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OUR CHAPTER

Chapter Programs
Our chapter programs are varied, interesting, and educational. In October of 2004, we presented a program on quilts from the DAR Museum in Washington, D.C.   At our November meeting program, we learned about the DAR sponsored schools in the Appalachian Mountains. In December, a luncheon featuring a delightful "Christmas Past" theme, will be held.

As we do every year, in February of 2007 we will hold a special event to honor our local students who participated in the NSDAR American History essay contest.   Attendees will include all fifth through eighth grade students, contest winners (first, second, third place, and honorable mention), their parents, siblings, grandparents, teachers, principal, and president of the Bloomfield Board of Education.

If you would like to attend one of our meetings, we would be delighted to invite you to attend as a guest. Please contact our webmaster.

Chapter History

Joseph Bloomfield. Oil portrait by Charles Willson Peale. Major Bloomfield sat for this portrait in Philadelphia, April 1777. It shows him in the full-dress uniform of a New Jersey Continental officer--gray with dark blue facings, cuffs, and collar, a light blue sash, and silver epaulettes and buttons. The New Jersey uniform was subsequently changed to blue with red facings. Photograph courtesy of the American Philosophical Society

The Major Joseph Bloomfield chapter was founded on April 1, 1916 in Bloomfield, New Jersey.  The organizing women took the name of Joseph Bloomfield because they were proud to bear the name of a New Jersey patriot who was distinguished in both war and peace. Joseph Bloomfield was a major during the American Revolution, and later a general in the War of 1812.   He was governor of the state of New Jersey, and a member of Congress.

The town of Bloomfield is named in his honor. He came to Bloomfield and delivered an address on July 6, 1797. In 1923, on the green where he spoke, the Major Joseph Bloomfield chapter dedicated a plaque in his honor.

Joseph Bloomfield was buried in St. Mary's Episcopal Church Cemetery, Burlington, New Jersey. This beautiful, quaint church is a National Historic Landmark. On October 5, 1998 our chapter members held a rededication ceremony at this site on the 175th anniversary of his death.