The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America (often abbreviated asNSCDA) is an American lineage society composed of women who are descended from an ancestor "who came to reside in an American Colony before 1776, and whose services were rendered during the Colonial Period." The organization has 43 local societies. The national headquarters isDumbarton House inGeorgetown,Washington, D.C.
The organization was founded in 1891, shortly after the founding of a similar society, theColonial Dames of America (CDA), which was created to have a centrally organized structure under the control of the parent Society inNew York City.
The NSCDA was intended as a federation of State Societies in which each unit had a degree of autonomy.[1] Another society formed around the same time was theDaughters of the American Revolution. Organized following theUnited States Centennial of 1876 and a Centennial of the US Constitution in New York in 1889, the NSCDA has worked in historic preservation, restoration and the interpretation of historic sites since its New York Society first undertook the preservation of the Van Cortlandt House in 1897.
The organization includes 43 corporate societies. Its headquarters is located at Dumbarton House, in Washington, D.C. In addition to its activities in museum work, the Society sponsors scholarship programs and other historic preservation, patriotic service and educational projects. Historic house museums owned or operated by the NSCDA include:
