Annual Meetings

The Order of the Merovingian Dynasty holds its annual meeting, annually, in April, at a venue in Washington, D.C. Sadly, our 2020 gathering has been cancelled due the COVID-19 outbreak. We thank all of our members during this time for their support and understanding as we plan for the future. We look forward to the next time we will enjoy one another's company, and do necessary business. Our next annual membership meeting will be held Wednesday, April 13, 2022 at the Cosmos Club. Thank you.
15 April 2015
The Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Order of the Merovingian Dynasty was held 15 April 2015 at the City Tavern Club in Washington, DC at 10:30 a.m. President Brantley Knowles called the meeting to Order. The invocation was given by Rev. Barry Christopher Howard.
The program was given by Dr. C. Brian Rose, Professor of Archeology at the University of Pennsylvania. The program titled "The Celts before the Merovingian's" was wonderful and well received. The Cornelia "Nellie "Smith Isenhour Scholarship was presented to Sophia Crawford-Brown and Sam Holzman. This year the amount of the Scholarship was increased to $1500.00 for the two recipients. Both are shown with Dianne Robinson, Scholarship Chairman.


9 April 2014
The Tenth Annual Meeting of the Order of the Merovingian Dynasty was held 9 April 2014 at the City Tavern Club in Washington, DC at 10:30 a.m. President Brantley Knowles called the meeting to Order. The invocation was given by Dr. Albert Clinton Walling II.
The program given by Helen C. Evans, Ph. D. was titled "Byzantium and the Merovingian's". The Cornelia "Nellie" Smith Isenhour Scholarship was presented by Dianne Robinson to Sarah Elizabeth Beckman (L) and Megan Boomer (R)

10 April 2013
The Ninth Annual Meeting of the Order of the Merovingian Dynasty was held 10 April, 2013 at the City Tavern Club in Washington, DC at 10:30 a.m. President Charles C. Lucas, Jr. M. D. called the meeting to Order. The invocation was given by Dr. Albert Clinton Walling II. Scholarship recipients shown with Dianne Robinson, Scholarship Chairman. New Officers were elected with our first woman, Brantley Carter Bolling Knowles as President General.
2013 recipient Stephanie Hagan expects to have her Ph. D. in History of Roman Art in 2015. Before she came to the University of Pennsylvania, she received her Bachelor of Arts in Classical Civilizations magna cum laude with distinction in the major. Her Senior Thesis: "Urban Foundations of Alexander the Great," advised by Ann Ellis Hanson. She worked on Troia Project, Turkey, in the summer of 2011 and the Athienou Archaeological Project in 2004. She speaks French, German, Italian, Latin, and Ancient Greek.
2013 recipient Ann Marie Sitz expects to have her Ph. D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 2017. She studied in Cappadocia in Context, Koç University, Cappadocia, Turkey, June 2012, Medieval Greek Summer Program, Gennadius Library, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2011, American School of Classical Studies at Athens Summer Session, Greece, summer 2010 and Baylor in Italy, summer 2007. Her honor Thesis: "The Image of Aeneas in Ancient Art: A Developing Tradition," May 2010. She speaks Latin, ancient and Medieval Greek, Spanish, French (reading), German (reading), Italian (reading), Turkish (elementary).

11 April 2012
The Eight Annual Meeting of the Order of the Merovingian Dynasty was held 11 April 2012 at the City Tavern Club in Washington, DC at 10:30 a.m. President General, COL Charles C. Lucas, M.D. called the meeting to Order. The invocation was given by The Rev. Dr. Albert Clinton Walling II.
The Cornelia "Nellie" Smith Isenhour Memorial Scholarship was founded in 2009 by Dianne A. Robinson to honor her grandmother. Continued contributions have been made by other members that will build and perpetuate the growth of the scholarship for years to come. Two Scholarships presently are awarded each year to students majoring in Archaeology and are recommended by Dr. Brian Rose, Professor of Classical Studies; James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology, University of Pennsylvania; Deputy Director, Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. To view the 2012 scholarship recipients, please click the link below:
2012 Annual Scholarships



13 April 2011
The seventh Annual Meeting of the Order of the Merovingian Dynasty was held 13 April 2011 at the City Tavern Club in Washington, DC at 10:30 a.m. President Charles C. Lucas, Jr. M. D. called the meeting to Order. The invocation was given by Dr. Albert Clinton Walling II.


Jordan speaks Italian, German, French, elementary Turkish. His professional interests include Architectural history, water history, landscape archaeology, comparative history, intersections of social history and visual culture, urban history, sociology of art, iconoclasms, reception of late antique architecture in the early modern period, quantitative and digital techniques for archaeology and architectural studies (3d modeling, map-making and ArcGIS, relational databases, custom Wikis, online publication/HTML).
Jordan has worked in Jarash Excavations, Hydraulics Investigator, under supervision of Alan Walmsley, University of Copenhagan. He has worked on the Avkat Field Survey Project and on site studies on Anatolia, under supervision of Robert Ousterhout, University of Pennsylvania and has done excavations at Villa Magna, Lazio under supervision of Lisa Fentress, University of Pennsylvania. Jordan has won many awards and been published many times since 2007.
Daira is Italian, has excellent knowledge of English, spoken and written and understanding/passive knowledge of French and Spanish at the scholastic level. She is currently enrolled in a PhD program in AAMW, University of Pennsylvania. She has a degree of Specialization in Classical Archaeology at the Archaeology Specialization School of Genoa University. Thesis title: "Il Foro de Nerva: un Deposito cermico di eta neroniana" (The Form of Nerva: a ceramic deposit from Nero's times"). Dairo has vocational training as "Technical expert for the archaeological sector" financed by the European social Fund POR Ob 3 for the Tuscany region and organized by Bassilichi S. p. A. in cooperation with the Soprintendenza per I Ben i Archeologici della Toscana. She hold a degree in Classical Studies, specializing in archaeology. Thesis title "Roman Military sites in the Eastern Limes: From Euphrates to the RED SEA.

The Seventh Annual Meeting of the Order of the Merovingian Dynasty was held 13 April 2011 at the City Tavern Club in Washington, DC at 10:30 a.m. President General Hardwick Smith Johnson, Jr., Ed.D. called the meeting to Order. The invocation was given by Dr. Albert Clinton Walling II.
Order of the Merovingian Dynasty Annual Scholarships 2011

2011 recipient Emerson Avery graduated in 2005 with a B.A. in Ancient Greek from Haverford College and Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology from Bryn Mawr College, where his senior thesis examined the expression of a nascent Greek ethnic identity at the colony of Empûries, Spain, during the Iron Age. He spent the 2005 academic year developing this research as a Fulbright Fellow at the German Archaeological Institute in Madrid before joining AAMW in the fall of 2006.

2011 recipient Justin Leidwanger research focuses primarily on Roman maritime commerce, and the subject of his dissertation is entitled "Maritime Archaeology as Economic History: Long-Term Trends of Roman Commerce in the Northeast Mediterranean." He holds a B.A. Classics from Loyola University Chicago, and an M.A. in archaeology from Texas A&M University. Most recently, he has been working to develop a long-term survey, excavation and cultural heritage program at the site of several shipwrecks off the coast of Sicily. Over the past few years, he has served as ceramicist for research and field projects in Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Greece and Italy, including most recently with Dokuz Eyl�l University�s survey off the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts of Turkey.

2011 Guest Speaker Douglas Richardson, author "Plantagenet Ancestry" and "Magna Carta Ancestry"
14 April 2010
The 6th Annual Meeting and Luncheon of the Order of the Merovingian Dynasty was held at The City Tavern Club (courtesy of Treasurer General Barry Christopher Howard), 3206 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007, on Wednesday, the 14th of April 2010. A meeting of the Officers and Council was held at 10:30a.m.

At the meeting we awarded the first annual Cornelia "Nellie" Smith Isenhour Memorial Scholarship to a student of Dr. C. Brian Rose at the University of Pennsylvania. Dianne Robinson, left and Founder of the Scholarship, along with Hardwick SmithJohnson Jr., EdD, President General of the Order presented the first Cornelia "Nellie" Smith Isenhour Memorial Scholarship to Margaret Marshall Andrews, an advanced graduate student in the Art and Archeology of the Mediterranean World program from the University of Pennsylvania
C. Brian Road, Ph. D. was our speaker. He is a Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Current excavations include: Head of Post-Bronze excavations at Troy (since 1988) and Granicus River Survey Project (recording and mapping the Graeco-Persian tombs that dominate the area).
9 April 2008
The Fourth Annual Meeting
The Order of the Merovingian Dynasty held its Annual Meeting and Luncheon on 09 April 2008 at noon Washington, DC 20007. The luncheon was preceded by a meeting of the Board at 11:00 AM.
OMD is a prestigious new ROYAL lineage society that requires an extensive application. The membership has now exceeded one hundred twenty-seven members and several more are awaiting approval of their application. As a result of this success we expect to have a large number of people attending the Annual Meeting, and early responses would be appreciated. You are welcome to invite your family, significant others, and potential well qualified applicants to attend.
Guest Speaker: Dr. Brian Rose, from the University of Pennsylvania presented a talk on the Merovingian's and their descent from Roman and Greek Troy.
April 2007
The Third Annual Meeting
The Third Annual Meeting of The Order of the Merovingian Dynasty was held on 11 April 2007 at noon at the City Tavern Club The luncheon was preceded by a meeting of the Board at 11:00 AM.
April 2006
The Second Annual Meeting
The second Annual Meeting of the Order of the Merovingian Dynasty was held April 12th 2006 at the City Tavern Club for a noon luncheon. There was a meeting of the Council and Officers at 11:00.
President General Richard Gregory

At the luncheon the President General presented some of the members with the New Medallion designed specifically for the Order

First Step-Charles Neuhauser, Marie Steel, and Charles Lucas
Second Step-Barry Howard, Lyle Anderson, and David Curfman

Laura Bromhal, Richard Gregory, & Grace Boone

Catherine Strauch
April 2005
The first organizational meeting
The first organizational meeting of the Order of the Merovingian Dynasty was held at 11:00 AM the 13th of April 2005 at the City Tavern Club, Washington, DC.

Those attending the first Organizational meeting were:
Richard Gregory, , John Hallberg Jones, Charles Neuhauser, Mrs. Brantley Knowles, Mrs. Grace DeuPree, Hardwick Smith Johnson, Ed. D., Mrs. Jane Walker, Michael Phelps, Esq., Timothy Field Beard, Mrs. Susan Patterson, David R. Curfman, MD, John Mauk Hilliard, David Carline Smith ,Charles Lucas MD, Rev. Barry Howard (not pictured)
At the business meeting officers were elected and the constitution was adopted.
Following the business meeting there was a luncheon.