Honorees - 133rd Continental Congress

Evening Ceremony Honorees

The DAR History Award Medal will be presented to Dr. Carla Hayden, the 14^th Librarian of Congress. Dr. Hayden is the first woman and African American to lead the national library. President Barack Obama nominated her in 2016 and she continued to serve during the Trump and Biden administrations. With a desire to connect all Americans to the Library of Congress, she improved and modernized its mission “to engage, inspire and inform Congress and the American people with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity.” Dr. Hayden accomplished making the Library more accessible to the public through her social media presence, events, and activities. People can see items from the Library’s extensive collection even if they have never been to Washington, D.C. Prior to her time at the Library of Congress, Dr. Hayden served as the CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland, chief librarian of the Chicago Public library, and taught library and information science at the University of Pittsburgh.

The DAR Historic Preservation Award will be presented to Steven Porterfield. Mr. Porterfield has spent over 36 years conserving and collecting antique clothing, and finding it homes in museums and private collections all over the world. He has worked extensively with the Ellen Noel Art Museum and the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising among others and provided vintage clothing, fabrics and accessories for films, most recently 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon. Mr. Porterfield has appraised antique textiles for PBS’ Antiques Roadshow for 14 years. He has owned and operated The Cat’s Meow antique store in Midland, TX for more than 35 years.

The Mary Smith Lockwood Founders Medal for Education will be presented to Bernice Steinhardt. In 2003, Ms. Steinhardt and her sister, Helene McQuade, founded Art and Remembrance, which is an arts and education non-profit based in Maryland. Bernice and Helene sought to bring their mother and Holocaust survivor, Esther Nisenthal Krinitz’s fabric art to a larger audience. The sisters grew up with their mother’s stories from the war and saw how she turned her stories into narrated fabric arts. Today Art and Remembrance uses art and personal narrative to recognize individual courage and resilience and to foster understanding and compassion for those who experience injustice.

Mark Schneider works at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation as a Marquis de Lafayette interpreter. Born into a French-American family, Schneider earned a degree in history from Christopher Newport University and then served in the United States Army. After he finished touring in the Army, Schneider accepted his position at Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and because he was an equestrian who spoke French the role of Lafayette easily became his. At the Foundation, Mark has written, directed, and performed in a wide variety of different theatrical performances that cover highlights of the people and events in Lafayette’s life. Schneider also portrays historical figures like Benedict Arnold, Banastre Tarleton, and Napoleon Bonaparte, performing his Napoleon part across numerous venues in Europe and the United States.

Education Awards Night will feature several honorees, including the American History Essay contest winners from 5th-8th grade and the Patriots of the American Revolution High School Essay contest winner. The DAR Good Citizen Award will be awarded which honors the qualities of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism. DAR will also honor the Outstanding Teacher of American History of the year and the State and National Outstanding Junior members. Entertainment will be provided by the DAR All-American Chorus.

Lois MacMillan, a high school educator at Grants Pass High School, Grants Pass, Oregon, will be honored as the 2024 National Outstanding Teacher of American History. With a teaching career spanning almost 30 years, from kindergarten through high school, Ms. MacMillan is an engaging, inspirational, and knowledgeable teacher passionate about teaching students and adults American History, AP Government and Politics, and World History. She is a master teacher for different programs and organizations and is the 2018 Grammy Museum’s Jane Ortner Education Award recipient for the creation of a six-lesson unit based on the music of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway hit, Hamilton, for her 8th grade history class and facilitated the teaching of a Founding Era curriculum to over 750 Title I high schools in 14 cities around the country.

Admiral Linda Fagan will be presented with the DAR Patriot Award in recognition for her service to our country. Admiral Fagan serves as the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, the first woman to hold this position in United States History. As Commandant, she oversees all global Coast Guard operations and 42,000 active-duty, 7,000 reserve, and 8,700 civilian personnel, as well as the support of 21,000 Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteers. In her nearly four decades in the Coast Guard, Admiral Fagan has served on all seven continents, from the snows of Ross Island, Antarctica to the heart of Africa, from Tokyo to Geneva, and in many ports along the way. Admiral Fagan holds a Bachelor of Science in Marine Science degree from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, a Master of Science in Marine Affairs degree from the University of Washington, and a Master in National Resource Strategy degree from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

The DAR Margaret Cochran Corbin Award for distinguished women in military service will be presented to Colonel Allison Black in honor of her service to our country. Colonel Black has served in the Air Force for over three decades in various positions, beginning her career in 1992 as an enlisted Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape specialist. In 1998, she completed Officer Training School and continued on to earn her wings through Joint Specialized Undergraduate Navigator Training in January 2000. Most recently, she served as commander of the 1^st Special Operations Wing based out of Hulbert Field in Florida from July 2022 to February 2024. In her position, she oversaw more than 78 aircraft at Hurlburt Field and was responsible for preparing Air Force special operations forces for worldwide missions in support of joint and coalition special operations. Her role as a combat navigator confirming targeting information in a 2001 mission against the Taliban in Afghanistan earned her the nickname “The Angel of Death." Over her career, Colonel Black has flown over 3,400 hours, with 2,000 of those hours in combat. She retired from the Air Force in 2024.

The Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee Army Nurse of the Year Award will be presented to Colonel Maria Bruton. Colonel Bruton received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and commission through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Arkansas State University. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program at Texas A&M University. Colonel Bruton is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Executive. Prior to assuming her current role as the Chief Nursing Officer at Brooke Army Medical Center, she served in various assignments throughout Texas, Italy, Germany, and Iraq. Colonel Bruton’s military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal (3 OLC), Army Commendation Medal (3 OLC), Army Achievement Medal (1OLC), and the Iraqi Campaign Medal.

The 2024 Outstanding Veteran Volunteer is Arthur G. Austin Jr. After serving in the United State Army from 1977–2014, Arthur G. Austin Jr. retired as a Brigadier General. His military service includes mobilization during the Cuban Refugee Crisis, Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is an inductee in the Michigan State ROTC Spartan Battalion Hall of Fame. Since his retirement to the small town of Cuba, NY, Mr. Austin has worked as a mentor with both the Enchanted Mountain Coalition and the LEEK Foundation Veteran Hunting and Mountain Preserve, a family-friendly all-inclusive veterans’ retreat with the mission of “Serving All Veterans, All Wars”. He has organized and hosted the kids’ fishing derby at the annual open house at LEEK, which serves Western New York and Pennsylvania communities. Additionally, he provides outreach to the Veterans Outdoor Experience, which is dedicated to getting veterans involved in outdoor activities, as well as a contact for the Community Veteran Outreach, a conduit for family issues, VA assistance, burial and Honor Guard support.

The 2024 Outstanding Youth Volunteer is Elsie Van Beek. Though Elsie just finished her sophomore year of high school, she has already earned the rank of Eagle Scout with Boy Scouts of America Troop 186 and led her local 4-H club in writing letters for Honor Flight Mail Call. As a junior member of the Sioux Center American Legion Auxiliary she laid wreaths for Wreaths Across America and presented Veterans with Quilts of Valor. At the age of 13, Elsie began fundraising a steep goal of $85,000 to sponsor the entirety of a Midwest Honor Flight. She reached that goal for the May 31, 2023 flight which became known as “The Elsie Honors Mission 15”. Elsie had the opportunity to be on this flight and was privileged to spend the entire day meeting each of the veterans sponsored. Elise has over 1000 hours in service to veterans. She has participated in all 18 Midwest Honor Flight Missions, based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The 2024 Outstanding DAR Volunteer is Barbara Grant. Barbara is a member of Eagle Chapter, in Eagle, Idaho. She serves as the current VAVS Representative for Idaho, and additionally since 2018, she volunteers once a week at the Boise VA Medical Center and at the Idaho State Veterans’ Home in multiple programs. In her role as a volunteer in the nutrition department, she has been instrumental in calling patients to screen for food insecurity. By her doing this, she is providing Veterans with critical information on where they can get food for their families. Outside her time at the VA, Barbara has served as the Wreaths Across America State Chair, serves as the Secretary for the Ada County United Veterans Council, and also has planned and executed events for the Vietnam War Veterans Commemoration Honorary Partner project. During her time as Chapter Regent, she coordinated multiple projects designed to honor and support local veterans, and now in her time as Idaho State Chaplain, she continues to serve, donating over 600 hours of service to veterans in 2023 alone.

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