Tent / Department History
The Ellen Spencer Mussey Tent Number One was chartered as a Detached Tent in Washington, DC on October 8, 1902. Twenty-four women signed the original charter. Emma Hayward was the first president of the Tent.
The Tent was named for Mrs. Ellen Spencer Mussey, the wife of Civil War Brigadier General Rueben Delavan Mussey. She was the first woman to be admitted to the Bar in Washington, DC.
The Tent engaged in numerous community, patriotic, educational, historical, genealogical and civic projects.
The National organization granted Department status to the Ellen Spencer Mussey Tent in 1977, and in 1978 permitted it to become an independent Department: The Department of the District of Columbia. The group operates under Department rules and has complete representation in the National Body.
Charter Members of the Ellen Spencer Mussey Tent
| Angelina E. Beckman |
Alice M. Kimball |
| Paulina A. Beckman |
Ella S. Knight |
| Cornelia Clay |
Mary LeTryon |
| Elmira Foley |
Pearl G. Little |
| Fanny Gushewsky |
Mary M. North |
| Jennie Hamilton |
Lillian A. Norton |
| Katie H. Hancock |
Anna M. Roberts |
| Emma F. Hayward |
Alice O. Sanderson |
| Alice Henkel |
Martha Spencer |
| Honora Jane Hoffleger |
Gertrude M. Stevens |
| Lilly Kemi |
Jennie Marvin Taylor |
| Hattie Kemi |
Laura Thompson |
Past Department Presidents of the Ellen Spencer Mussey Tent
| 2019-2021 |
Megan Ryno |
| 2017-2019 |
Joan B. Trafton |
| 2015-2017 |
Joan B. Trafton |
| 2013-2015 |
Patricia Kottemann |
| 2011-2013 |
Dorothy Cloud |
| 2009-2011 |
Grace B. Clifford |
| 2007-2009 |
Patricia Kottemann |
| 2006-2007 |
Carolyn Mitchell |
| 2004-2006 |
Felicia P. Stidham |
| 2002-2003 |
Grace B. Clifford |
| 2000-2002 |
Patricia Kottemann |
| 1999-2000 |
Linda S. Murr |
| 1991-1999 |
Sherry L. Padalino |
| 1995-1997 |
Roena Bayes |
| 1994-1995 |
Sherry Padalino |
| 1993-1994 |
Sallie C. Pusey |
| 1991-1993 |
Iva L. DiFrancis |
| 1982-1991 |
Ellen J. Beckman |
| 1981 |
Barbara Mook |
| 1977-1980 |
Iva L. DiFrancis |
| 1976 |
Argie Sornson |
| 1975 |
Marguerite Harris |
| 1974 |
Bonnie Moore |
| 1973 |
Argie Sornson |
| 1972 |
Elsie Allen Shores |
| 1971 |
Marv B. Gordon |
| 1970 |
Clotida A. Burnett
|
|
1969
|
Grace B. Green |
| 1968 |
Kate L. Ohi |
| 1967-1968 |
Violet Hopkins |
| 1963-1966 |
Ellen Beckman |
| 1961-1962 |
Mildred C. Baruch |
| 1960 |
Mary Gordon |
| 1958-1959 |
Alta Koyl |
| 1956-1957 |
Lucetta Hewitt |
| 1955 |
Thekla Kontos |
| 1954 |
Celia W. Beckman |
| 1952-1953 |
Pearl B. Colecchia |
| 1951 |
Cora V. Dorsev |
| 1950 |
Edith R. Bugbee |
| 1949 |
Man M. Crawford |
| 1948 |
Alice L. Lippold |
| 1947 |
Myrtle L. Burke |
| 1946 |
Laura A. Kane |
| 1945 |
Edith R. Bugbee |
| 1944 |
Mary E. Kerr |
| 1943 |
Anne V. Hausman |
| 1942 |
Mildred F. Poore |
| 1941 |
Amelia A. Yoder |
| 1940 |
Jessie M. Lewis |
| 1939 |
Lizzie Bassett |
| 1938 |
Clara Holbrook |
| 1937 |
Svlvia D. MacLaughlin |
| 1936 |
Eva C. Garis |
| 1935 |
Alice Meade |
| 1934 |
Lavinia Bashford |
| 1933 |
Esther R. Lippold |
| 1931-1932 |
Nan D. Slatten Thurber |
| 1930 |
Anna Horn |
| 1929 |
Ellen S. Meyer |
| 1928 |
Olive A. Johnson |
| 1927 |
Kathrvn C. Rann |
| 1925-1926 |
Anna Hage McElroy |
| 1924 |
Etoile Albright |
| 1923 |
E. Helen Temple |
| 1922 |
Katie A. Guiton |
| 1921 |
Hermione A. Sutton |
| 1920 |
Ella G. Clements |
| 1919 |
Rosalie McK. Shelton |
| 1917-1918 |
Marv Van Ness Fauth |
| 1915-1916 |
Jennie L. Hamilton |
| 1914 |
Hester B. Tritipoe Warner |
| 1913 |
Bella J. Howe |
| 1912 |
Ella L. Washburn |
| 1911 |
Rose M. Sefton |
| 1910 |
Genevieve M. Spencer |
| 1909 |
Man H. Crenshaw Fortier |
| 1906-1908 |
Anna M. Roberts |
| 1905 |
Vivian D. Stanley |
| 1904 |
Lillian A. Norton |
| 1902-1903 |
Emma Hayward |
