Welcome to the official website of the National Society Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century.
Celebrating over 120 years of historic education, service and philanthropy
Ann Waggaman, President General
Welcome
Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century, Inc., is one of this country’s oldest lineage societies. It was established in 1896 to commemorate the men, women, and events of the colonial period in our nation’s history -- to preserve their memory and the history of the colonial period. The Society is educational, historical, and patriotic in purpose.
Our members are women over the age of 18 who descend from the very earliest settlers of the colonies - 1607 to 1699 - who rendered distinguished service prior to 1700.
Over the past 125 years, the Daughters have actively pursued projects that pertain to the colonial period and that carry out the objectives of the Society. A few of the projects the Daughters have undertaken or provided support for include:
Award of scholarships to students majoring in American or Colonial History;
Presentation of awards at the Naval Academy at Annapolis and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point;
Replacement of rare books originally given to the College of William and Mary by Royal Governor Nicholson in 1698, but subsequently destroyed by fire;
The search for the original fort on Jamestown Island in Virginia;
Support of Jamestown Rediscovery;
Establishment of the Nuthead Presshouse Fund at Historic St. Mary’s City, Maryland;
Donation of a portrait of King James I to commemorate the 375th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown;
The colonial weaving and textile program for students, re-enactors and historians at New France the “OTHER” Colonial
America, at Bolduc House Museum, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri;
The Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH, with 350 years of living history, including historic homes on original sites, costumed role-players, traditional craft demonstrations, heirloom gardens, historical landscapes and more;
The focus currently is the New Netherland Institute in Albany, NY. This international collaboration of nations and states holding collections of Dutch colonial materials is working to make the documentation of the Dutch West India Company in all its possessions around the Atlantic rim accessible for study worldwide.
We welcome new members! Our 41 categories of eligible ancestor service are listed on the “Membership” page. Our chapters and their locations are listing on the “Chapters” page.
A member may join through a chapter or as a member-at large. We are always seeking ladies who would like to gather 10 friends and form a new chapter. To view our current list of chapters, please visit our Chapters page.
Members from anywhere in a state are welcome to attend meetings in that state, or join in another state.
The object of this Society includes preserving the memory of the Founders of this nation, commemorating historical incidents of the colonial period, collecting and preserving colonial relics and documents, and erecting tablets at places of historic interest relating to that period. These objectives are achieved through patriotic, educational, philanthropic, and historical endeavors.
Click on the link below to download our history and information brochure. Be sure to set your printer to Landscape format to allow the brochure to print correctly on 8.5" x 11" paper.
