The 278th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson was celebrated on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at his Memorial in the Nation Capital. In every year but two since the dedication of the Jefferson Memorial in 1943 on the 200th anniversary of his birth, the District of Columbia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (“DCSAR”), in cooperation with the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Military District of Washington, has sponsored a commemorative ceremony at the Jefferson Memorial. It was cancelled in 1945 because of Franklin Roosevelt’s death, and during 2020 because of the pandemic.

This year DCSAR resumed the tradition but - because of continuing limits on in-person participation - with none of the normal pomp and circumstance. Wreaths were presented without ceremony on behalf of: the Secretary of the Interior by Park Ranger Samuel Yancho; the University of Virginia by alumnus Mark Tonacci (class of ’79); the Sons of the American Revolution by D.C. Society President Joel Hinzman; the Daughters of the American Revolution by D.C. State Regent Cindy Hays; the Children of the American Revolution by D.C. Senior State President Lorraine Nordlinger; and the Society of Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence by President General Lucy Duke Tonacci. Videographer: Rachel Hicks.

Video of the event can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/DCSSAR/