Colonial Dames of America

The Colonial Dames of America (CDA) is an American organization comprising women who descend from one or more ancestors who lived in British North America between 1607 and 1775, and who aided the colonies in public office, in military service, or in another acceptable capacity. The CDA is listed as an approved lineage society with the Hereditary Society Community of the United States of America.

The National Headquarters is at Mount Vernon Hotel Museum in New York City, which was purchased by the CDA in 1924.

History
The organization was founded in 1890, shortly before the founding of two similar societies, The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America and the Daughters of the American Revolution. In April 1890, Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer (Maria Denning Van Rensselaer), Mrs. John Lyon Gardiner, and Mrs. Archibald Gracie King decided to found a patriotic society of women descended from Colonial ancestry.

The original CDA insignia was designed by Tiffany & Co.

Notable members

 * Lillie Stella Acer Ballagh, founder of Matinee Musical Club, Los Angeles
 * Fanny Yarborough Bickett (1870-1941), First Lady of North Carolina and first female president of the North Carolina Railroad
 * Florence Anderson Clark (1835–1918), author, newspaper editor, librarian, university dean
 * Cynthia Beverley Tucker Washington Coleman (1832–1908), writer and preservationist in Williamsburg, Virginia.
 * Elizabeth Jarvis Colt, businesswoman and philanthropist; founder of the Connecticut chapter of CDA
 * Julia Livingston Delafield (1837–1914), philanthropist and historian
 * Laura Dayton Fessenden (1852-1924), author
 * Laura Montgomery Henderson (1867-1940), president, Alabama Federation of Women's Clubs
 * Sallie Foster Harshbarger, active in civic and fraternal work
 * Mary Hilliard Hinton, historian, painter, anti-suffragist, and white supremacist
 * Alice Curtice Moyer
 * Dale Mercer, socialite and television personality
 * Edith Allen Phelps, twice president of the Oklahoma Library Association, the first professional in the Library Science field in the Oklahoma City system
 * Adelaide Hamilton (1830-1915), last surviving granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton. She joined the organisation when it was first launched.
 * Florence Warfield Sillers, historian and socialite
 * Fay Webb-Gardner, First Lady of North Carolina
 * Lynn Forney Young, lineage society leader