DAR Library(Download PDF)

This brochure consists of material relating to three projects of the DAR. They include the Forgotten Patriots Seminar, held January 11, 2003,  the DAR Museum exhibition Forgotten Patriots, October 2002-August 2003, and the DAR book African American and American Indian Patriots of the Revolutionary War (2002 and revised edition) and earlier pamphlets. 

The bulk of the collection contains the research files of the Museum and Library staff for these projects. Copies of the pamphlets are included. For more information on the Forgotten Patriots Exhibition, visit DAR Museum News.

African American Genealogical Research at the DAR Library
(Download PDF)

The past twenty years has seen an explosion of publishing in African American studies including works on African American genealogical research. The DAR Library has developed a strong and growing collection of basic and detailed printed sources on this subject. In the Library's General/African American section library patrons will find research manuals and guidebooks, histories on slavery and abolition, the "Great Migration" of the early twentieth century, general reference materials, and scholarly and popular journals, including a complete run of the Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.

Jewish Genealogical Research at the DAR Library
(Download PDF)

A basic collection of materials for Jewish research is available at the DAR Library. In the Library's General/Religion section are various sources such as collected family genealogies, research guides, histories of Judaism in the United States, and major genealogical and historical journals. For the latter, the Library owns a largely complete set of the periodical Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society/American Jewish Historical Quarterly/American Jewish History (with indices), as well as an incomplete run of American Jewish Archives between volumes 6 (1954) and 47 (1995). In other sections of the Library, researchers will encounter studies of Jewish participation in the American Revolution and on Jewish communities around the United States, particularly those which date from the colonial period. Histories of Jewish settlements in specific states are also available. In the General/Names section are several recent and important volumes on the origins of Jewish family names.