Air Force Officer Laura Buckner, Daughters of the American Revolution, First Vice Regent, Orlando Chapter Presents at Orlando Remembered for America 250, April 2026

In 1908, the City, who had been known as the Phenomenal City… they were looking for a new, kind of little cute name and they had a contest, and Jessica put in: The City Beautiful. And it won! So there’s a direct connection from our chapter to The City Beautiful… Excerpt from an oral history presentation by Air Force Officer Laura Buckner, Daughters of the American Revolution, First Vice Regent, Orlando Chapter, for the Orlando Remembered organization on April 15, 2026 at the Orlando Public Library..

Listen:

First, I’m Laura Buckner, I am First Vice Regent of the Orlando Chapter, our structure is such that the person in charge, rather than me, called the President is called the Regent. Being the First Vice means I would move up the next term or when we change offices to be Regent. I have been in DAR since 2008.

Air Force Family

I was in California, that’s where I joined initially. We were an Air Force family. We moved. I joined the Mount Vernon Chapter in Alexandria, Virginia. I was there for four years. Then we went overseas. There are a number of overseas chapters not one in Belgium. And I did try to establish one, but you have to have permanent party people who are going to live there to keep it going. When you’ve got people in and out, in and out, it just doesn’t work. There’s one in Germany however, three in the UK, one in Ireland. There all over right now, that is always an option.

“We’re Eligible for DAR.”

I joined because my mother and her mother, my grandmother, said all my life, “We’re eligible for DAR. We’re eligible for DAR.” And they never joined. So when my mom passed I said, you know, she got me interested in genealogy, I’d been doing a whole bunch of it, and I said, I’m going to join because they didn’t. And it is sort of my little personal homage to these strong women in my life. So I joined in California and I went in under a cousin, not a direct cousin. I think she was my mom’s cousin.

Patriot of the American Revolution

Because in DAR if you can connect to someone who’s already been proven, there’s your lineage. And you have all of this information and for each piece of information you have to have a document or you tie in to someone who’s already done all that work which is really great… this last page is all about the Patriot themselves. Why they are considered a Patriot of the American Revolution, and their children and so on and so forth. So you have connections.

Bernard Buckner

My daughter joined, not under me, she went up her father’s line. He’s a Buckner. And she is direct to Bernard Buckner which is unusual for a woman in DAR to connect directly with the male side. Because usually there’s marriages and you veer off in one direction or the other. She also has what is called a supplemental. You join once and you get a little ribbon with your ancestor’s name engraved on it. A supplement is a secondary relative. Some DAR women have 10, 15, 60 of these names on their little, I don’t know what you would call this, but we call it body armor because it’s heavy. And when you have a whole bunch it looks like you’re wearing armor. But a lot of women have done a lot more research.

Sarah Heape

But my daughter’s supplement, is a woman and her name was Sarah Heape and as it turns out, Sarah donated, I think like a cow to the militia. You know she was feeding them. And so, that gives her credit for support to the Revolution. And she married Bernard Buckner. So my daughter has her Patriot and her first supplement, for a husband-wife duo. I don’t think they were married at the time – because she’s under Sarah Heape her maiden name.

The Hubbell Family

I went under Aaron Hubbell. There’s a Hubbell book that goes all the way up to my mom even. So someone in the Hubbell family, we were all initially in Connecticut. They tracked everybody for decades. The last Hubbell I spoke to was in Dallas. And he had the current update he was working on and I gave him more information about my family…

The Family Search App

With the advent of the Internet and all the stuff that is on it, Family Search, the app Family Search and I think that’s derivative of the Church of Latter Day Saints, the Mormons, because they are the biggest genealogy people in the world. They have an app where if you’re in a room full of people and you say, “Who am I related to in this room?” And if there’s someone who’s on the app at the same time – and at our big DAR meetings we do this all the time. And you find out oh, I’m a tenth cousin to you. It’s amazing! And then you can go and go up the line, is this your line? And over, and then down to their line. I’ve done it.

Fun Fact

You can also do it for famous people. So, I know a cousin distantly removed from lots of presidents, from Princess Diana. How did that happen? They connect it all. So that’s just a fun fact.

Origins of The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution

Okay, what is DAR? The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution came about because the men who were sons or grandsons, and there was this great big centennial, our centennial, a hundred years, a lot of people got really excited! Oh, we’re a hundred years old as a country! And so, there was a lot of patriotic fervor going on and a bunch of men decided well let’s have Sons of the American Revolution. And they did that. And then the women came and said, “Well, what about us? We did stuff, too.” And the men said, “No.”

“What About Hannah?” a DAR Editorial

So one of our founding members wrote an editorial. She said, “What about Hannah?” Hannah, I don’t remember her last name, but she was a very patriotic woman. She had done all sorts of things. You know she wasn’t a Molly Pitcher who manned the cannon, but she was very active in supporting the cause. Kind of like Abigal Adams who, you know: “Remember the Ladies!”

DAR begins in 1890 in the Washington, D.C. Area

We set up our own group. And that was in 1890 in the Washington, D.C. area, of course. And I will just read, “Our mission was to promote historic preservation, education, and patriotism.” It has now changed a little bit, we are also looking at a lot of philanthropic work. We are a wealthy organization. There are over a million woman who have joined DAR. At any one time, we don’t have a million active members. But there are 3,000 chapters in the United States, every state and in, I think, 17 overseas locations now.

DAR Chapters

A chapter can be from about 12 woman is the smallest size, up to hundreds. Texas has a chapter that is like 400 members. How do you get from small groups, like big churches do. But our chapter has fluctuated. Before Covid we were around 200, we’re down quite a bit now, 147 at last count. But, you know, groups fluctuate.

Orlando Chapter is the Fourth in Florida

The Orlando Chapter is the fourth established chapter here in Florida. Jacksonville was first and Jacksonville took that title because at the time if you were the first organizing chapter in the state, you picked your city as your title. Most DAR chapters are named after somebody or something special. Mount Vernon chapter, we actually go to Mount Vernon and on the Fourth of July they have a big naturalization ceremony so the chapter would turn out to volunteer and do things. So Jacksonville was first. Then Maria Jefferson, that might be the Maria in St. Augustine [Maria Jefferson Chapter, NSDAR, Saint Augustine, Florida]. Dorothy Walton in Pensacola. Why we picked Orlando and left it Orlando, I don’t know, but we did. And that’s cool.

DAR Facts

I have a handout, these are the most current facts about the DAR on the national level. Our motto: God, Home, and Country. We are a nonprofit, nonpolitical, all volunteer, service organization. We sometimes throw in nonpartisan, too, but that’s sort of nonpolitical. And that’s nice, that’s what we need. You know, the society the way it is, it’s nice to be part of something supporting our country and not letting politics get in the way. So that’s something I really appreciate, especially as a military officer that means a lot to me.

President General

Management, we have a President General. Why do they name the leaders President something or other? I don’t know. But, we have a President General and this term it’s Ginnie Sebastian Storage. And I happen to know her personally, because she was the Fredericksburg Chapter Regent when I was in Mount Vernon. And so, we were always getting together. They were just down the road basically. And then, she became the Virginia Regent, State Regent. And then she got picked up and, you kind of move up the line. So we know, from every three years is their term of office, but you know who is going to be the next one barring anything like illness or something.

Continental Congress

The National Meeting, we have it the 1st of July of every year. It’s named after the original Continental Congress that governed the colonies. So when you go to Continental Congress you get a packet that has all the stuff that’s going on and it’s a huge little booklet of, you know, details and whatnot and you have the reports from all the different Presidents. Like this is the Treasurer General’s Report… But you go and you learn about things that are happening. What’s happening across the Board.

State Projects

What other states are doing as state projects. Every chapter, the Regent usually has a project that’s close to her heart. Mine would be something to do with veterans and then also probably the conservation because of my daughter. You pick out a verse from the Bible or probably nowadays whatever your book of faith might be and take a phrase out of there. And, you have emblems.

“Illuminate Our Legacy”

Ginnie Storage took an old torch that was called a funerary torch, but it was always put upside down as like a gravemarker or engraved in the headstone somehow. And she picked as kind of her motto is: “Illuminate Our Legacy”. So she turned it right side up, so all the flame technically goes up. And, to support her project and to support our State Regent project, you buy their pins. So this umbrella is Kim Zeman’s, the Florida State Regent. She is honoring caregivers and so she goes: “Come rain or shine, Florida cares.” So she has this little umbrella.

Juniors and Pages

And the juniors are the younger women. Up to age 40, you are considered a junior. Up to age 35, you actually Page. Paging, it’s like having an Executive Assistant with you at all times. If you are what we call SASH, the President General and all of her staff, the State Regent and her people, they all get this helper. And it’s a girl who wears white and follows them around and runs their errands and goes back to the room to pick up something they forgot. So those are Pages.

“Running the Flags”

They also carry all of the flags in during a processional of sorts. Up in D.C. they call it running the flags, and you run a flag of your state. Or like Morgan will probably carry Alaska’s state flag because she knows that region from paging. This is just the top of Ginnie’s and that’s at National. Her other emblem she took is cherry blossoms. The Orlando Chapter, we selected the poinsettia as our flower. So I have these earrings.

DAR Full Regalia

I am in what you would call, what I call, full regalia. The hat, the shoes, the nice outfit, fingernails, and normally if it were a meeting, I would be wearing this stuff on one side – this is all the official pins. And these are the unofficial pins. I had to borrow my daughter’s because I couldn’t find my stuff. It’s in a box somewhere. But the fun thing about the unofficial side is you can kind of put whatever you want on it.

Unofficial Pins

So Morgan has a ladybug and that’s an homage to my mother who loved ladybugs. So I have a little jeweled ladybug on my unofficial side. I also have some military stuff. She has, well she’s been a Page, the little formal white dress is on hers and a lot of little symbols. She’s an associate member of the chapter in Australia. So she’s got a little kangeroo and stuff. And she’s got a C-130, because that’s what her dad flew. Virginia’s Junior pin, this is back to the national level, are these little flowers.

Cameo Club

The other thing, that’s neat about DAR that’s not official, but we have fun with it, it’s called the Cameo Club. So if you have a sister, a mother, a grandmother, an aunt, a cousin, a daughter, you can be part of Cameo Club. We meet once a year and we all wear a little cameo and we have breakfast and that’s about it. It’s just a fun organization to be part of.

The Founding Women

This is where I have so much respect for the Founding Women. They went around D.C., once they had organized, because they were meeting in each other’s homes. And they said, “We need a permanent home.” So they were scouring the greater D.C. area and there’s this patch of land down in Foggy Bottom. And it was kind of marshland. And they said, “Yep, we’ll take it.” And, they bought a whole city block.

DAR Constitution Hall

They built Constitution Hall which is now a huge genealogical library for DAR. It’s also on the Historic Register because that’s the first building we built. And there’s all sorts of symbolism. We’ve got 13 pillars, on the portico for the 13 colonies, stuff like that. So they bought the land. They got an architect. They had the building built. 1905 it opened. And then in the 1920’s they added some stuff. They started the bigger hall at the opposite end of the block, Constitution Hall which has about 4,000 seats in it. And that’s where we hold our big meetings. And we have all sorts of fun stuff.

National Defense Night

There’s this enormous flag that’s rolled up. And on National Defense Night, which they’re honoring all the National Defense, when the President General walks in and she’s the last one, they release that and it comes tumbling down and flows back and forth over her. It’s very moving and a little kitschy. But, you know, it’s what we do. We’re that way.

DAR Committees

So, let me go over committees, we have so many. Historic Preservation: We have American Heritage. Genealogical Records, Historic Preservation, that’s like buildings and places and stuff, Lineage Research, that’s helping people figure out their backgrounds, and, Library Outreach. We’ re doing a lot of updating and digitizing. Then we have Education: which has American History, American Indians, Community Classroom where we go in and help kids read, DAR Good Citizens for high school seniors. DAR Scholarships, Supported Schools, and I’ll talk a bit about supported schools. Right now, there are five: The Kate Duncan Smith School in Alabama, Berry College in Georgia, Crossnoor Communities in North Carolina, Hillside School in Massachusetts, and Hindman Settlement School in Kentucky and that’s for dyslexic kids. The whole school is geared toward helping dyslexic kids. And then Patriotism: Service to America, Community Service Awards, Constitution Week, Service to Veterans, The Flag, National Defense, Project Patriot.

State and Chapter Level Service Committees

So those are all the committees. And they mirror, the state would have the same committees, and then your chapter can have the same committees. What happens at the chapter level depends on how many people you have and what their interests are. So, even though we’ve got this laundry list of places you could help serve, it just depends on your chapter…

American Spirit Magazine

We have an awarding winning magazine: American Spirit, this comes out at the national level. This might be the very last paper edition. They are going to online. But this was subscription, not everyone could afford it. So everyone gets it free now. You have this part which is a magazine with topics that are of interest. This part is our actual chapter inputs, state inputs. And it’s got pictures and all this stuff that different chapters are doing…

Two Million Dollar Donation for Cherry Blossom Trees Restoration and Preservation

Ginnie Storage, who is the President General, one of her initiatives is to help restore the cherry blossom trees around the basin there. So, I think, it’s a two million dollar donation to the restoration and preservation of the cherry trees. And that’s why she picked cherry blossoms as part of her thing, besides the funerary torch which some of us are kind of like, what is that? But, she explained and that made a lot of sense.

Orlando Chapter Chartered on December 15, 1906

Orlando Chapter was chartered by National on the 15 of December in 1906. So we are a 120 years old as a chapter. Like I said, we were the fourth chapter. Our founding members, the Organizing Regent was Mrs. Carrie Packard Schuller. And her mother, Finna Yeamans Packard, was the Registrar, the person who helped people do their paperwork. Then we had Jessica Branch and she was the Secretary and she was the City Beautiful. Then we had Florence Hudson and Marianne Hudson. Florence Hendricks, Mable Copeland O’Neal, Harriett Randolph Park Hill, Mary Berg Robinson was the Treasurer, Emily Temple was the Chapter Vice Regent, Annie Modd Taylor and Essie Montague Warren. So, a number of these people are related to each other, mother, daughter, sisters that kind of stuff.

DAR Markers at Greenwood Cemetery

The Regent was the wife of Francis Xaviar, he was a German born bookkeeper and grocer. They didn’t have children. She is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, nine of our 13 are buried in Greenwood. And we’ve been out to their graves and they all have little DAR markers and stuff. Emily Temple the Vice Regent, was a real granddaughter. That means her grandparent actually fought in the Revolution. And back then you could do that if you were the youngest born of an established family.

Jessica Branch Named Orlando: “The City Beautiful”

Jessica Branch, she and her husband came from South Dakota. I don’t know what they were doing out there. But they were looking for places to retire and Florida got the nod and they drove from South Dakota here. And she got here, well she’d had to have been here by 1906. But in 1908, the City who had been known as the Phenomenal City, it had a bunch of unusual names. They were looking for a new, kind of little cute name. And they had a contest, and Jessica put in: The City Beautiful. And it won. So, there’s a direct connection from our chapter to The City Beautiful.

Jessica Branch, Businesswoman

And I just think that’s a really neat tie in… William S. Branch, he had a prominent bookstore. She assisted her husband. Apparently she was quite tiny, because when she was hidden in the stacks a lot, her voice would come over, “Yes, we have that book.” And they sold other things, too. She was a dominant force in the business without being an owner. She wore high boned neckcollars, that was her generation, natural dignity. But, yeah, the City Beautiful.

Florence Hudson

Florence Hudson married Richard Hudson, so the same surname, but different families. Her father had the first daily newspaper here in town in 1891. And Marianne Hudson, not related, helped Samuel Hudson with the newspaper and the print shop. Florence Hendricks, we don’t know much about. She was born in Wisconsin. She died in 1909. She was buried in Highlands County, Florida. And we don’t know anything else about her. She’s our mystery woman. Mable Copeland O’Neal, Mrs. William Russell, born in Maine came down. Of her husband, Lamar O’Neal, “very few men ever lived who held as many positions in business, church, and lodge circles as he did. And served in every capacity efficiently and with honor. He was a leader among men and a most progressive citizen.” And I always wondered, and did you mention his wife?

Mary Berg Robinson

Mary Berg Robinson, Robinson Street is named for her family. And her husband layed out Greenwood Cemetery.

Esssie Montague Warren

Essie Montague Warren and her sister Frances Saint Bernard who went by Bernard, that’s her name not Frances, sisters. And Dr. Preston was only the second doctor in Orlando. So these are all interesting people.

Montverde Academy and DAR Funding

DAR was instrumental in their building and development expansion. The Montverde Academy, the Montverde School, now Academy was a coed boarding school for industrial art students. In its construction and expansion, Orlando Chapter [DAR] provided sufficent funds for completing a girls dormitory in the DAR Hall as pictured in our state yearbook. It is one of the buildings out there. I’ve been by, but I’ve never stopped in to talk to them. So I need to do that.

National DAR School

Orlando Chapter took the need for this school to the National Board and got it declared a National DAR School which meant it got funding from the national organization as well as the local chapter. I think that probably was only a few years because they narrowed down which schools they were supporting according to the five that I read. But for Orlando Chapter to have gotten that to National, National supports the school. I think it’s a really interesting tie-in.

Boarding Schools

And it sort of means something for me because when we were in California, our daughter was in high school and there were two high schools, the 4,000 kids and the 120 kids. And she didn’t want the big one, but the little one was really too small. We looked for boarding schools. And she ended up going to Hawaii Prep on the big island for her last two years of high school. But, I had looked at Montverde and kind went, well, Florida? I didn’t know we would end up here.

The Organizing Women of the Orlando Chapter

So the women of our chapter, the organizing women, these women were movers and shakers in our community. As wives of significant men in the city or county, they were expected to serve as hostesses, maintain the home, bring up their children, attend church, chair various committees in women’s organizations, and be assets to their husbands. In fact, women of this era were rarely unmarried, almost never divorced, and commonly known as “Mrs. – husband’s name.” They didn’t even warrent a first name in a lot of cases.

Wealth Transfer to the Male

If they had wealth, such as an inheritance, it was transferred to the husband for his control and use. They could not run businesses, although realistically they often did. Could not have a bank account. Cound not enter certain places unaccompanied by a man like bars and taverns and jails and men’s clubs, and houses of ill repute; not that there were any in Orlando, I hope. Many of them didn’t even handle money directly. They would have husband approved accounts at the grocer, the butcher, the dry goods store and so forth. And none of them could vote.

Influential Leaders in the Community

And yet, given these restrictions, they still managed to have influence in and responsibility to their communities as leaders in the Ladies Auxilary of men’s organizations, as teachers or nurses if they were widowed or unmarried. Or, as DAR members they found causes to support, improvements to be made, and funds to be raised. Women’s innate gifts of multi-tasking, organizational analysis, observed efficiencies and strategic thinking were all displayed by these amazing women.

(Applause.)

Thank you.

Oral History Presenter:  Laura Buckner, Air Force Officer, First Vice Regent, Orlando Chapter, DAR,

Oral History Presentation Recorded by:  Jane Tracy, Librarian, Orlando Remembered President

Date:  April 16, 2026

Place:  Orlando Public Library