DAR is a women’s service organization dedicated to promoting historic preservation, education, patriotism, and honoring the Patriots of the Revolutionary War. DAR members provide millions of hours of community service each year around the world. The Polly Ogden Chapter, NSDAR, is actively engaged in our community, and our members dedicate many hours to public service.
Patriotism
Each December, the Polly Ogden Chapter, NSDAR, assists with the National Wreaths Across America Day, which is a coordinated wreath-laying activity to remember our nation’s veterans. Our members volunteer their time to unpack, fluff, and place wreaths on graves at the Kansas Veterans Cemetery at Fort Riley. Our chapter also sponsored a visit to our community by the Wreaths Across America Mobile Education Exhibit.
Education Exhibit.
Our members participate in Veterans Day and Memorial Day activities each year.
America’s active duty service members and veterans are important to our chapter. Each month, members visit veterans who reside in local care facilities. Members also bring items each meeting to be sent to veterans at the VA Eastern Kansas Health System in Topeka, Kansas. Our chapter provided support to veterans through the sponsorship of a beehive with the Servicemember Agricultural Vocation Education program (SAVE), which provides agricultural training for veterans and transitioning service members. Our chapter is fortunate to be located near Fort Riley, which is a U.S. Army installation that serves as the headquarters of the First Infantry Division known as the “Big Red One.” Our chapter’s proximity to Fort Riley provides our members with many opportunities to work with active duty service members.
Polly Ogden Chapter, NSDAR, members sewed stockings and collected goodies to fill them with to donate to the United Service Organizations (USO) at Fort Riley, Kansas.
The Polly Ogden Chapter, NSDAR, annually awards two Reserved Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) medals: one to an Air Force ROTC student and one to an Army ROTC student at Kansas State University. The chapter also awards the DAR Junior Reserved Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) medal to a high school student.
Education
Our members actively work with local schools on educational and historical projects, including sharing information about the U.S. Constitution each September during Constitution Week. Members collect books for children and youth to be donated. We support the students of Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, by donating a wide array of supplies, including school supplies, laundry supplies, linens, and personal care items each year.
Scholarship
The Polly Ogden Chapter, NSDAR, recognizes a high school student each year with the DAR Good Citizen Award, which includes a $250 scholarship. Our chapter also awards the Healy DAR Scholarship in American History to a college student pursuing a history-related major, which includes a monetary scholarship.
Historic Preservation
The Polly Ogden Chapter, NSDAR, dedicated a historical marker on the Linear Trail, which is a popular trail for hiking and biking in Manhattan. The marker recognizes early Indigenous people who lived and farmed in the area along Wildcat Creek 800 years ago.
In 1926, our chapter partnered with the Riley County Historical Society to erect a monument to mark the site of the former Bluemont Central College, which was founded in 1858 and was a precursor to Kansas State University. Harriet Mahar Ozment, Chapter Regent, presented the marker to Dr. Francis D. Farrell, President of Kansas State Agricultural College, as it was known at the time.
Our chapter assisted with erecting historical markers along the Military Trail, which was an important wagon route that connected military posts in Kansas and Nebraska. It was the first road providing access into the area for settlement by pioneers in the 1850s.
The Polly Ogden Chapter, NSDAR, worked with the Amanda Arnold Elementary School’s Parent Teachers Association (PTA) and the Manhattan Monument Company to place a marker on the grave of Amanda Arnold, who was Manhattan’s first paid school teacher. Miss Arnold came to Manhattan with her family aboard the steamship Hartford in 1855. When she passed away in 1923, she had outlived all of her family members, and her grave went unmarked. As a result of this community effort, the grave of this early settler and influential citizen now has a beautiful marker.
The photo at the top of the page is the historic Rocky Ford School, District 70, near Manhattan, Kansas. The school is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
