Independent student content

BG Falcon Media

Independent student content

BG Falcon Media

Independent student content

BG Falcon Media

The BG News
BG24 Newscast
November 16, 2023

Follow us on social
  • Found Family Books for the Holidays
    The holidays are quickly approaching and for some of us that means seeing our family. However, family has a loose definition. It could mean blood or who you were raised with. It could also mean people you’ve found during your life journey. Either way, the holidays are meant for spending quality time with those you […]
  • Books I Started but Never Finished
    My biggest book insecurity is not finishing a book. Even if I don’t care for the story I will usually try to still finish it. I’ve been known to force myself into finishing books I absolutely hate. I’m afraid of wasting time, but in my head if I’ve already read more than halfway it would […]

Museum of American history to display flag

By Carl Hartman The Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The American flag that “so proudly we hail’d,” the inspiration for the Star-Spangled Banner, will be the focal point of an $85 million renovation at the National Museum of American History.

It was on Sept. 14, 1814, that Francis Scott Key peered through the smoke surrounding Baltimore’s Fort McHenry after a 25-hour British bombardment and saw the huge American flag was still flying.

The sight inspired Key to write a poem that began:

“O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,

“What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming.”

Time took a greater toll on the wool and cotton flag measuring 30 by 42 feet than the British bombardment. In 1998, museum officials determined the tattered flag could no longer support its own weight when hung vertically.

The museum will close Sept. 5 and reopen in the summer of 2008 with a new flag room for displaying the historic 15-star banner.

About $45 million will come from federal funds and the rest from private contributions, said Brent D. Glass, director of the museum.

“The survival of this flag for nearly 200 years is a visible testimony to the strength and perseverance of the nation and we hope that it will inspire many more generations in the future,” Glass said.

After a nine-year job of strengthening it, completed last fall, the flag will rest almost horizontally, the end with the blue field and white stars raised about 6 feet higher than the far end.

Leave a Comment
Donate to BG Falcon Media

Your donation will support the student journalists of Bowling Green State University. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
Donate to BG Falcon Media

Comments (0)

All BG Falcon Media Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *