Our History

Nahoula Chapter, NSDAR

Laurel, Mississippi

"Commemorative of what is given us of the prehistoric race of South Mississippi, this Chapter shall be called Nahoula. The tradition among the Choctaws being that under the leadership of two brothers, guided by a pole held in an invisible hand, they were led from the sunset to Mississippi. Upon crossing the great Father of Waters, a race of men was found, of fair complexion, who had come from the sunrise and had been once a mighty people. This race soon vanished upon the coming of the Choctaws and left only this tradition and its name – Nahoula, in perpetuation of which we denominate our Chapter." (From the By-Laws of Nahoula Chapter, Article 1).




Nahoula Chapter Celebrates its Centennial Anniversary

On Friday, July 24, 2009, the Nahoula Chapter in Laurel celebrated its Centennial Anniversary. A beautiful reception was held at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art in downtown Laurel. Several state officers and chairmen, including our former State Regent Polly Grimes, celebrated the event with us. The Director of the Museum, George Bassi, shared with us the intertwined history of the Museum with our local DAR chapter. The chapter also presented our State Regent with a donation to the State Regent’s Project to commemorate this significant occasion.

The City of Laurel celebrated its 125th Anniversary the same year, so the chapter’s organizing members - many of whom were also “founding mothers” of our city - showed remarkable foresight in establishing a DAR chapter in our newly-formed city. The Centennial was not only an opportunity to recognize them and their vision for our DAR chapter, but it also gave us a chance to celebrate and plan for our next 100 years.

The Centennial Committee also published a history book of the Nahoula Chapter to record our important events through these past one hundred years. We are excited about reaching this important milestone in our chapter’s history and are looking forward to the next 100 years.