United States. A National Society Of The Colonial Dames Of America Membership Badge In Gold, By Bailey Banks & Biddle, C.1896

A badge constructed of 14K Gold with, the centre obverse constructed of a blue-enamelled medallion featuring a woman in gold, bordered by a ring of white enamel bearing the inscription NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA, with thirteen rays extending from the centre, with a blue-enamelled star at the end of each ray, surmounted by an eagle clutching a laurel branch, the centre reverse presents the inscription ABBY L. R. FYFE NO. 22 1896, encircled by FILLAE CONSERVANT VIRTUTES MAJORUM, the reverse of the eagle bears the maker mark BAILEY BANKS & BIDDLE PHILA, measuring 33.45 mm (w) x 37.72 mm (h), on loop for suspension from period original ribbon, with original pinback hanger marked MASSACHUSETTS, on a horizontal pinback, and in overall very fine condition.

Footnote: Abby Lucretia (nee Rice) Fyfe was born to Abraham Winfield Rice (1823-1853) and Abby Wales (nee Albee) Rice (1833-1853) on 18 August 1849 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts. On 27 October 1868, Abby married footwear salesman Richard Henry Fyfe (1839-1931) in Detroit, Michigan. She was elected to the Massachusetts Society of Colonial Dames of America in 1896 as a descendant of Peter Rice (1658-1753), Deputy from Marlborough to Massachusetts General Court and Captain of the Train Band. Abby was also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and her DAR ID Number was 12794. Abby passed away in the year 1917.

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.