Stanley DeForest Scott

November 2, 1926 - January 31, 2023 

Honorary President 2015

Distinguished Patriot Award 2019

Stanley DeForest Scott became a member of Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. in April 1951. His father Stanley DeForest Scott was also a member.  Their ancestor was Eli Smith Rowley. Mr. Scott was extremely involved in many aspects of the Society for decades, and had long been devoted to its Fraunces Tavern® Museum. For many years he served as co-chairman of the Society’s Museum and Art Committee. The title of "Honorary President for Life" was conferred upon him in 2015 for his long and distinguished service to Sons of the Revolution, and for his extraordinary generosity to the Society and its Fraunces Tavern Museum. In 2019, Mr. Scott, together with his wife Elizabeth, were awarded the Society’s “Distinguished Patriot Award” for their long-term support and service to Fraunces Tavern Museum. 

Mr. Scott lived in the New York City area his entire life, as had his family for many generations. After serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1944 to 1946, he graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Arts in 1950 and worked as general manager of Alfred Scott Publishers, which had been in his family since 1879. Afterward, for many years, he served as President of his own S.D. Scott Printing Company, in Tribeca. In recent decades, he had also been a real estate owner and developer in downtown Manhattan. 

For decades, Mr. Scott and his wife Elizabeth have been enthusiastic supporters of organizations that reflect their shared passion for American history, the arts, patriotism, and fascination with the past. These include libraries, museums, foundations, historical societies, art and music organizations, as well as a long list of genealogical and patriotic organizations. Mr. Scott was an avid collector and he and his wife had longstanding relationships with Fraunces Tavern Museum and the Library and Reynolds Museum at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. As a life-long admirer of George Washington, Mr. Scott donated a substantial portion of his collection of George Washington portraits to Fraunces Tavern Museum in 1984. In 1998, Mr. Scott was also integral in assisting in the acquisition of the magnificent tavern table that serves as the centerpiece for the Museum’s Long Room, site of General Washington’s Farewell to His Officers in 1783. In 2003, the Society named a gallery adjacent to the Long Room as the George Washington Portrait Gallery Honoring Stanley and Elizabeth Scott, which features a rotating display of these portraits. Following Super Storm Sandy in 2012, Mr. and Mrs. Scott established and funded a generous challenge grant to enable the Society to recover from the storm and to replace the electrical wiring and related equipment that had been damaged in the storm. In 2022, Governing the Nation from Fraunces Tavern, an exhibition depicting the Department of Foreign Affairs while it was headquartered at the Tavern, opened at the Museum. This exhibition was made possible through a major gift from the Scotts and was named in their honor. In 2023, the Museum’s Private Dining at Fraunces Tavern exhibition became a reality, a highlight of which is a gift of the Scotts’ 18th century chest-on-chest. Mr. and Mrs. Scott also donated many other treasures to the Museum over the years. Among them are two copies of the map Plan of the City of New York in North America, one of the best depictions of New York City before the Revolutionary War, by Bernard Ratzer, produced in 1776.

In addition to his professional experience and roles within the Society, Mr. Scott also served as a trustee and advisor of the American Numismatic Society (ANS), of which he had been a member since 1993, and a life member since 2001. His gifts to the ANS included his collection of ancient Greek coins from Syracuse and Sicily, a group of Carson City mint silver dollars of the 1880s, rare platinum proofs of the Fraunces Tavern Museum "Sons of the Revolution" bicentennial commemoration medal, and George Washington's Farewell medals in platinum, gold, bronze, and silver. Mr. Scott had also been a supporter of John Carter Brown Library, the Frick Collection, and the New-York Historical Society and was an active member of The Grolier Club, Society of Colonial Wars, Society of Mayflower Descendants and other Clubs and Societies. His abiding love was for Colonial and American material. He also enjoyed many other interests including wide ranging experiences in international travel, fine photography, and the mysteries of the stock market.