Chapter IX – Lexington, KY

About

Founded: April 1929

Historic Preservation: CDA Chapter IX gives $1000 annually to the University of Kentucky for an internship for the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center. The internship provides graduate students the opportunity to work with rare and unique archival collections.

Numerous past CDA internship projects have had important Kentucky content including: the processing of the Henry Clay Memorial photographs, processing the French family papers, and processing the Laura Clay papers, to name a few.  The CDA Chapter IX internship has made many important Kentucky resources available to citizens of Kentucky and has provided an education in research for the graduate student interns in a hands-on way.

Colonial Dames of America Chapter IX Lexington was established in 1929.  This year, 2025. Chapter IX Lexington is celebrating 96 years of annually supporting and preserving the historic McDowell House Museum, Danville, Kentucky, and annually providing an Internship for the University of Kentucky’s Special Collections Research Center.

CDA Chapter IX Lexington has financially supported the historic landmark, the McDowell House Museum, in Danville, Kentucky, since the museum was founded in the 1950’s.  Each year Chapter IX Lexington gives $1000 for the furnishings and maintenance of the museum. The museum is composed of the 18th century house, apothecary and gardens of pioneer surgeon, Dr, Ephraim McDowell.  Dr. McDowell achieved worldwide acclaim as “The Father of Abdominal Surgery” when he performed the first ever successful surgery to remove a 30 pound ovarian tumor in 1809. The surgery was performed on Jane Crawford without anesthesia.  Mrs. Crawford lived 30 years after Dr. McDowell removed her 30 pound abdominal tumor – the first ever such successful surgery in the world.

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