United States. An American Society Of The Colonial Dames Of America Membership In Gold, Breast Badge, C. 1880

Finely crafted in 18k gold with delicately executed light blue and white enamels, weighing 9.5 grams, maker marked ""BAILEY BANKS & BID PHILA."" (Bailey, Banks & Biddle, Philadelphia) and marked ""PAT."" (Patented) on the reverse of the eagle, measuring 29.5 mm (w) x 35.8 mm (h - inclusive of integral eagle suspenion), without ribbon, intact enamels, extremely fine.

Footnote: The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America is an American organization 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 forty-five corporate societies and over 15,000 members. The national headquarters are at Dumbarton House in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. The organization was founded in 1891, shortly after the founding of a similar society, the Colonial Dames of America (CDA). The main difference between the two is that the CDA was created to have a centrally organized structure under the control of the parent Society in New York City. The NSCDA was intended as a federation of State Societies in which each unit had a degree of autonomy. Another society formed around the same time was the Daughters of the American Revolution. Organized following the United States Centennial of 1876 and a Centennial in New York in 1889 (celebrating the Constitution), they built on renewed interest in America's past to work for preservation of historic collections and buildings, and education related to United States history. The NSCDA has been a leader in the field of 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. In November 2000, the NSCDA received the prestigious Trustee Emeritus Award for Excellence in the Stewardship of historic sites from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Today forty-one diverse properties are owned outright by the Corporate Societies of the NSCDA, thirteen additional museum collections are owned by the Dames and thirty more properties receive substantial volunteer and financial support from Dames. The NSCDA has a regular periodical, the Dames Dispatch. The organization includes forty-five Corporate Societies with over 15,000 members. The Society headquarters is located at Dumbarton House in Washington, D.C. In addition to its broad based activities in the museum field, the Society sponsors a number of scholarship programs and other historic preservation, patriotic service and educational projects to further the aims and objects of the Society.

This offering is a part of the "Dr. Albert Goodwin Collection", a preeminent assemblage of world Orders, Medals, and Decorations composed solely by Dr.Goodwin between 1946-1967. Dr. Goodwin had a successful career as an educator and prominent physician in New York as well as actively serving in both World Wars with the United States Medical Corps. He acted as both President and Vice-President of the Orders and Medals Society of America (OMSA) and is responsible for organizing their first convention in 1960. He maintained further membership with the American Society of Military Collectors, the International Orders Research Society, and the American Numismatic Society. His knowledge and passion for history and awards is evident in this meticulously compiled collection that is now available in its entirety for the first time exclusively on eMedals.com.