FLUSHING — You live in Queens, but did your ancestors help overthrow the King?
Organizers of a proposed new Queens chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will host a genealogy workshop at the Queens Historical Society next month to help locals trace their ancestry back to colonial patriots who led the rebellion against King George III of England.
The March 4 event at 143-35 37th Ave. in Flushing will mark the unofficial start of the new DAR chapter, which is set to launch over the summer in an effort to generate interest in historic preservation and respect for Queens' veterans.
If a woman traces her lineage to someone who helped the rebel cause in the Revolutionary War, she is eligible to join DAR, which was founded in 1890 as a non-profit women's service organization to promote patriotism, historic preservation and educational improvements.
The founder of the new Queens chapter, Wilhelmena Kelly, said anyone who traces his or her ancestry to a colonial patriot will walk away from the workshop as a proud American.
"My family helped to build this country from the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Vietnam," said Kelly, who grew up in Brooklyn and has lived in Rosedale, Queens, since the late 1980s. "This is a commitment and a sacrifice that was made, and that sacrifice alone deserves to be preserved."
With the new Queens chapter, DAR will have 10 chapters in New York City: five in Manhattan, two in Queens, two in Brooklyn and one in Staten Island. There is no chapter in the Bronx.
Kelly said DAR's New York State regent, or president, asked her to start a second Queens chapter last year since the existing one is not very active.
Kelly's "patriot ancestor," as she called him, was a Virginia farmer named Stephen H. Hamlin, who gave ammunition, beef and corn to Revolutionary War troops. Her father and uncles also fought in World War II. She said she became active in DAR because she wants to preserve her family's legacy.
"If you don't highlight that history, it definitely will go away," she said.
Kelly said she hopes the chapter will mark the graves of veterans in the long-neglected Prospect Cemetery in Jamaica, march in the nation's largest Memorial Day parade in Douglaston and Little Neck and plant a tree with Newtown Pippin apples. They were cultivated along Newtown Creek and became a favorite of founding father Thomas Jefferson.
She also wants to distribute gifts to veterans at the St. Albans Community Living Center.
Kelly also has set education goals for the new DAR chapter. She said young students would benefit from learning the heritage of their families and the history of the neighborhoods where they live.
"When students have a sense of who they are — genealogy — and where they're living, which would be their local history, they have more of a sense of self," she said.
Lynn Luehrs, who is helping Kelly organize the new Queens DAR chapter, said the workshop may turn Queens women who are curious about their family history into DAR members invested in preserving the memory of their ancestors.
"People who shed their blood for this country, people who preserved the liberties and freedoms of this country, need to be remembered," said Luehrs, who lives in Astoria.
The March 4 genealogy workshop will run from 2:30 - 4:30 p.m. at the Queens Historical Society's headquarters in the landmark Kingsland Homestead, 143-35 37th Ave. A $5 donation is suggested. For more information, contact the museum's outreach coordinator, Danielle Hilkin, at dhilkin@queenshistoricalsociety.org or (718) 939-0647 ext. 14.
Meanwhile, anyone who cannot attend Kelly's workshop but is interested in joining the chapter can email her at mena23219@msn.com.
