Flag Day

(LoC) - On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the design of a national flag. Since 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation establishing a national Flag Day on June 14, Americans have commemorated the adoption of the Stars and Stripes by celebrating June 14 as Flag Day. Prior to 1916, many localities and a few states had been celebrating the day for years. Continued

Photo: The Birth of Old Glory [detail], Percy Moran, artist, copyright 1917 (Library of Congress).

Flag Day

"Why ain't you got your flag out?" says Mr. Richmond, entering the gas station in which he spends much of his time these days. "You know today is flag day, don't you?"

"I guess the boss forgot to buy a flag, George," says Mr. Davis, the station attendant. "And even if we had one, we ain't got no place to put it."

Mr. Richmond: "That's a fine state of affairs, that is. Here they are tryin' to bring home to you people the fact that you're livin' in one of the few countries where you can draw a free breath and you don't even know it. You're supposed to have flags out all this week. Don't you know that? This is flag day and this is flag week. Where's your patriotism?"

Mr. Davis: "What the hell are you hollerin' about, George? You're always runnin' the country down. They can't do anything to suit you. You're worryin' about taxes and future generations and all like that. Where's your patriotism?"

Mr. Richmond: "Well, that's different. A man got a right to criticize. That's free speech. Don't mean I ain't patriotic."

- Library of Congress

A History of the Pledge of Allegiance

(NYTBR) Today’s conservatives often describe themselves as strict constructionists, seeking the “original meaning” of the nation’s founding texts. In the case of the Pledge of Allegiance, a much ­fetishized if not legally binding document, this approach is unlikely to yield the desired political result. As Jeffrey Owen Jones and Peter Meyer note, the original author of the pledge was a former Christian Socialist minister who hoped to redeem the United States from its class and ethnic antagonisms. Interpretations of its meaning have been growing more conservative, not more liberal, ever since. Continued

Image: "Strict constructionists should note that the original pledge was accompanied by a right-side straight-arm salute, a gesture that mysteriously began to lose popularity in the 1930s."

Do other countries have their own Uncle Sams?

(Slate) On July 4, Independence Day is celebrated with American flags, fireworks, and images of Uncle Sam. Do other countries have their own national personifications, too? Continued

I Want You

(LoC) James Montgomery Flagg, creator of this illustration of Uncle Sam, was born on June 18, 1877, in Pelham Manor, New York. Flagg claimed that his illustration, an indelible American icon, had become the most famous poster in the world. Dressed in his own Uncle Sam suit, he used himself as the model for this poster and his other Uncle Sam illustrations.
An illustrator and portrait artist best known for his commercial art, Flagg contributed forty-six works in support of the war effort during World War I. Leslie's Weekly first published his picture of Uncle Sam as the cover of the July 6, 1916, issue with the title "What Are You Doing for Preparedness?" More than four million copies were printed between 1917 and 1918. The image also was used extensively during World War II.
In 1961, Congress passed a resolution that officially recognized meat packer Samuel Wilson (1766-1854) as Uncle Sam's namesake. Wilson, who supplied meat to the army during the War of 1812, is reputed to have been a man of great fairness, reliability, and honesty who was devoted to his country. Continued

Flag Day

(LoC) - On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the design of a national flag. Since 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation establishing a national Flag Day on June 14, Americans have commemorated the adoption of the Stars and Stripes by celebrating June 14 as Flag Day. Prior to 1916, many localities and a few states had been celebrating the day for years. Continued

Photo: The Birth of Old Glory [detail], Percy Moran, artist, copyright 1917 (Library of Congress).

Who’s Buried in the History Books?

(Sean Wilentz) RONALD REAGAN deserves posterity’s honor, and so it makes sense that the capital’s airport and a major building there are named for him. But the proposal to substitute his image for that of Ulysses S. Grant on the $50 bill is a travesty that would dishonor the nation’s bedrock principles of union, freedom and equality — and damage its historical identity. Although slandered since his death, Grant, as general and as president, stood second only to Abraham Lincoln as the vindicator of those principles in the Civil War era. Continued

Image: Library of Congress

Coffin’s Emblem Defies Certainty

(NYTimes) When the remains of hundreds of colonial-era Africans were uncovered during a building excavation in Lower Manhattan in 1991, one coffin in particular stood out. Nailed into its wooden lid were iron tacks, 51 of which formed an enigmatic, heart-shaped design. The pattern was soon identified as the sankofa — a symbol printed on funereal garments in West Africa — and it captured the imagination of scholars, preservationists and designers. Ultimately, it was embraced by many African-Americans as a remarkable example of the survival of African customs in the face of violent subjugation in early America. Continued

Image: Wikipedia

A Thanksgiving gallery from the Library of Congress

"The first Thanksgiving 1621 / J.L.G. Ferris, c1932." I think this scene, or one very much like it, hung in my first grade classroom.

"Harper's Bazaar--Thanksgiving 1894 / Louis J. Rhead." This looks like Thanksgiving at the Lady of the Lake's house, or maybe at Jane Burden's.

"Thanksgiving - taking home turkies from raffle. 1912 Nov. 22. George Grantham Bain Collection."

"A Swell Gent. John T. McCutcheon, Dec 1916, Chicago Tribune."

"Castle Garden--their first Thanksgiving dinner / W. St. John Harper, 1884" Castle Garden is where immigrants arrived in the New York region before Ellis Island opened.

"Neffsville, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Earle Landis taking Thanksgiving pies from the oven. November 1942" Neffsville is just above Lancaster. (Jack Delano/FSA/OWI)

The Easy Rider Road Trip: Retracing the Path of the Iconic Movie on Its 40th Anniversary

(Slate) ... Film enthusiasts my age had warned me to expect a film with long, often dull, experimental patches and stoner vagaries. When I finally got around to watching Easy Rider, I discovered those warnings weren't entirely unfounded. But I also discovered a more complex and sour movie than the one I'd imagined. More an elegy for a generation that never got where it wanted to go than a celebration of that generation's superiority, it pits hopefulness against resignation and sets the battle on a lovingly photographed stretch of the United States. Easy Rider hit theaters with a memorable tag line: "A man who went looking for America. And couldn't find it anywhere." Star, producer, and co-writer Peter Fonda hated that line, and rightly so. It's really the story of two men—Wyatt and Billy, played by Fonda and co-writer and director Dennis Hopper—who went looking for America and found it everywhere. They just didn't find a place for themselves. Continued

9/11

(LoC) - Within hours of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Library of Congress staff began to call for and collect a vast array of original materials concerning the attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, and the fate of United Airlines Flight 93 which crashed into the earth at Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Library staff worked in concert with many others to chronicle the events and to collect related material in a wide variety of formats related to 9/11—for example, photographs, comic book illustrations, magazines, posters, and fine art. Continued

Photo: Pentagon lit up for 9/11 anniversary, September 2007 (Aude).

On the 40th Anniversary of Woodstock

(Paul Krassner) - ... Hippies became freaks. Negroes became blacks. Girls became women. Richard Alpert became Baba Ram Dass. Hugh Romney became Wavy Gravy, and his wife became Jahanarah. Yippie organizer Keith Lampe became Ponderosa Pine, and his girlfriend became Olive Tree. My sister Marge became Thais. San Francisco Oracle editor Allen Cohen became Siddartha and moved to a commune where everybody called him Sid. They thought his name was Sid Arthur.
But the seeds that were planted then continue to blossom now. And the spirit of Woodstock continues to be celebrated at such events as the Rainbow Gathering, Burning Man, Earthdance, the Oregon County Fair, the Starwood Neo-Pagan Festival, Pete Seeger's Clearwater Festival, the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, and yes, the electronic magic montage of musicians and singers around the globe performing "Stand By Me" on YouTube. Continued

Photo: Library of Congress

Seven Lies About Lying

(Errol Morris) - I was talking to Ricky Jay about lying and deception. I had an example from the Bible, specifically about Jacob and his 12 sons. ... Ricky interrupted: “Which one? Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Napthali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph or Benjamin?”
“Uh . . . Joseph.” Continued

Photo: Library of Congress

Flag Day

(LoC) - On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the design of a national flag. Since 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation establishing a national Flag Day on June 14, Americans have commemorated the adoption of the Stars and Stripes by celebrating June 14 as Flag Day. Prior to 1916, many localities and a few states had been celebrating the day for years. Continued

Photo: The Birth of Old Glory [detail], Percy Moran, artist, copyright 1917 (Library of Congress).

Has photography blinded us to the reality of the American West?

(Slate) - Shut your eyes and picture the great American West. What do you see? The boggling maze of the Grand Canyon, the sun streaming down on Yosemite, the pueblos at Canyon de Chelly, a moonrise over a sleeping New Mexican town, the mitten rock at Monument Valley, the sad profile of an Indian chief, a migrant mother with a worried face, a tornado in Kansas, a geyser in Wyoming, a gusher in Texas, a Marlboro Man on the range, Marilyn Monroe as a misfit, an open road, an endless sky, a surreal suburb, an empty parking lot? Continued

Photos: Lange, Curtis (Library of Congress).

Revolutionary War "Camp Security" marked again

(York Daily Record) - A new historical marker for Camp Security has gone up in recent weeks along East Market Street in Springettsbury Township to replace the one that's been missing for more than a year now.
And the new sign gives passersby more information about the Revolutionary War prisoner-of-war camp.
The marker disappeared in 2007, and nobody had any information about what happened to it, said Karen Galle, historical marker program coordinator for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Continued

Photo: Friends of Camp Security

Obama chooses Lincoln's Bible for inauguration

WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama will use the same Bible at his inauguration that Abraham Lincoln used for his swearing in.
Obama will be the first president since Lincoln to use that Bible, part of the collection of the Library of Congress.
... It will be on display at the Library of Congress February 12 to May 9 as part of an exhibition titled "With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition." Continued

Photo: Library of Congress

The Washington Monument

(LoC) - On December 6, 1884, workers placed the 3,300 pound marble capstone on the Washington Monument, and topped it with a nine-inch pyramid of cast aluminum, completing construction of the 555-foot Egyptian obelisk. Nearly fifty years earlier, the Washington National Monument Society choose Robert Mills's design to honor first American president and founding father George Washington. The privately-funded organization laid the monument's cornerstone on Independence Day, 1848, in Washington, D.C. Continued

Photo: Horydczak on top of Washington Monument by Theodor Horydczak/Library of Congress

Star-Spangled Banner is star attraction at renovated American History museum

WASHINGTON D.C. (Baltimore Sun) - The Star-Spangled Banner has a snazzy new home - and it's already the talk of the town.
When the National Museum of American History reopens tomorrow after a two-year, $85 million renovation, visitors will finally get a glimpse at what museum officials are calling a "dramatic transformation" of the 44-year-old building.
The most stunning evidence of this is a five-story-high, skylit atrium that greets museumgoers as they enter from the National Mall. Continued

Photo: Library of Congress

Historians write 1st draft on Obama victory

(MSNBC) - It's historic, certainly, but what does it mean? Msnbc.com asked American historians who have focused on civil rights issues to react to the victory of Sen. Barack Obama.
Below are their essays, a first draft of history. Continued

Photo: Canon 50D (crop from campaign poster)