St. Andrew's Society of Washington, D.C.

About the Ball The St. Andrew’s Society of Washington, D.C., with origins in colonial Alexandria and Georgetown, is a charitable and social organization of men of Scottish birth or ancestry. It is not affiliated with any religious institution. The Society, officially founded in 1855 and incorporated in 1908, succeeds in the national capital area the old Saint Andrew’s Society of Alexandria, Virginia, which had its first documented assembly in 1788 and was for a time incorporated into the District of Columbia. The objectives of the St. Andrew’s Society are to afford charitable and educational assistance to Scotsmen, lineal descendants of Scotsmen, and to their widows and orphans, to perpetuate Scottish traditions and culture, and to promote social activities among its members. The Society maintains permanent trust funds for its charitable and educational purposes. The Society sponsors a series of annual events that are open to the public, including the Burns Nicht Dinner (January), Kirkin’ o’ the Tartan at the National Cathedral (May), Tartan Ball (November), and the Alexandria Scottish Christmas Walk (December). In addition, the men of the Society provide the leadership for a number of other events that are not directly sponsored by the Society but are closely affiliated. These include National Tartan Day activities and the Virginia Scottish Games. BACKGROUND For over 130 years, the St. Andrew’s Society of Washington, D.C., promoted itself as being founded in 1855 by William Robertson Smith. In or around 1990, the Society Board of Managers approved a recommendation to accept 1760 as a founding date for the Society. Since that time, research has determined that the first annual gathering of the St. Andrew’s Society of Alexandria most likely occurred in 1788 but has uncovered no evidence of direct organizational lineage. At a Board of Managers meeting in 2012, former President and current Community Relations Chairman John Bellassai expressed concerned that the possibility of returning to a founding date of 1855 would ignore the first century of Scottish-American history in the area, thereby “diluting” the Society brand. The matter was referred to the Heritage Committee to determine an appropriate course of action.