Is it right for Betsy Ross to get a historical marker for her house?
It’s inevitable. Whenever anyone thinks of Flag Day, the first image that comes to mind is Betsy Ross, looking demure in her little white cap and sewing those white stars onto the blue field of the flag. For the last four years, I’ve been writing a history of the American flag: one that does not include Betsy Ross. And I’ve been haunted by the Revolutionary widow who keeps intruding on my topic. My grandmother sent me articles on Betsy. I stood by the mailbox, holding a sheaf of Xeroxed pages from American History magazine, and shook my head. There she was, as depicted in the artist’s imagination, a beautiful woman with the flag on her knee. When I told people that I was writing about the flag, the first question was almost always, “So did Betsy Ross actually sew the first one?” That’s not what I’m interested in, I’d explain. I’m writing about the veterans who took over the Statue of Liberty, about Revolutionary sailors digging tunnels out of British prisons, about civil rights in Miss
Betsy Ross House Honored By Historical Commission Philadelphia — The Betsy Ross House was honored by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) Monday afternoon in Old City. The Betsy Ross house is visited by nearly 30,000 people a year, prompting historians to recognize the site as an important part of American history. The PHMC unveiled a historical marker in front of the house on 239 Arch Street around 11 a.m. with City Councilmen and a Betsy Ross reenactor on hand. The PHMC has determined that the Betsy Ross House is a historically significant site, both in recognition of Betsy’s sewing the first flag and as a representative of the contributions of many colonial women who supported their families and worked for the cause of Independence. Yes it is right for Betsy Ross to get a historical marker for her house. Sources: http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/news/cbs042709.
