When the Sons of American Revolution (SAR) voted in 1890 to exclude women from their patriotic society, four working women in the District of Columbia – Mary Lockwood, Mary Desha, Eugenia Washington, and Elle Hardin Walworth – formed their own patriotic society. In the words of former DAR President General Patricia Walton Shelby: “Our founders were the first to proclaim women’s rights and do something about it.”