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
schoolteacher, 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, Humboldt, Lincoln, and Washington Parks, with
more than 300,000 children participating. Adults, too, participated in
patriotic programs. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary if the Interior, delivered a
1914 Flag Day address in which he repeated words 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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