Meetings

Our chapter meetings are held on the second Saturday morning and second Monday morning of each month, September through May. Locations vary.

Our History

Ann Wager Chapter, NSDAR, was organized on June 5, 2021 by Virginia Snyder Lee in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Behind the Name

Ann Wager Chapter, NSDAR, was named after Ann Wager (ca. 1716–1774) who took up teaching after the death of her husband William in 1748. She had at least two children of her own, William and Mary.

In 1760, the Associates of Dr. Bray, a group of philanthropists in England, followed Ben Franklin’s recommendation to establish a school “for the instruction of Negro Children in the Principles of the Christian religion.” They hired Wager to teach the Bray School. She was the only teacher for the Bray School, educating enslaved and free African American children in Williamsburg, VA.

Wager taught between twenty and thirty boys and girls each year. Most were young enslaved African Americans, but Wager also educated a small number of free blacks. She taught the tenets of Anglican Christianity as well as reading, writing, and general deportment. Girls were taught “knitting, sewing and such other things as may be useful to their owners”.

Over the course of fourteen years, Wager taught about 400 students at the Bray School. By the early 1770s, she was slowed by illness, and after her death on August 20, 1774 the Bray School closed for good.

Membership

New members are welcome! Please use the Contact form below to request information and meeting location.