Daughters of an American Revolution

Last week I received an invitation to visit a D.A.R. meeting here in Little Rock. Since I was a young woman, I remember my Aunt Pauline from Jackson, Mississippi, being very interested in the organization. She had the genealogical research for my father's side of the family that showed our ancestry back to the 1700's. As I was watching the news from the primary elections this week, I became struck by how many Republican women are now prominent in these races, most notably Christine O'Donnell from Delaware, Nikki Haley in South Carolina, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina in California. Of course, Sarah Palin was the first national Republican woman to receive national attention as a Vice-Presidential candidate. I am still amazed that Republican women, who have traditionally remained behind the scenes in support of their candidate husbands, have now become Daughters of an American Revolution themselves.

Indeed, it appears that, at long last, the year for American women has come. The media have reported this week that more women are now in the majority for receiving Ph.D. degrees--at 50.4%. The visibility of women in professional roles other than teaching, nursing, and secretarial work has increased remarkably.

I doubt if I'll live long enough to see on a genealogical chart listing women's names as heroes of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but it is interesting to contemplate such a change for future generations.