Serving Our Community
In 2024, 418 members of John Marshall Chapter, NSDAR, donated more than 14,388 hours in Service to America by being active within our community and state. We marked the patriot grave of Richard Lafon in Cave Hill Cemetery and published a book compiled by our Historian, "Revolutionary War Soldiers & Patriots Buried in Jefferson County, Kentucky." Over 250 Lafayette Bicentennial books were delivered to local schools and a check for $1700 was presented to the Hindman Settlement School. We also donated toys and clothing to families of veterans as Christmas gifts, and we exceeded our goal of 450 wreaths to help place a wreath on EVERY grave in Zachary Taylor National Cemetery for the first time ever! This is just a few of the events and activities we enjoyed last year.
So far, this year, we have:
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Delivered stuffed animals to Robley Rex Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital, for The Women's Baby Shower, along with toothbrush kits and lap blankets.
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Marked the Floyd Station Spring House as a historical site. It was built by John Floyd, a Revolutionary War Patriot and a Kentucky Pioneer.
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Made and wrote Valentines to patients at Robley Rex VA Hospital.
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Wrote notes to children of overseas service men and women; some have even become pen pals!
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Collected books for the The Healing Place and the Little Libraries throughout the city.
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Participated in the cleanup at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery for Wreaths Across America.
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Marked the grave of Revolutionary War Patriot Moses Tyler. The Tyler Family was one of the founding families of Jeffersontown, Kentucky.
Historic Preservation
Historic Preservation activity in John Marshall Chapter, NSDAR, includes the marking of revolutionary patriot graves and revolutionary period properties. This year, we have marked the Floyd Station Spring House and Soldiers Retreat. Members also donated time cleaning headstones at the Blankenbaker Family Cemetery and the Moses Tyler Cemetery this year. Some of the properties which have been marked in the past are the Jonathan Clark home (brother of George Rogers Clark), the Richard Taylor home (father of Zachary Taylor), the William Christian House, the Nathaniel Burris home in Mercer County, Kentucky, and Linden Hall. We have also marked a number of patriot graves in Cave Hill Cemetery over the last few years.
Patriotism
Patriotism activities are extremely important to the members of John Marshall Chapter, NSDAR. We sponsor group graves at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery and participate in memorial services and Wreaths Across America, which are held there. We march in the annual Veteran's Parade in Louisville and work closely with Robley Rex Veterans Hospital providing necessary items on request. A main project for the Chapter is adopting a veteran family in need and providing clothing and toys for the family at Christmas. The Chapter awards medals to five high schools with Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) programs and to the Air Force and Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) programs at the University of Louisville. Attendance at Honor Flights gives us a chance to welcome home our Veterans who have flown to Washington, D.C., to see the war memorials. We also provide flags to school children, sponsor Constitution programs in the schools, and present historical programs upon request.
Education
John Marshall Chapter's, NSDAR, educational activities include offering an Elizabeth Nall Sherry scholarship, as well as NSDAR scholarship opportunities. We sponsor NSDAR American history contests for grades 5-8 and 9-12, and Good Citizen Awards to five schools. Every year we adopt a different DAR sponsored school in which we have fundraising efforts to help with various requests that are needed by the schools. In addition, we sponsor Jack Jouett Children of the American Revolution Society. This year, packets of seeds were donated to Hindman for the children to plant in their garden.