• One of 49 Societies in the USA, the Henry Corbin Chapter has 45 members and generally meets at the Ramada Stratford Inn in Danville, Virginia on the 3rd Friday of February, May, August, and November.
• The National Society was organized in 1915 and incorporated in 1920.
• Membership is open by invitation from a chapter to an American woman 18 years of age or older who is a lineal descendant of an ancestor who lived and served prior to 1701 in one of the original colonies. [More details about what “served” means and other details may be found by contacting a member].
• The Henry Corbin Chapter has a Program at each meeting.
• In connection and or/addition to our Committee activities, our projects include:

1. VETERANS AFFAIRS:
a) sending cards and packages to service personnel in Iraq
b) collecting coupons to send to a military base in Japan for use by military families;
c) taking books, gifts, clothing, and other items to veterans at several Veterans Administration Hospitals in Virginia [Salem, Richmond] and elsewhere [some of our members live in other states]

2. COLONIAL HERITAGE, RESEARCH & RECORDS:
a) donating historical genealogical reference books to libraries;
b) researching and documenting “Supplemental” genealogical lines related to each of our own 17th century families of record
c) taking field trips to places of historic interest, such as [in Virginia] the Monacan Museum near Amherst, Jamestown, Williamsburg, Monticello, Red Hill—home of Patrick Henry, and the like
d) working as volunteers in schools, archives, and libraries
e) marking and preserving historic sites

3. YOUTH MENTORING:
a) giving programs on history to school children
b) donating appropriate books/magazines to history classes/school libraries

4. HERALDRY AND COATS OF ARMS:
a) researching heraldry and Coats of Arms of our ancestral lines, to preserve the records
b) filing applications for family Coats of Arms

5. GRAVE MARKERS:
a) marking graves of colonial leaders and our ancestors
b) marking graves of deceased members

6. ORGANIZATION ACTIVITIES:
a) helping preserve the CDXVIIC Headquarters in Washington, DC
b) attending quarterly chapter meetings
c) serving in offices and on committees
d) attending annual State and National Conferences

Object of the National Society:

To aid in the preservation of the records and of the historic sites of our country;

To foster interest in historical colonial research;

To aid in the education of the youth of our country;

To commemorate the noble and heroic deeds of our ancestors, and to maintain zealously those high principles of virtue, courage and patriotism which led to the independence of the Colonies and the foundation and establishment of the United States of America;

To maintain a Library of Heraldry and preserve the lineage and Coats of Arms of our Armorial ancestors;

To develop a library specializing in seventeenth century American colonial data.

RECENT PROGRAMS:

• On February 17th, 2006 a member gave a program on what genealogical magazines are available for people to use for research. She showed what riches can be found in the following print magazines: Heritage Quest, Ancestry, Family Tree, Piedmont Lineages, Virginia Tidewater Genealogy, Family Chronicle, Everybody’s Genealogical Helper, and New England Ancestors. She also highly recommended a genealogy teaching book for kids: "Roots for Kids,"
• Another program, given by guest lecturer Cecelia Cassedy, discussed fiber art, weaving, and how colonial-era techniques are still being used, even as the uses for cloth and garments change with the times.
• One program by a member discussed the poetry and life of America’s first woman poet, and 11th great-grandmother of the speaker/member, Anne Dudley Bradstreet. Bradstreet’s life, writings, and genealogy were discussed, as was the poetry by Bradstreet’s 11th-great-granddaughter, who inadvertently used sometimes identical themes, in her book “Paper Faces: Babyboomer Memoir,” written and published before the author even knew she was a descendant of Anne Dudley Bradstreet. [“Paper Faces” is available for sale on Blue Ridge Traditions Marketplace on this website.] See http://www.annebradstreet.com/
• Other programs soon to be mentioned here: Archeology at Poplar Forest; genealogy resources in Virginia

Links:

Ancestry.com

Ancestry Magazine

Family Tree Magazine

Piedmont Lineages Magazine

Tidewater Virginia Families

Tidewater Virginia Families Magazine

Family Chronicle Magazine

"Roots for Kids" on Amazon.com
or order it from Blue Lady Bookshop
P.O. Box 800
Rocky Mount, VA 24151
for $18.95 plus [in VA 5% tax of $0.95] and $4.00 S+H

Mary Leigh's Genealogy Corner Index Page, web site of a Colonial Dame

Dorothea Henry Chapter, DAR, Danville

Claudia Deans--website of an active Colonial Dame
and her DAR chapter, Gen. Joseph Martin, Martinsville