The Founders Day celebration was created in 1910 by Mrs. David O. Mears, a charter member of the National Congress of Mothers founded by Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst in Washington, DC, February 17, 1897. The Founders Day observance has continued through the change of organization names in 1925 to the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, and the uniting in 1970 with the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers, founded in 1926 by Selena Sloan Butler, to become the National PTA. The vision of PTAs founders has been realized in many ways, and now it is up to present PTA members to continue the vision.
While paying tribute to the three Founders and all who worked with them, it is also an appropriate time to show appreciation to those in your own PTA and community who have been dedicated advocates for children.
Each year, PTA honors the three founders as well as past and present PTA leaders. Through special programs and events PTA also attempts to increase the awareness of its members and the community not only about its past achievements but its present and future activities, projects and goals. In Anne Arundel County, we honor volunteers, teachers, principals and active PTA units with special awards during the Founders Day dinner. In addition, our scholarship committee hosts a silent auction to provide scholarship funding for deserving Anne Arundel County public school students.