U.S. Navy photo by Doug Davant Capt. Catie Hanft addresses meeting of the Washington-Lewis Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

‘‘Considering American history, I can imagine no other city more synonymous with the DAR than Fredericksburg,” Hanft began. ‘‘But in celebrating the daughters of the American Revolution, let us not forget that every daughter had to have a ‘mother,’ and both for here, and for America, that mother is Mary Ball Washington...she truly set the inspirational standard for women both in the colonial period as well as for today,”

Hanft then told how Washington ‘‘single handily” raised five children while running her Ferry Farm estate as a widowed mother at age 35. She noted that Mary Washington was a stern parent, even going so far as preventing son, George, his dream of becoming a sailor, ‘‘something I cannot ever imagine her doing!” Hanft emphasized. ‘‘But, in retrospect, I suppose it worked out for the better if you consider what occurred later for our country, say, around the year of 1776.”

She then noted how the example of a dedicated Mary Washington served today’s American women and recited the numbers of them in military and governmental leadership positions.

Hanft also told the meeting about Vice Adm. Hopper’s research with the computer at Naval Support Facility Dahlgren and how her work benefited today’s invaluable office tool.

‘‘Dr. Hopper brought the Mark II computer to Dahlgren where it became the famous Naval Ordnance Relay Calculator and helped build Dahlgren into a leading naval laboratory,” she said.

‘‘Dr. Hopper received honors too numerous to detail. She was awarded approximately 40 honorary degrees, and numerous Navy and Department of Defense medals, including the DoD Distinguished Service Medal. Regardless of the honor bestowed her, she always said ‘I have already received the highest possible award, the privilege and responsibility of serving in the United States Navy,’” Hanft told the crowd, adding, ‘‘that is a sentiment I share.”

In concluding her remarks, Hanft told the story of how Elizabeth Monroe, who lived in Fredericksburg with her husband, helped save the life of the wife of Marquis De Lafayette.

‘‘She (Madame Lafayette) had been scheduled to be executed in the Reign of Terror of Robespierre during the French Revolution,” Hanft said and related how James Monroe, the American minister to France at the time, wanted to intervene to save her life but couldn’t due to political complications so got his wife to help by going to the prison in a fine carriage to personally visit her. The site of Elizabeth Monroe acting as a surrogate stirred French public emotion and was a catalyst in obtaining her release.

‘‘Conscious of public opinion and the evident American interest, the government succumbed to the pressure and released Madame Lafayette soon after. The public then dubbed Elizabeth as ‘La Belle Americaine.’ (the beautiful American),” Hanft said.

‘‘The courageous examples of colonial women such as Mary Washington, Elizabeth Monroe and that of spectacular scientists such as Vice Adm. Grace Hopper, of course, paved the way for women in our country to follow,” Hanft concluded.