The Niagara Chapter of DBE in New York was one of the earliest chapters to be formed following the founding of the organization in 1909. According to the May 29, 1915 issue of Brooklyn Life magazine, the chapter was originally founded in Yonkers, New York by Mrs. T. Kennard Thompson, Mrs. A.J. Squier, Mrs. F.M. French, and Mrs. H.R. Howard.

In that same issue, the Niagara Chapter was mentioned as being one of the chapters that convened at the Hotel Saint George in Brooklyn, then New York’s largest hotel, for the annual meeting of the national council of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the British Empire in the United States of America, as it was then called. During that meeting, the announcement was made of the formal opening, the next day, of the first “Victoria Home for Aged British Men and Women” in Staten Island.

Victoria Home, in its various locations and missions, would become the focus of much of the Chapter’s fundraising. Also announced was the sending of 375 cases of hospital supplies and equipment to England, the front, and field hospitals for the relief and care of Belgian refugees, the civilian population, and British and Commonwealth soldiers during World War I, all through fundraising by the members of DBE, including Niagara Chapter.

Even earlier, in the November 25, 1914 issue of the New York Sun, the Niagara Chapter was mentioned as hosting a bridge party at the Hotel Martinique in midtown Manhattan, during which $500 (a good deal of money in 1914) was raised to ship hospital supplies as well as “three graduate nurses, whose expenses will be paid by the chapter,” to England for World War I relief.

Members continued to raise funds for charity, but also for World War II relief, and in the decades following, many so-called “GI Brides” or “War Brides,” from Britain and the Commonwealth nations joined Niagara Chapter. Another source of increased membership in those years were the many professional women who came to New York to work at the United Nations, and nurses who had been trained by the U.K.’s National Health Service.

The chapter’s name, Niagara, was probably derived from the fact that DBE was originally modeled on a similar organization in Canada, and Niagara Falls lies at the border of Canada and the United States, forming a link between Americans, the Commonwealth nations, and our British heritage.

The Niagara Chapter of DBE is still going strong and is based in New York City with members throughout the New York metropolitan area and upstate New York. Through our shared bond of heritage, we enjoy each other’s company while we work to raise funds for charitable purposes.

Interested in joining us? Contact the State Organizer for more information.