National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Minnesota

The Minnesota branch of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America was formed in 1896 and was the fourth non-colonial state society to be admitted to the National Society. The first meeting was held on March 24, 1896 and the Minnesota society was incorporated on October 5, 1896, just four years after the national organization was founded. The 14 charter members were primarily residents of Minneapolis and Saint Paul and included Mrs. George R. Metcalf (Julia Bowen French), Mrs. Daniel R. Noyes (Helen A. Gilman), Mrs. George H. Christian (Leonora Hall), Mrs. Charles P. Noyes (Emily Hoffman Gilman), Mrs. John Quincy Adams (Ada Walker), Mrs. Edward H. Cutler (Lucy Dunbar), Mrs. Edwin G. Mason (Frances Kingsbury), Mrs. Charles Eliot Furness (Marion Ramsey), Mrs. Reece M. Newport (Eliza Thompson Edgerton), Mrs. George B. Young (Ellen Fellows), Mrs. Charles A. Bovey (Hannah Caroline Brooks), Mrs. Henry Hale (Mary Elizabeth Fletcher), Mrs. Charles McC. Reeve (Christine McLaren Lawrence), and Mrs. William H. Lee (Caroline Trumbull Isham).

The society's earliest activities consisted of a series of studies regarding colonial history, the French and Indian Wars, and colonial landmarks. In 1907, after a presentation of lantern slides depicting the new state capitol, the women turned their attention away from colonialism and began to focus on Minnesota's history. Activities that followed included the presentation of a tablet memorializing Lt. Zebulon Montgomery Pike to Fort Snelling (1909), the purchase of period furnishings for a room in the Sibley House (1911), the recording of an autobiographical narrative by U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 captive Mary Schwandt Schmidt (1914), the presentation of a tablet memorializing Henry R. Schoolcraft to Itasca State Park (1924), and the presentation of a tablet memorializing Governor Alexander Ramsey to the state capitol (1929). During the 1930s the society prepared a set of illustrative lecture slides and also published two historical works: the first being a narrative and the diaries of five northwest fur traders; the second consisting of a translation of Father Louis Hennepin's Description of Louisiana . Later publications include biographies of Anna Jenks Ramsey and Marion Ramsey Furness, wife and daughter of Minnesota's territorial governor.

In addition to its historical activities, the society has also engaged in numerous charitable activities ranging from supporting U.S. military troops with medical and recreational facilities to providing students with financial assistance.

Historical information was taken from the collection and from histories of the society available in the Minnesota Historical Society library.

From the guide to the Society records., [1895]-1979., (Minnesota Historical Society)