Star-Spangled Banner Conserved with Help from Save America’s Treasures Grant
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC
Year of Award: 1999
Federal Amount: $3,000,000
Matching Amount: $18,000,000
“The Star-Spangled Banner is a national icon that must be preserved for future generations. By building a secure conservation laboratory, the museum will provide the public with a unique look into the preservation process while protecting the flag.”
Spencer Crew
Director, NMAH
Smithsonian, 1999
The Flag
After a vote from Congress, President James Madison signed a measure into law that launched the War of 1812 against Great Britain on June 18, 1812. During this 32-month long conflict, the city of Washington was burned (1814), and one month later, the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor occurred during the Battle of Baltimore. It was the success of the Americans to sustain this bombardment and the victory at Fort McHenry that proved a turning point in the war in what is often referred to as America’s “second war of independence.” The war ended on February 18, 1815 with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent by President Madison in our nation’s capital.
President Madison assigned Major George Armistead (1780-1818) to be the commander at Fort McHenry. As part of the preparation for the impending battle, Armistead commissioned two flags to be made by flag-maker and widow Mary Young Pickersgill (1776-1857) to fly from the 90-foot flagpole at Fort McHenry. The larger of the two flags made by Pickersgill is what became known as the Star-Spangled Banner, or great garrison flag. It measured 30 feet by 42 feet and is the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became our national anthem. The Star-Spangled Banner flew at Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore on September 13 and 14, 1814. It was taken down the night of September 13 and replaced by the second, smaller storm flag measuring 17 feet x 25 feet. The larger flag was hoisted once again on the morning of September 14. That early morning, as the British ships retreated from Baltimore Harbor “by the dawn’s early light,” it was this large flag that became known as the Star-Spangled Banner waving at Fort McHenry that Francis Scott Key saw from one of the retreating ships. Key’s poem was eventually set to music and became the official national anthem of the United States in 1931.
After the success at Fort McHenry, which sustained 25 hours of constant bombardment by the British and survived intact, Major George Armistead was considered a hero for his leadership and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. However, his health had suffered and declined from this ordeal and he died in 1818 at the age of 38.
The Star-Spangled Banner, commissioned by Armistead, remained in the possession of the family for ninety years. Louisa Hughes Armistead, Armistead’s widow, retained the flag until her death in 1861. Mrs. Armistead made several alterations to the flag including cutting away one of the stars. She left the flag to her daughter, Georgiana Armistead Appleton, who loved and cherished the flag, even through bankruptcy, until her death in 1878. She bequeathed the flag to her son, New York stockbroker Eben Appleton. Over time, the size of the flag diminished by approximately eight feet as pieces of it were cut and given away as mementos, reducing the size of the flag to 30 feet by 34 feet. Each family member allowed the flag to be displayed sparingly for special local and national occasions, until Eben Appleton became concerned about the fragile state of the flag and protected it by storing it in a safety deposit box. In 1907, Appleton approached the Smithsonian and agreed to lend the flag for display. In 1912, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Charles Walcott received a letter from Appleton making the flag a permanent gift to the museum. His only stipulation for this gift was his wish that the Star-Spangled Banner be on view to the public permanently.
In 1999 a Save America’s Treasures grant was awarded to the Smithsonian Institution to conserve the Star-Spangled Banner, to develop new methodology for its display, and to create a state-of-the-art, climate-controlled environment that would protect the flag and ensure its safety. How the flag came to the Smithsonian as a permanent gift in 1912, its story of early conservation efforts, permanent display, and the $18 million generated to ensure its conservation and display for our nation is intriguing.
Conserving the Flag
Under the Smithsonian’s care, the Star-Spangled Banner has undergone major conservation three times. The first effort occurred in 1914, when the Smithsonian hired Amelia Fowler, a flag conservator, to stabilize the flag by adding a linen backing to it. Fowler developed and patented a special stitch that resulted in creating a webbed backing for the flag. She and a team of seamstresses added the linen backing and held it in place with her “web” consisting of almost 2,000,000 stitches designed to strengthen and support the fragile flag. When completed, the flag, which is nearly three stories high, weighed 150 pounds. Fowler also designed a special glass case for display of the flag in the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building.
The second conservation effort took place in 1982, when the flag underwent major surface cleaning. Periodically, the flag has been carefully vacuumed (1959) and its condition monitored and evaluated over time. It was also moved from the Arts and Industries Building, where it was on display until it moved to what is now the National Museum of American History (NMAH) upon the completion of that building in 1989. It remained on view at NMAH for over 30 years until a team of experts began a four-year evaluation in 1996 about how to best restore the flag, improve its condition, and devise new updated exhibition space in order to honor Appleton’s request to keep it on permanent display.
The third conservation project began in 1999, with the assistance of the $3 million Save America’s Treasures grant. These SAT funds and additional monies supported implementation of an elaborate system developed for lowering the flag, for its preliminary cleaning, and for its careful rolling onto a massive 450-pound tube. The flag was then moved to a specially enclosed conservation laboratory with a 50-foot long glass wall that allowed the public to view the conservation process. A special platform and gantry were constructed to allow conservators to lie or sit down as the flag was carefully unrolled in small increments for treatment. A team of conservators slowly removed the over 1.7 million stitches, stitch by individual stitch, attached by Amelia Fowler and her team. They then removed the linen backing, also attached to the flag by Fowler, small piece by small piece. Using small dry sponges and a blotting technique, conservators slowly removed dirt from both the front and the back of the flag’s surface. Sixty-year-old repairs that had occurred prior to the Smithsonian’s acquisition of the flag were removed. Using a special cleaning solution and acid-free blotters, additional dirt particles were released and removed. The flag was restored to its original shape by allowing the fabric to relax. It was then re-backed with a light-weight special polyester fabric that provided stability and added support for particularly fragile areas.
A special display table was designed to hold the flag. Once all conservation treatment was completed, the flag was again carefully rolled and transported to its new environmentally controlled home. It was carefully unrolled onto the table. The table was tilted 10 degrees to properly support the flag, while providing good public visibility.
The Flag Maker
It took Mary Pickersgill, her daughter, two nieces, and an African American indentured servant seven weeks to make the two flags. The flags were hand-sewn and made of strips of English wool bunting that measured 12 inches or 18 inches wide. Mrs. Pickersgill could not accommodate assemblage of the larger flag in her home and had to acquire permission from the owner of the brewery across the street to move the flag pieces to his warehouse in order to finish the work. A total of 400 yards of material was used. Each stripe was two feet wide, and each star was two feet from tip to tip. Upon completion, the flag had 15 stripes and 15 stars, weighed 50 pounds, and cost $405.90.
Pickersgill learned the art of flag-making from her mother, Rebecca Young, who made garrison flags, ensigns, and continental standards before, during, and after the Revolutionary War. Although she was born in Philadelphia, Pickersgill settled in Baltimore after the death of her husband in 1807 and rented a house at what is now 844 E. Pratt Street. Through her flag-making business, she became a highly successful business woman and was able to purchase this house by 1820, where she lived until her death in 1857. Mary Pickersgill became a social activist on behalf of the poor and impoverished, particularly women. She was the President of the Impartial Female Humane Society from 1828-1851. During this period a home for aged women was established by the Society. She died at the age of 81.
Funding the Project
Lt. Colonel George Armistead, who commissioned the flag that became the Star-Spangled Banner, and Mary Pickersgill, who made it, created what grew to become an iconic symbol of our nation’s freedom. With the support of the 1999 Save America’s Treasures grant, and additional funding from Polo Ralph Lauren, the Pew Charitable Trust, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, $18 million was generated for major conservation of the flag and the construction of its new state-of-the-art, environmentally stable, two-story display case. The flag, accompanied by interpretive information about its history and the conservation process, has been on view at the National Museum of American History since 2008.
Featured photo courtesy of Ira Block (National Geographic) and Jeffrey Tinsley.
