The Scranton City Chapter NSDAR was organized in February 1908 by Mrs. Katherine J. Wilcox of the Dial Rock (Pittston, Pennsylvania) Chapter NSDAR with the assistance of Mrs. F. Witney Davis, who became the chapter's first regent. When the charter was granted in 1909, the chapter had 23 members. The Scranton City Chapter NSDAR was the 789th National chapter, and the 53rd Pennsylvania chapter.
Mrs. Huldah Chamberlain Brown, one of the chapter's early and longtime members, was the daughter of Wright Chamberlain, a soldier in the American Revolution. The chapter was able to mark Mrs. Brown's grave with the DAR "Real Daughter" insignia in 1918.
Throughout its years of existence, the chapter established a record of service to the Scranton area and the nation through programs and activities founded on DAR objectives of historic preservation, promotion of education, and patriotic endeavors.
A special historic preservation project taken on by the chapter was the placing of a bronze marker in Nay Aug Park in 1910 to honor the area's early settlers. Ebenezer Slocum, who cleared the land now occupied by the park, was specifically named on the marker. Throughout the years, the chapter has planted a Pennsylvania hemlock tree in the park, a pink dogwood tree at Allied Services, and an evergreen at St. Joseph's Center in Scranton.
The chapter was the first women's group in the city to engage in Red Cross work during World War I. Efforts, during and after the war, included knitting mittens, socks, helmet liners, and packing dressing for the wounded. In addition, chapter members have remained active in a veterans-patients program since its inception by the National Society.
During the nation’s bicentennial celebration, Scranton City Daughters donated to the National Society's project, murals painted on the ceiling of a corridor of the Capitol, and to the State Society's projects, the creation of a colonial meeting room in the William Penn Memorial Museum in Harrisburg and the furnishing of the second floor in Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
One of the chapter's outstanding contributions has been attendance and assistance at sessions of the Nationalization Court. With only one exception in its history, chapter members have attended naturalization ceremonies to welcome America’s new citizens.
In March 1977, the last living charter member, Mrs. Joseph D. English, passed away, she had been a member of the chapter for 69 years. Moving forward in service, the chapter continues to preserve its past and honor its legacy by continuing with the traditions passed on by the charter members; securing the future for new generation of members.
