The Star Spangled Banner

The Star Spangled Banner

This page is dedicated to the memory of all who have lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States

During the 1980's, I visited the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution(NMAH). At that time, they had on display the inspiration for our national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner. This is the flag that flew over Fort McHenry when the British attacked it on Sept. 13, 1814. Francis Scott Key, a lawyer, had boarded a British ship to try to secure the release of a doctor held prisoner by the British. Key was not able get off the ship before the British fleet started attacking Ft. McHenry. When the bombing stopped, Key looked out and saw this flag flying defiantly over the fort and wrote down his feelings in a poem that would eventually become our national anthem.

At the time I visited the museum, the flag was kept behind a protective screen and only uncovered for a couple of minutes at a time, once an hour as time and pollution had taken its toll on the flag. No flash pictures were allowed, that is why the photo is so dark.

The flag is currently under conservation by the Smithstonian. The flag was taken down from the Flag Hall at NMAH on December 1, 1998 to begin the conservation process. It was first placed inside a walled room on a large table right inside the Mall entrance to NMAH with windows so that visitors could view it. In May of 1999 it was moved into the conservation lab, specially constructed on the second floor of NMAH. The lab has a 60 foot glass wall so that visitors can see the Flag and the conservation work as it progresses. The lab is accompanied by an exhibition entitled, Preserving the Star-Spangled Banner. The exhibition provides the history of this famous flag. You can go to the Smithsonians site, at http://americanhistory.si.edu/ssb/ to see more about the conservation project.

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Email me at kignarski@hotmail.com