Walt Whitman, one of America’s finest poets, spent much of the Civil War in Washington, D.C., working in hospitals and caring for wounded servicemen. In April 1864, he sent a letter to his mother to share how the American flag affected soldiers and himself. “You don’t know,” he wrote, “what a feeling a man gets… continue
A few years after the Civil War ended, a multi-volume opus was written. Titled “The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, 1861-’65,” it bulged with case studies, surgical breakthroughs – and some flags, one of which was a person. FLAGG One of the breakthroughs involved Corporal Eugene Flagg, a member of… continue
Black History Month in February provides the opportunity to recall events that connected Black Americans to flags. One story is horrible; the other, inspiring. LYNCHING After the end of the Civil War Flags and the emancipation of slaves, many angry Southerners avenged their defeat by persecuting Blacks, denying their rights and lynching them for supposed… continue
One hundred and fifty-five years ago, the U.S. got a new state – and a state of war. The state was Kansas, which celebrated its addition to the Union in 1861 with expressions of loyalty to the American flag and preparations to become a battleground of the North vs. the South. An iconic moment of… continue
Since 2008, Jamie Cooper, a member of the North American Vexillological Association, has worked as the museum store manager at Lincoln’s Cottage, where the 16th president lived for one-fourth of his term (see last week’s article). “The greatest part of my job is talking with visitors about shared experiences and how they came across the… continue