The Sons of the American Revolution (“S.A.R.”) was officially organized on April 30, 1889 – exactly one hundred years after the presidential inauguration of George Washington.
Before its organization, the men involved with the S.A.R. had been members of a society called The National Society of Sons of Revolutionary Sires. In collaboration with the Centennial Exposition of 1876, people gathered nationwide to commemorate the first Centennial since the Declaration of Independence was ratified on July 4, 1776. The intention of these gatherings was to celebrate and honor the values of American Patriots in the War for Independence from Great Britain, realizing that the core motivation is that universal crusade against Tyranny and oppression. This commemoration in 1876 banded together a group of men in San Francisco, California – all direct descendants of Revolutionary Patriots – to form the Sons of Revolutionary Sires. Their purpose was to provide a non-partisan atmosphere of camaraderie for those direct descendants, and to be involved in the local community as promoters of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – with great respect for those fighting at the forefront of that crusade.
On April 30, 1889, some members of the Sons of Revolutionary Sires incorporated with the members from thirteen other states in New York City to have their first organizational meeting of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (“NASSAR”). After this meeting, the S.A.R. had an organizing Constitution and Bylaws. Those members from California were now organized as the California Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (“CASSAR”).
On June 9, 1906, by a Special Act of Congress, President Theodore Roosevelt signed Public Law No. 59-214, codifying the Charter of the S.A.R. That Charter was revised in 1925, 1961, and 1998 by Presidents Coolidge, Kennedy, and Clinton (consecutively).
Today the Charter of the Sons of the American Revolution is codified as a Society in the United States Code:
36 U.S.C. § 20b (1997). Purposes of corporation
“The purposes and objects of corporation are declared to be patriotic, historical, and educational, and shall include those intended or designed to perpetuate the memory of the men who, by their services or sacrifices during the war of the American Revolution, achieved the independence of the American people; to unite and promote fellowship among their descendants; to inspire them and the community at large with a more profound reverence for the principles of the Government founded by our forefathers; encourage historical research in relation to the American Revolution; to acquire and preserve the records of the individual services of the patriots of the war, as well as documents, relics, and landmarks; to mark the scenes of the Revolution by appropriate memorials; to celebrate the anniversaries of the prominent events of the war and of the Revolutionary period; to foster true patriotism; to maintain and extend the institutions of American freedom, and to carry out the purposes expressed in the preamble to the Constitution of our country and the injunctions of Washington in his farewell address to the American people.”
General George Washington Chapter 
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