Description: The marker is a bronze plaque commemorating Virginia Dare, considered the first child born in America to English parents, and the naming of the Virginia Dare Chapter of the North Carolina Society Daughters of the American Colonists. The plaque is embelished with an arc at the top containing the insignia of the Society, a bas-relief crest containing an oak tree surrounded by a laurel wreath. The four corners of the marker have bas-relief images of pine tree brances.
Inscription:
IN MEMORY OF / VIRGINIA DARE / BORN AUGUST 18, 1587, / ON ROANOKE ISLAND, WITHIN / THE PRESENT BOUNDARIES OF / NORTH CAROLINA. DAUGHTER OF / ANANIAS AND ELEANOR DARE, AND / GRAND-DAUGHTER OF JOHN WHITE, / GOVERNOR OF "THE LOST COLONY." / FIRST CHILD BORN OF ENGLISH / PARENTS IN THE NEW WORLD. / ERECTED BY / THE NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY / DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN COLONISTS / 1940
Dedication date: April 1940
Materials & Techniques: Bronze
Sponsor: North Carolina Society Daughters of the American Colonists
Unveiling & Dedication: The monument was dedicated in April of 1940.
Subject notes: Virginia Dare is generally assumed to be the first child born in North America to English parents. Her parents were members of the so-called "Lost Colony" on Roanoke Island. She was born on August 18, 1587 to parents Ananias and Eleanor Dare and was the granddaughter of John White, leader and governor of the colony. The Roanoke Voyages of 1584 and 1587 were the result of Sir Walter Raleigh's attempts to found a British settlement in North America under Queen Elizabeth's grant of what became the Virginia colony. White returned to England for provisions only to discover the disappearance of the colonists when he arrived back at Roanoke Island in 1590. The mystery of the disappearance has earned the settlement the name of "The Lost Colony."
span class="commland-category-text">The Daughters of American Colonists are a national society organized in 1921 and dedicated to research, recording, and publication of American colonial history. The North Carolina chapter was organized on June 16, 1927 as the State Chapter Daughters of the American Colonists in the Virginia Dare Room of the Sir Walter Raleigh Hotel in Raleigh. The chapter later changed its name the North Carolina State Society Daughters of the American Colonists and selected Virginia Dare as its chapter name.
Location: The marker is located on the wall inside the rotunda of the North Carolina State Capitol building.
Landscape: The plaque is located on the wall in the interior of the rotunda of the North Carolina State Capitol. The interior of the rotunda houses other State Capitol memorials including statuary, paintings, and plaques commemorating significant events and individuals in North Carolina's history.
City: Raleigh
County: Wake
Subjects: Colonial History, Personal Monuments