The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered, lineage‑based membership organization for men who can document direct descent from a patriot of the American Revolution. Founded in 1889 at Fraunces Tavern in New York City, the Society promotes the study and interpretation of the Revolutionary era, supports educational and civic programs related to American independence, and encourages public engagement with the nation's founding principles. Membership is open to individuals who can demonstrate lineal descent from persons who rendered military, civil, or recognized patriotic service in support of the Revolution, and the organization operates through a national headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, along with state societies and local chapters across the United States and abroad.
The SAR traces part of its institutional heritage to the Sons of Revolutionary Sires, a California lineage organization founded in 1876 during the Centennial celebrations of American independence. Its national formation in 1889 emerged from organizational disagreements with the earlier Sons of the Revolution (SR), whose structure required state societies to remain subordinate to the New York Society. William Osborne McDowell, a New Jersey civic leader, organized the SAR as an independent national body and later assisted in founding the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), establishing parallel hereditary societies for men and women descended from Revolutionary patriots.
The Society sponsors youth scholarship contests, awards for public service and civic achievement, historical commemorations, genealogical research initiatives, and partnerships with educational and veterans organizations. Its efforts contributed to the establishment of national observances such as Constitution Day, Flag Day, and Bill of Rights Day. The SAR maintains state‑level societies across the United States and international societies in Europe and other regions.
The National Society operates the SAR Genealogical Research Library and is developing the SAR Education Center and Museum, which houses a collection of Revolutionary‑era artifacts at its Louisville headquarters. It publishes the quarterly SAR Magazine, annual proceedings of its National Congress, and historical yearbooks documenting its membership and activities. The Society received its federal charter on June 9, 1906, signed by President Theodore Roosevelt, who was himself a member.
History
The SAR traces its origins to late‑19th‑century hereditary and patriotic movements and developed into a national organization with state societies and local chapters. Its history includes early organizational debates, federal recognition, and participation in major national commemorations.
The earliest hereditary society formed to honor the Patriots of the American Revolution was the Sons of Revolutionary Sires (SRS), founded in San Francisco on July 4, 1876, during the Centennial celebrations of the Declaration of Independence.California Society SAR, Historical Sketch, 1893. The SRS brought together descendants of Revolutionary War participants who wished to commemorate the nation's founding and preserve the memory of those who supported American independence. When the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) was established in 1889, the SRS affiliated with the new national organization and reorganized as the California Society of the SAR, a continuity noted in early SAR Yearbooks.
A separate lineage society, the Sons of the Revolution (SR), had been founded earlier in New York City on February 22, 1876, by John Austin Stevens.Stevens, John Austin, Founding Circular of the Sons of the Revolution, 1876. Stevens envisioned an exclusive hereditary society modeled on the Society of the Cincinnati, with centralized authority vested in the New York society.
In 1889, William Osborne McDowell, a New Jersey businessman and civic leader, attempted to organize a New Jersey branch of the SR. McDowell objected to the SR's requirement that all state societies remain subordinate to New York and advocated instead for a national, broadly accessible organization of descendants of Revolutionary patriots.McDowell, William O., Circular Letter to State Organizers, 1889.
On April 30, 1889, the centennial of George Washington's first inauguration, McDowell organized the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution at Fraunces Tavern in New York City and became its first registered member. Later that same year, McDowell collaborated with six women to establish the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), creating parallel lineage organizations for men and women descended from Revolutionary‑era figures.
Early state societies
In the months surrounding the formation of the National Society, state‑level societies were organized rapidly across the country. Several had already been established prior to the national founding—including California, whose lineage traces to the Sons of Revolutionary Sires (1876)—while others formed in the weeks and months that followed. Early SAR publications, including Historical Notes of the Sons of the American Revolution (1890), record the following state societies and their dates of organization: