Peter H. Wendover - Establishment
of the Flag of the United States
Mary Pickersgill - The maker of the
Star-Spangled-Banner
J.F. Kennedy
Flag Colors - What they represent
Stars in the Union - Do you know which is yours?
The White House - This year (2000) the White House will
celebrate it's 200 year anniversary on Nov. 1st
Peter Hercules Wendover (1768-1834) was born in New York City. He received a liberal schooling and held several offices in New York. He was a Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention in 1736. a Member of The State Assembly in 1804, and was elected as a Democrat to the 14th, 15th, and 15th Congress as a representative from New York. He served the Congress from 1815 to 1821.
It was P.H. Wendover, the little bulldog of the Congress, who made it his life's work to get the Congress to pass an act to establish the Flag of the United States. He pointed out that flags bearing anything from nine to eighteen stripes were then flying in the city of Washington, D.C.
This was the day before typewriters, and Congressman Wendover wrote hundreds of letters to everyone who was influential, begging them to support his dream to establish the flag. Here are some excerpts from his hand written letters:
Washington, Feb. 13, 1817 - The flag is yet on the table; I know not when it will get to the anvil. I find the flag proposition is almost universally approved of. But fear the standard will have to lie over till next season...
Washington, Mar. 24, 1818 - 'This day the first call on the docket was the Star-Spangled Banner . I moved to go in committee on the bill. General Smith moved to discharge the Committee of the Whole. and postpone the bill indefinitely. I appealed to that gentleman and the House to know if they were willing to thus neglect the banner of freedom...General Smith's motion was negatived by almost a unanimous vote' and we hoisted the striped bunting (to lend interest to the debate on the bill, Mr. Wendover had hoisted striped bunting.)
"After I had made a few observations and sat down, Mr. Poindexter moved to strike out twenty stars and insert seven with a view to have stripes for the old and stars for the new States; motion rejected nearly unanimously. Mr. Folgerthan moved to strike out twenty and insert thirteen. to restore the original flag; his motion was also negatived by a similar vote...the committee rose and reported the bill without amendment, and the House ordered it engrossed for a third reading tomorrow by almost a unanimous vote.
"It was remarked by many that the subject came up in good time' as our Flag almost blew away with the severe storm which on Saturday was almost a hurricane. It is now completely dragged bunting' and I fear we shall have to sit a part of the session without the 'Star Spangled Banner' over our head.,'
"P.S. Mar. 25 - Having written the within after the close of the last mail, I kept this open to inform you further as to the 'Star-Spangled Banner'. The bill had its third reading this day. a little before twelve o'clock, and passed with about two or three 'noes' . . . instead of 'Alter', it is now, 'A bill to Establish the Flag of the United States."
The bill was sent to the Senate and a vote of concurrence was
passed on March 3 , 1818. The bill was signed by President Monroe
Apr. 4, 1818.
This is the law:"An Act to Establish the Flag of the United States. Sec.1. Be it enacted. etc. That from and after the fourth day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the union have twenty stars, white in a blue field. Sect. 2. Be it further enacted, That on the admission of every new state into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag; and that such addition shall take effect on the fourth of July next succeeding such admission."
The original Flag was made on June 14, 1777. This is when continental congress passed an act stating that "That the Flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation". Francis Hopkinson was a popular patriot, a lawyer, a Congressman from New Jersey, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, poet, artist, and distinguished civil servant. He almost certainly was the person who designed the first Stars and Stripes. (Although he was never acknowledged, nor paid for his work.) It is now believed that Betsy Ross didn't make the first flag for our country, but did make flags for 50 years for the Pennsylvania State Navy among other organizations.
Mary
Pickersgill along with her daughter Caroline, sewed the Star-Spangled
Flag for Fort McHenry per the request of Colonel Armistead (during the War
of 1812.) Two flags were made; a large one (30 x 42 feet) and a
smaller one (to be flown in bad weather.) She was paid $500 for
making the two flags. It was this flag, which inspired Francis Scott
Key to write the Star-Spangled Banner. The U.S. flag made by Mary
Pickersgill had 15 stripes as well as 15 stars. This is also the only
U.S. flag to have more than 13 stripes and the only U.S. flag to have a red
stripe just below the field of blue. (Thank you to Ralph Nelson,
Chair of the Council of Vice - Presidents General, Sons of the American
Revolution for this added information on the flag sewn by Mary Pickersgill!)
The Flag we have now was made in 1960 when Hawaii
was added to our country by President Eisenhower. Bob Heft is
credited for the updated design of the 50 - star flag. His flag design
was adopted by presidential proclamation after Alaska and before Hawaii was
admitted to the union in 1959. (See links for more
informational sites)
(Click here, to hear J.F. Kennedy!)
Red = Courage and sacrifices of the nation's defenders (hardiness & valor)
White = Desire for liberty - the land of the free (purity & innocence)
Blue = Loyalty and unity of our citizens (vigilance, perseverance & justice)
13 Stripes = Original 13 colonies
50 Stars = 50 states of the union
When you look at the Union -- Do you know which star is yours?
DE PA NJ GA CT MA MD SC NH VA NY NC RI VT KY TN OH LA IN MS IL AL ME MO AR MI FL TX IA WI CA MN OR KS WV NV NE CO ND SD MT WA ID WY UT OK NM AZ AK HI
The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington D.C. - "I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof." These words were written by President John Adams, to his wife Abigail (who was still at the family home in Massachusetts), the day after he moved into the White House on Nov. 1st, 1800. At that time the house was still under construction, and had a privy and well. A century and a half later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had those words carved on a stone fireplace in the State Dining Room.
Many things have happened since that day in November when Adams moved in. It has been gutted by fire, rebuilt, renovated and expanded. Forty-one presidents and their families have lived there. The house is also visited by over 6,000 tourists every day. It contains something from every president who has lived there, but the majority of work/displays comes from Lincoln.
The house was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban, and was modeled after an English country house. Hoban won this designation after a competition was held by President Washington. The first corner stone was laid in 1792, in the center of 18 acres of land, and was built using Virginia sandstone.
Today's White House has six floors, including a basement and sub-basement. It has about 67,200 square feet of floor space, 132 rooms -- three mezzanines, 147 windows, 412 doors, 12 chimneys, three elevators, two dumbwaiters and seven staircases.
| 1790-91 | George Washington and Pierre L-Efant plot the design and building sites in President's Park. |
| 1800 | President John Adams, moves in on Nov. 1st, transporting the capital from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. (At this time the building is only 1/2 done.) |
| 1812 | First wedding held, for Lucy Payne Washington (sister of Dolley Madison) to Supreme Court Justice Thomas Todd. |
| 1814 | During the War of 1812, the British attack the Capitol on Aug. 24, burning the city and setting fire to the White House. The building's interior are destroyed. (Luckily a thunderstorm came along, and helped put out the fire.) |
| 1825 | President John Quincy Adams developed the first flower garden on the White House grounds and planted ornamental trees. |
| 1828 | On February 25, young John Adams, grandson of one president and son of President John Quincy Adams, married Mary Catherine Hellen in the White House. The event marked the only time that a president’s son has been married in the house. |
| 1833 | Plumbing is added. |
| 1840 | Central heating is installed. |
| 1841 | William Henry Harrison was the first president to die in office on April 4, 1841. |
| 1865 | Telegraph office is installed. |
| 1879 | President Rutherford Hayes had the first telephone line installed, with the phone number of "1". |
| 1886 | Grover Cleveland was the only president to be married in the White House; he married Frances Folsom, the daughter of a former law partner; American Federation of Labor established. |
| 1889 | A woman, probably a clerk typist, appears on the White House payroll for the first time. |
| 1891 | Electrical wiring is installed. |
| 1901 | President Theodore Roosevelt signs an executive order to formally name the mansion "the White House." |
| 1948 | President Harry S. Truman moves out while the building gets a renovation. The walls are reinforced with steel. |
| 1961-62 | First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy establishes the White House as a museum of American history and decorative art. |
Also check out:
www.whitehousehistory.org
(includes a virtual tour!)
www.whitehouse.gov.
