The day after Christmas in 1919, twenty-seven ladies met at the home of Mabel Ainsworth to form a new chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Ainsworth was the organizing regent. Two names for the chapter were submitted to the ladies, and after some deliberation...in May of 1921, Hannah Lee was chosen. Since then the members have worked to promote patriotism, education, and preservation.

To promote patriotism they placed a framed "American's Creed" in each classroom of the public school and in the Legion Hall at West Union, and gave small American flags and manuals to newly naturalized immigrants. "An exceedingly large box of clothing" was sent to Piney Woods School to aid the southern mountain children in gaining an education. Financial aid was given to the Martha Berry School at Mt. Berry, GA, through the purchase of baskets (what type was not said). In 1927-28 the sum of $10 was sent. Bronze plaques were placed on the tombstones of Emily Carter, a Real Daughter (the daughter of a Revolutionary War soldier and a DAR member) of the Wenonah Chapter, and Mrs. Angelina Webb Morehouse, who was the daughter and granddaughter of Revolutionary War soldiers; in the new Court House at West Union; and at the site of the first cabin built in Fayette County in 1840.

In 1978 the Waucoma Chapter of Waucoma, Iowa, disbanded; members joined Hannah Lee Chapter or became members at large. Regent Addie Potter organized the Waucoma Chapter in 1907, the first DAR chapter in Northeast Iowa, with twelve members. They placed a marker for Johann Gaertner who built the St. Anthony of Padua Chapel, or "the smallest church," at Festina, Iowa. He did this to honor his mother's promise to build a church if he returned alive from serving in Napoleon's Russian Campaign.

These are some of the early projects of the chapter. Reading the minutes and Regents' Reports you see a devoted group of women who shaped their chapters.