THIRD AWARD for DAR AMERICAN HERITAGE National Competition
‘Prisoner Patriot John Reaches the Woman’
oil on linen, 18 x 24”
Art & Sculpture Category — Oil
The theme for this year’s 2019 DAR National American Heritage Competition was ‘Honoring Our Patriots While Preserving Our Family Stories’. The family story of our Patriot John Todd had intrigued me for a long time and being a genealogist, I decided to create this story visually in a painting to preserve it for future generations. Below is part of the story.
‘John Todd enlisted in the Revolutionary War, was taken prisoner by the British and put on a vessel near Hoboken, NJ. He, with other prisoners, was sent sent over to the Jersey side to carry water to fill the barrels on shipboard. He managed to escape and hid in the woods until he became so hungry, he had to show himself and ask for food. He applied to a woman who was getting water from a spring.’
And to make this 3rd Place award even better, my sister, Lucinda Lawrence, became a DAR member and entered the same competition in a Literature & Drama Category, Drama Monologue, titled ‘Back When — A Storied Tale’; this short play brings to light family stories of generations through independent perspectives in 10 monologues of three people, each finding an interest in the old house which is central to their history-based family stories’. Lucinda also won a 3rd Place Award for her entry — two sisters winning National awards in separate categories, states, and chapters. We will go to Continental Congress in Washington DC on June 25 to receive these awards.