Monday, October 5, 2026

Local DAR Chapter Invites High School Students to Write About Revolutionary Patriots, $300 Prize

Pasadena’s Martin Severance Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is inviting Pasadena-area high school students to write about a heroic patriot of the American Revolution in an essay contest that closes on Dec. 4.

The chapter is tying this year’s contest to the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, according to its notice a local school bulletin.

Students in grades 9 through 12 may choose a famous figure or someone less well known, including the women and children who supported the Revolution, the chapter said.

Each essay is to explain who the Patriot was, what that person did during the American Revolution, how those actions influenced its course and what the person contributed to the founding of a new nation, according to the notice.

The assignment matches the topic of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution’s Patriots of the American Revolution High School Essay Contest, which the society launched in preparation for the 250th anniversary. The national contest is open to students in grades 9 through 12 in public, private and parochial schools and registered home-study programs. Essays are judged on historical accuracy, organization, interest, originality, spelling, grammar, punctuation and the quality and scope of references, particularly the use of primary sources. Essays from all grades are judged together, and each participating chapter sends one winner to the state level, which can lead to division and national judging. National winners receive special certificates, medals and a monetary award.

The Martin Severance Chapter was organized in Pasadena on June 13, 1914, under Adeline Belle Fitzgerald Barry, a descendant of Revolutionary War Patriot Martin Severance, according to the chapter. Most of its members live in the San Gabriel Valley, and the chapter presents American History, DAR Good Citizens and ROTC medals and scholarships to local students.

The chapter’s winning student will receive $300, a commemorative certificate and an invitation to the chapter’s Spring Awards Breakfast, along with the opportunity to read the winning essay in person, the chapter said.

Students can request the contest information and a study guide from chapter contact Dani Michelena. See https://californiadar.org/chapters/martin-severance/.