<P> With the help of the late James Dent Walker, head of Genealogical Services at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., Batchelor was contacted by the Ezra Parker Chapter in Royal Oak, Michigan, who invited her to join their chapter . In December 1977, Batchelor's admission as the first known African - American member of DAR sparked international interest after it was featured in a story on page one of The New York Times . She was invited to appear on Good Morning America, where she was interviewed by John Lindsay, former mayor of New York and regular guest host . </P> <P> Batchelor co-founded the Fred Hart Williams Genealogical Society in 1979, an organization in Detroit for African - American family research . She continues to research her own family history and inspire others to do the same . </P> <P> In March 1984, Lena Lorraine Santos Ferguson, a retired school secretary, was denied membership in a Washington, D.C. chapter of the DAR because she was black, according to a report by the Washington Post . Her two white sponsors, Margaret M. Johnston and Elizabeth E. Thompson, were dismayed at their chapter response . Ferguson met the lineage requirements and could trace her ancestry to Jonah Gay, a white man who fought in Maine . </P> <P> When asked for comment, Sarah M. King, the President General of the DAR, told The Washington Post that the DAR's chapters have autonomy in determining members . She made impolitic comments about the chapter's decision . After King's comments were reported, outrage erupted and the D.C. City Council threatened to revoke the DAR's real estate tax exemption . King quickly corrected her error, saying that Ferguson should have been admitted, and that her application had been handled "inappropriately ." Representing Ferguson pro bono, lawyers from the Washington law firm of Hogan & Hartson began working with King to develop positive ways for the DAR to ensure that blacks would not be discriminated against in future application for membership . The DAR changed its bylaws to bar discrimination "on the basis of race or creed ." In addition, King announced a resolution to recognize "the heroic contributions of black patriots in the American Revolution". </P>

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