Scholarships with the Daughters of the American Revolution

Looking for more scholarships to apply to this year? The Daughters of the American Revolution might have just the one for you. Whether you are an English, history, science, nursing, or music major, plenty of opportunities are available.

The Talon interviewed the regent for Edmond’s own local chapter of the national organization, Mary Meritt, about the upcoming event at Oklahoma Christian, their scholarship opportunities and much more.

“I am Mary Meritt, the Regent for the Samuel King chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. I also serve as the president of what’s called OCRC, which is the Oklahoma City Council Regents. I am also [a] former Registrar for Colonial Dames,” Meritt said. 

“The mission is to assist women who can prove their lineage to achieve what we call a national number. That means that they have found their ancestors, and they have provided all the necessary documentation. Where this really fits in is so many times the stereotype out there is, well, it’s a girls and tea kind of organization,” Meritt said.

The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is not just a social group; In the last two years alone, they have done thousands of service hours, Meritt explains. 

“In two years we’ve done 19,700 service hours in Guthrie, Edmond, [and] Crescent… We have adopted a street from Boulevard to Covell to keep that area clean. It’s just a multitude,” Meritt said.

“[The] mission is to serve kids in some way, so we start with elementary schools. There’s been time in a couple of our schools here [where] we inventory the books, we take up school supplies, and we assist children in middle school, submitting essays having to do with their ancestors,” Meritt said.

Besides service hours, Oklahoma chapters offer scholarships to in-state residents in high school and college.

“One of the scholarships that we’re really proud of is the Oklahoma Diane Hamill [scholarship]. Diane Hamill is an honorary state regent, so when she finished her term, she established a scholarship for Oklahoma students,” Merrit said.

This scholarship is based on financial need and applicable to any major. Award amounts for the Oklahoma Society Daughters of the American Revolution (OSDAR) State Scholarships are $2,000, with the number of scholarships based on endowment fund interest each year. Applicants using this form may also be eligible for several OSDAR Chapter Scholarships ranging from $500 to $1,000. However, an applicant may not receive multiple OSDAR scholarships.

“We also have something called the Mayflower in Oklahoma. The Mayflower offers a $3,000 scholarship, which is one of the largest of all. If you make it to the national level for the Mayflower, that’s $6,000. Then we have Colonial Dames, which is another lineage organization. The difference there is that you have to claim your ancestor back to 1700, which is another 75 years back, so that one’s a little harder to do sometimes. My granddaughter received Colonial Dames, and she also received a Mayflower [scholarship],” Meritt said.

Scholarships are both statewide and nationwide. National scholarships are listed online through their online portal at https://dar.academicworks.com/. Information about eligibility and further questions can be found at https://www.dar.org/outreach/education/scholarships. 

“With all of the Oklahoma scholarships, you are competing with Oklahoma students, and we do have 500 school districts, so you’d be surprised. Sometimes they may only get 8-10 applications, and if there’s an essay, my advice is, do that. How many young people do you know who will not write the essay? That gives you a leg up if you’ll write it… With the [National Society Daughters of the American Revolution] you’re competing with 50 states and some of our territories that possibly will have an application,” Meritt said.

Applicants do not need to be a member of DAR or have a dues-paying family member to be eligible for scholarships. However, each scholarship has unique requirements, which should be checked before applying. When asked if there were academic service or leadership requirements for applicants, the answer was a negative.

“If I were just giving general advice, I would have that of the students who apply, if they’re close to the place where they [wish to attend], go on campus. Be able, if you’re writing your essay, to be familiar with that department, that you have made some kind of introduction. Perhaps you know someone? Let’s say that in this major you know someone who knows someone. Have them write you a letter of intro, if you will, and they then know you before you get to campus. Then you can say, ‘I’ve done these things to prepare,’” Meritt said.

Applications usually open in November and close January 31 at 11:59 p.m., Hawaii time. If an application is submitted after the deadline, it will be automatically disqualified.

There are several ways to contact the Edmond chapter:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DAROklahoma
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oklahoma_dar/. 
The email address and phone number provided are marymeritt@gmail.com and (405)-833-0490.

“One of the things that I would really want to emphasize is that you don’t have to be poor or destitute to apply and receive the scholarship. Sometimes students have never done this before; we still have first-generation college graduates and college freshmen, and so when somebody says, ‘scholarship?’ my first question, in retrospect, would be, ‘Are you going to help me do that?’ I don’t mean write the essay; I’m talking about will you help me?…Because sometimes people will get frustrated and give up because it has become quite the process to get all the boxes checked,” Meritt said.

The upcoming annual George Washington luncheon, held on February 14 at noon, is located at the Gaylord Hall at Oklahoma Christian University. Students and guests are welcome to attend, and are encouraged to reach out to the Edmond chapter if interested in attending.