Beginning in 1784, delegates of the Society of the Cincinnati’s constituent branches have gathered at least every three years—except for a few gaps in the nineteenth century—in what are known as Triennial Meetings. The Society’s Institution, adopted on May 13, 1783, directs that delegates to the Society will meet “on the first Monday in May, annually, so long as they shall be necessary, and afterwards, at least once in every three years.” The first general meeting convened in Philadelphia on May 4, 1784, and lasted two full weeks.
With one exception, Triennial Meetings were held in Philadelphia until 1851, when President General Henry A. S. Dearborn, in an effort to broaden opportunities for member participation, changed the venue to New York City. Since then, the site and responsibilities for planning the Triennials have rotated among the fourteen constituent societies. The Société des Cincinnati de France first hosted the delegates of the American and French branches in Paris in 1959 and again in 1974 and 2001.
A major change in the nature of the Triennial Meetings occurred in 1950, when the Society adopted a resolution limiting the offices of president general and vice president general to no more than two consecutive terms of three years each. Since that time, Triennial Meetings have become more ceremonial and have marked the regular transitions in the leadership—opportunities to express appreciation to outgoing officers and to inaugurate new presidents general and launch new administrations. Triennial Meetings remain an essential aspect of the governance of the modern Society, while preserving its principles and traditions in an unbroken link to its founders.
The following is a list of the Triennials and other general meetings of the Society of the Cincinnati since 1784.
1784 Philadelphia 1787 Philadelphia 1788 Philadelphia 1790 Philadelphia 1791 Philadelphia 1793 Philadelphia 1796 Philadelphia 1799 Philadelphia 1800 Philadelphia 1802 Washington, D.C. 1805 Philadelphia, Pa. 1808 Philadelphia 1811 Philadelphia 1812 Philadelphia 1814 No meeting 1817 No meeting 1820 No meeting 1823 No meeting 1825 Philadelphia 1829 Philadelphia 1832 Philadelphia 1835 Philadelphia
1838 Philadelphia 1839 Philadelphia 1841 No meeting 1844 Philadelphia 1848 Philadelphia 1851 New York 1854 Baltimore 1855 Charleston 1856 Trenton 1860 Philadelphia 1863 New York 1866 Trenton 1869 Baltimore 1872 Boston 1875 New York 1878 Philadelphia 1881 Charleston 1884 Princeton 1887 Newport 1890 Baltimore 1893 Boston 1896 Philadelphia
1899 New York 1902 Hartford 1905 Richmond 1908 Charleston 1911 Newport 1914 Baltimore 1917 Asheville, N.C. 1920 Portsmouth, N.H. 1923 Wilmington, Del. 1926 Princeton 1929 Boston 1932 Philadelphia 1935 New York 1938 Hartford 1941 Richmond 1944 New York 1947 Washington, D.C. 1950 Charleston 1953 Philadelphia 1956 Newport 1959 Paris 1962 Baltimore
1965 Boston 1968 Princeton 1971 Wilmington, N.C. 1974 Paris 1976 Washington, D.C. 1977 Hartford 1980 Williamsburg, Va. 1983 West Point and Tarrytown, N.Y. 1986 Philadelphia 1989 Savannah 1992 Baltimore 1995 Exeter, N.H., and Boston 1998 Charleston 2001 Paris 2004 Newport 2007 Wilmington, N.C. 2010 New Haven 2013 Princeton 2016 Williamsburg, Va. 2019 Philadelphia 2022 Charleston
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Princeton, N.J. May 1884
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This is the earliest photograph of officers and delegates of the Society of the Cincinnati gathered for a Triennial Meeting.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Baltimore, Md. May 1890
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The Baltimore Triennial of 1890 included a trip by the officers and delegates to Mount Vernon.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Philadelphia, Pa. May 1896
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The officers and delegates visited Valley Forge during the Philadelphia Triennial Meeting of 1896.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Charleston, S.C. April 1908
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The officers and delegates to the Charleston Triennial of 1908 posed on the steps of Drayton Hall.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Newport, R.I. June 1911
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The officers and delegates gathered for dinner under a tent during the Newport Triennial of 1911.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Baltimore, Md. May 1914
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The Baltimore Triennial Meeting of 1914 included a trip to Annapolis where the officers, delegates, and guests posed on the steps of the Maryland State House.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Wilmington, Del. May 1923
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The officers and delegates gathered for their photograph on Rodney Square in Wilmington, Delaware, during the 1923 Triennial.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Princeton, N.J. May 1926
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Nassau Hall on the Princeton University campus was the setting for the official Triennial photograph of 1926.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Boston, Mass. June 1929
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The officers and delegates to the Boston Triennial of 1929 posed for this group photograph.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, New York, N.Y. May 1935
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The Triennial Meeting of 1935 was held at the Hotel Plaza in New York City.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Hartford, Ct. June 1938
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The officers and delegates to the Hartford Triennial of 1938 met at the Connecticut State Capitol.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Richmond, Va. May 1941
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The steps of the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond were the setting for the official Triennial photograph of 1941.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Princeton, N.J. May 1968
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The officers and delegates to the 1968 Princeton Triennial gathered for a photograph in front of Nassau Hall, as their predecessors had done in 1926.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Wilmington, N.C. April 1971
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The officers and delegates posed aboard the battleship North Carolina during the Wilmington Triennial of 1971.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Williamsburg, Va. May 1980
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The officers and delegates gathered in Williamsburg for the 1980 Triennial Meeting.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, West Point and Tarrytown, N.Y. May 1983
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To mark the two-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Society of the Cincinnati, the officers and delegates made a special trip to Mount Gulian, the Society’s birthplace in Fishkill, New York, during the 1983 Triennial.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Philadelphia, Pa. May 1986
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The officers and delegates to the 1986 Triennial Meeting in Philadelphia posed in front of Independence Hall.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Charleston, S.C. May 1998
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The officers and delegates to the Charleston Triennial of 1998 reprised the photograph their predecessors had taken at Drayton Hall nine decades earlier in 1908.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Paris, France May 2001
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Luxembourg Palace in Paris was the setting for the official 2001 Triennial photograph.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Wilmington, N.C. April 2007
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The official photograph of the officers and delegates to the 2007 Triennial Meeting was taken at Orton Plantation beside the Cape Fear River.
Click for a larger view.Triennial Meeting, Princeton, N.J. May 2013
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The 2013 Triennial Meeting in Princeton was the third time officers and delegates of the Society had posed in front of Nassau Hall.