United States. An American Society of the Colonial Dames of America Badge in Gold, 1900

Membership Breast Badge in 14K Gold with light blue and white enamels, weighing 16.5 grams inclusive of its ribbon and pinback, maker marked "BAILEY BANKS & BIDDLE PHILA", marked "PAT." (Patent) on the reverse of the eagle, engraved in running script "Ida Tilghman Lowry Bispham. No. 248. 1900." on the reverse cartouche, measuring 30.7 mm (w) x 37.5 mm (h), crazing and chipping evident in the light blue enamels on the centrepiece, original ribbon suspended from pinback hanger in the shape of a ribbon banner, the hanger inscribed "PENNSYLVANIA". Accompanied by a Lapel Badge in 14K Gold with light blue enamels, weighing 3.1 grams, maker marked "BB&B" (Bailey, Banks & Biddle, Philadelphia), marked "14K" (Gold) and marked "L.B.P. 2597 VA." on the reverse, measuring 15.2 mm in diameter, horizontal pinback, intact enamels. Fine and extremely fine, respectively.

Footnote: The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America is an American organization composed of women who are descended from an ancestor "who came to reside in an American Colony before 1776, and whose services were rendered during the Colonial Period." The organization has forty-five corporate societies and over 15,000 members. The national headquarters are at Dumbarton House in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. The organization was founded in 1891, shortly after the founding of a similar society, the Colonial Dames of America (CDA). The main difference between the two is that the CDA was created to have a centrally organized structure under the control of the parent Society in New York City. The NSCDA was intended as a federation of State Societies in which each unit had a degree of autonomy. Another society formed around the same time was the Daughters of the American Revolution. Organized following the United States Centennial of 1876 and a Centennial in New York in 1889 (celebrating the Constitution), they built on renewed interest in America's past to work for preservation of historic collections and buildings, and education related to United States history. The NSCDA has been a leader in the field of historic preservation, restoration and the interpretation of historic sites since its New York Society first undertook the preservation of the Van Cortlandt House in 1897. In November 2000, the NSCDA received the prestigious Trustee Emeritus Award for Excellence in the Stewardship of historic sites from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Today forty-one diverse properties are owned outright by the Corporate Societies of the NSCDA, thirteen additional museum collections are owned by the Damesand thirty more properties receive substantial volunteer and financial support from Dames. The NSCDA has a regular periodical, the Dames Dispatch. The organization includes forty-five Corporate Societies with over 15,000 members. The Society headquarters is located at Dumbarton House in Washington, D.C. In addition to its broad based activities in the museum field, the Society sponsors a number of scholarship programs and other historic preservation, patriotic service and educational projects to further the aims and objects of the Society. Ida Tilghman "Minnie" Lowry Bispham was born on October 30, 1851. She married to Henry Collins Bispham (1841-1882) on June 1, 1871, the couple having children: Avice De Heyton Bispham and Henry Carroll Bispham. She was a member of the American Society of the Colonial Dames of America and died on June 2, 1915 in New York, New York County (Manhattan), New York, at the age of 63.