Santa Rosa Chapter, NSDAR

Santa Rosa, California

Welcome

The Santa Rosa Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR or DAR), is located in the City of Santa Rosa, the county seat of Sonoma County, nestled in the heart of the California Wine Country. Most members are from the Santa Rosa area; however, some members are from other Sonoma County and Mendocino County cities, including Cloverdale, Windsor, Willits, Cazadero, Rohnert Park, Sonoma, Glen Ellen, and Petaluma.

The chapter meets during the months of September through May, with no general membership meetings in June, July, and August. Meetings typically begin at 10:30 a.m., preceded by a half-hour social time. Two special meetings are held each year: a Holiday Party in December and an Annual Meeting and Tea in May.

Today’s DAR

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Chapter History

The Santa Rosa Chapter was organized on December 15, 1925, with Mrs. Frank N. Russell as its first regent. The chapter’s name comes from the creek along which the first Native American maiden was baptized by a Spanish padre on St. Rose’s Day; a town later grew up along the creek and took the same name.

The first step toward forming a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Sonoma County was taken on May 28, 1925, when prospective members were called together by Mrs. Martha Munsell Granger, a member-at-large who had her heart set on having a chapter in her beloved Sonoma County. The State Regent met with this group of women in the Council Chambers of Santa Rosa, instructed them in the preliminary steps of organization, and appointed an organizing regent, Mrs. Harriett Van Namee Russell. Her untiring efforts throughout the summer made possible the formal organization of the chapter that December, at the home of Mrs. Peter Bussman.

The chapter’s first gavel was presented by then-Treasurer Mrs. Midgley. It was made from the wood of an apple tree grown on André Hill near Tappan, New York, where the British spy Major John André was hanged on October 2, 1780, after his capture by the Americans; the wood, when cut, showed that the tree had been planted one year before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.

The Santa Rosa Chapter celebrated its 100th anniversary in November 2025.

Chapter Board