We are excited to be an active chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR or DAR) and the Illinois State Organization NSDAR. We are honored that you are interested in the DAR, and in the Skokie Valley Chapter NSDAR in particular. We actively seek new members and opportunities to promote DAR objectives in our community.
We actively promote and contribute to the objectives of the NSDAR: historic preservation, education, and patriotism. We welcome new members!
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Our National Society was only thirty-five years old when thirteen North Shore women met in the Kenilworth, Illinois, home of Fannie Ames Cope on the last day of 1925, to organize the Skokie Valley Chapter NSDAR. The name was chosen because the founders lived in villages from Wilmette to Waukegan, Illinois, an area once known as the Skokie Valley.
Beginning in the summer of 1933, our Skokie Valley Chapter NSDAR members collected books, playing cards, and games for young men in the Skokie Valley Civilian Conservation Corps Camp “as they worked to build the Skokie Lagoons State Park.”
An active group of Junior members provided a total of 6,190 volunteer hours from 1943-1944. Members helped with draft registration, gave blood, took nurse's aide and first aid courses, worked in war savings stamp booths, and were on U.S.O. committees. They served Sunday evening suppers to servicemen at USO centers and sent cookies and candy to the Skokie Valley Military Police Camp.
Skokie Valley Chapter NSDAR sponsored an Entertainment Committee for Disabled Veterans at North Chicago Hospital (1935-39); gave three summer parties for veterans at North Chicago VA Medical Center (1973, 1975, and 1982); gave money, gifts, books, cancelled stamps, ditty bags, and even 40 pounds of bananas one year; won a first place in Outstanding Support of DAR Project Patriot in Illinois (2011); supported veterans by contributing to Honor Flight Chicago (2010, 2012, and 2014).
The chapter has supported National Society projects, including the Bell Tower at Valley Forge (1953), the Independence Hall Restoration for the Bicentennial, the Statue of Liberty Restoration for her 100th birthday, the Ellis Island Restoration, the restoration of the American flag at the Smithsonian Institution, the building of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. (2004), the President General’s Lay Light Restoration Project at Constitution Hall (2012), and the President General’s Project to repair Constitution Hall and Memorial Continental Hall at NSDAR headquarters in Washington, D.C. (2015).
In 2019, Skokie Valley daughter Sharla Luken made chapter history as the chapter’s first member to be elected Illinois State Regent, 2019‑2021.
| Regent | Susan Chadd |
| First Vice Regent | Brenda McLean |
| Second Vice Regent | Dana Salazar |
| Chaplain | Laura Koh |
| Recording Secretary | Carolyn Jevelian |
| Corresponding Secretary | Erin Wheeler |
| Treasurer | Roxann Specht |
| Registrar | Sonja Witschonke-Mess |
| Historian | Nancy Kintzel |
| Librarian | Valerie Braun |
| Parliamentarian (Appointed) |
Greta Satek |
Please contact us if you would like to attend a meeting or would like more information.
| September 17 | The Constitution Presenter: Judy Deptula |
| October 8 | 400th Anniversary of the Mayflower Presenter: Cary Stone-Greenstein |
| October 10 | Literacy and National Day of Service for NSDAR Book Donations drop-off and Forest Preserve Litter Clean Up |
| November 7 | Our Ancestors by Skokie Valley Daughters |
| December 12 | Holiday Luncheon Honoring DAR Good Citizens Award Winners Presenter: Polly Moles |
| December 19 | Wreaths Across America Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery |
| January 14 | Honoring Our Veterans Presenter: District IV Director, Denise Burja |
| February 13 | American History Essay Contest Awards Presenter: Nancy Kintzel |
| February 15 | William Dawes Society C.A.R. George Washington Birthday Party Sponsors: Fort Dearborn and Skokie Valley Chapters |
| March 13 | Annual Membership Business Meeting Presenters: Chapter Officers |
| April 8 | Lineage and Genealogical Societies Presenters: Skokie Valley Members |
| May 16 | 96th Chapter Anniversary Celebration Luncheon Presenters: Skokie Valley Chapter |
| August 7 | Prospective Members Meet & Greet Coffee Hostess: Sonja Witschonke-Mess |