Born from a family line of strong, important revolutionary figures, Elizabeth Ellet became to be famous not as a soldier, but as a writer of several accounts of women who took part in the American Revolution. Having attained a positive status of a rather proclaimed writer in her early adult life, she continued throughout her life to write. She is a great contributor to historians among many others today in which she gives women of the revolution the credit and respect that they deserve. Without the writings of her accounts and knowledge, it is quite doubtful in my opinion that much of this information of these women would ever had surfaced and reached is full potential of detail and information that is now so widely available to the common public today. While her other works have also seemed to quite successful, it is because of her collection of women in the revolution that this amazing author of the 19^th century has achieved such acclaimed standing.

The Eminent and Heroic Women of America- This book is a product of the work of the above author listed above Elizabeth F. L Ellet. Simply put this is an anthology of the work of various women who, during the times of the American Revolution, were deemed to have contributed to the war in a positive and everlasting manner. The dedication in the front of the book is respectively to her mother, and reads, “To my mother, Sarah Maxwell Lummis, The Daughter of a Revolutionary Officer…” Obviously family lineage had an effect on her work. The entire book is filled from cover to cover with countless accounts of several women. Rather than account for these individual stories in a historical manner, Ellet seems to dedicate each and every woman’s story mentioned in a very personal way in which the reader can experience a little bit of each person’s story in a more intimate way. I believe she did this to reiterate the fact that these were in fact real people, real women, who dedicated their lives in some way or manner for the purpose of freedom, pride and preservation of a family they believed in.

During the Revolution, it is known that many women contributed to the effort in several ways. Usually, they took it upon themselves to help by putting their womanly attributes to good use by doing things such as cook, clean and nurse soldiers to health. In this picture however, we clearly see this woman in a battlefield. These women who would stand up and fight (usually with their husbands), were known as “Molly Pitcher(s).” There are several accounts of different women who would in fact participate to help the effort in ways that may have been deemed inappropriate or, “not a woman’s place.” Despite that fact, several courageous women were indeed known to stand in the fields and help fight for a cause they wholeheartedly stood by and believed in. A representation of a “Molly Pitcher,” can be seen in the picture to the left and is actually believed to be a woman known as Molly Corbin, who stood by and loaded that cannon immediately after her husband was shot and killed on the battlefield. I’m sure when pictures and stories such as this made their way to a more public surface, many people’s representation of women would slowly start to change.

The Daughters of the American Revolution is a society of members that consists of women, 18 and older, who can prove lineal blood line descent to an ancestor who fought in the American Revolutionary War. The beginning of the society can be traced back as far as the year 1890 and currently has chapters in all 50 U.S states as well as other countries around the world such as Mexico, Austria and the United Kingdom. The entire purpose of their organization, past and present, is to first off, raise awareness of education, historical preservation, and most importantly, patriotism. The DAR contributes to several educational funds such as scholarships that are available to any eligible student. This organization, formed as a way to respect those who fought in the American Revolution, is a lasting and present example of women who still value their rights and heritage and want to continue to express their help to others.