Interesting to have the two different celebrations.
Vicki
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, July 04, 2004 10:51 AM
Subject: History of flag day
> The History Of Flag Day
>
> The Fourth of July was traditionally celebrated as
America's
> birthday, but the idea of an annual day specifically
celebrating
> the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885.
BJ
> Cigrand, a school teacher, arranged for the pupils in
the
> Fredonia, Wisconsin Public School, District 6, to observe June
14
> (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of The Stars
and
> Stripes) as Flag Birthday. In numerous magazines and
newspaper
> articles and public addresses over the following years,
Cigrand
> continued to enthusiastically advocate the observance of June
14
> as Flag Birthday, or Flag Day.
>
> On June 14, 1889, George Balch, a kindergarten teacher
in
> New York City, planned appropriate ceremonies for the children
of
> his school, and his idea of observing Flag Day was later
adopted
> by the State Board of Education of New York.
>
> On June 14, 1891, the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia
held
> a Flag Day celebration, and on June 14 of the following year,
the
> New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution, celebrated
Flag
> Day.
>
> Following the suggestion of Colonel J Granville Leach
(at
> the time historian of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of
the
> Revolution), the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames
of
> America on April 25, 1893 adopted a resolution requesting
the
> mayor of Philadelphia and all others in authority and all
private
> citizens to display the Flag on June 14th. Leach went on
to
> recommend that thereafter the day be known as Flag Day, and
on
> that day, school children be assembled for appropriate
exercises,
> with each child being given a small Flag. Two weeks later on
May
> 8th, the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons
of
> the Revolution unanimously endorsed the action of
the
> Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames. As a result of
the
> resolution, Dr. Edward Brooks, then Superintendent of
Public
> Schools of Philadelphia, directed that Flag Day exercises be
held
> on June 14, 1893 in Independence Square. School children
were
> assembled, each carrying a small Flag, and patriotic songs
were
> sung and addresses delivered.
>
> In 1894, the governor of New York directed that on June
14
> the Flag be displayed on all public buildings. With BJ
Cigrand
> and Leroy Van Horn as the moving spirits, the
Illinois
> organization, known as the American Flag Day Association,
was
> organized for the purpose of promoting the holding of Flag
Day
> exercises.
>
> On June 14th, 1894, under the auspices of this
association,
> the first general public school children's celebration of
Flag
> Day in Chicago was held in Douglas, Garfield, Humboldtd
Lincoln,
> and Washington Parks, with more than 300,000
children
> participating. Adults, too, participated in patriotic
programs.
> Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, delivered a
1914
> Flag Day address. He said the flag had spoken to him
that
> morning: "I am what you make me; nothing more. I swing
before
> your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself."
>
> Inspired by these three decades of state and
local
> celebrations, Flag Day - the anniversary of the Flag
Resolution
> of 1777 - was officially established by the Proclamation
of
> President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916. While Flag Day
was
> celebrated in various communities for years after
Wilson's
> proclamation, it was not until August 3rd, 1949, that
President
> Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th of
each
> year as National Flag Day.
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