The Pocahontas Pin

Description

We are pleased to present to you the newest addition to our collection of wearable history: The Pocahontas Pin. 

From the NSCDA’s first certificates of membership, engraved and printed by the iconic Tiffany & Co., to the Virginia Society’s most recent successes, the Virginia Scarf and Celebration Shawl, we have always made sure that anything representing our Society and our colonial history did so in all its fullness. The Pocahontas Pin tells many stories, both old and new.

Our design goals were to:

• Honor the work of our predecessors, who designed the Queen Elizabeth (The Virgin Queen) enamel lapel pin, in honor of our Commonwealth’s namesake.

• Highlight those inspirational people of the past who were bridge builders… those who constructed relational bridges that brought people together, furthering understanding and fostering fellowship.

• Acknowledge the importance of women in our Commonwealth and in our country, celebrating all our members, both past and present, and their accomplishments. We do this by celebrating our earliest qualifying female ancestor, Pocahontas of the Powhatan (also known by her Christian name, Rebecca Rolfe).

All these things come together in the Pocahontas Pin:

• It continues our work in honoring women who were significant in the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia, moving along the time line (from where we began with Queen Elizabeth I) and crossing the bridge from England to the Colonies and back again. Our Society’s relationship with England, through Pocahontas, is also reflected in our donation of two stained glass windows at Saint George’s Church, Gravesend, England, the final resting place of Pocahontas.

• It is based on the only known portrait of Pocahontas. The details of the portrait and the letters and newspapers of the day reveal that she was accepted and honored by the British nobility. The feather fan she holds has the double meaning of noble rank in England, as ostrich plumes were only used by the nobility. The plumes are also reflective of her noble Native American heritage, as feathers were used as a sign of power in the native communities.

• It is significant in that Pocahontas is not only Virginia’s earliest qualifying female ancestor, she is perhaps, the NSCDA’s most famous.

The Pocahontas Pin was designed by Virginia Dames; Elizabeth Steele Forman, Mary Louise Stuart,

Molly Jordan Carey and Cary Langhorne King.