On February 21, 1954, the Susan B. Anthony Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was organized in Long Beach, California. Mrs. Opal Simpson was the Organizing Regent. Meetings in the early years were held at either the Lafayette Hotel or the Pacific Club in Long Beach.

The chapter has been involved in many activities during its fifty plus years. The chapter participated in flag burning ceremonies with the Boy Scouts. The chapter planted trees, trees and more trees. Trees were planted through Pennies for Pines. Over fifty trees were planted in Marina Vista Park, many of which are still alive. An elm tree was replaced in a Signal Hill Park. One of the chapter’s favorite projects was started by Blenn Meigs, the bingo game held every year at the Long Beach Veteran’s Hospital.

Chapter programs have dealt with various issues which were prevalent at the time, some of which still are, topics included: the stand of the DAR on socialism, atomic survival for the housewife, emergency rescue of animals, identity theft, Hobby city Doll House Museum, Indians, Spanish in America verses our English heritage, youth authority and senior driving.

The chapter has strived to maintain the history of the Long Beach area by placing historical markers. The first historical marker placed by the chapter was placed in 1962 at the first district school organized in Long Beach (the Willow Street School). In November of 1972, the chapter placed a marker at the Point Fermin Lighthouse, one of the only surviving lighthouses from its day.

The members of the Susan B. Anthony Chapter have seen much in its fifty plus years: the presidencies of Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Bush the elder, Clinton, and Bush the younger, the assassination of one president and the resignation of another, a man walking on the moon and a rover land on mars, the building of the Berlin Wall and the falling of the Berlin Wall, and finally, a terrorist attack on our own shores. What will we see in the next fifty years?