{"id":59199,"date":"2014-07-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-textile-experts-examine-old-battle-flag-in-stonington-conn\/"},"modified":"2014-07-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-07-17T00:00:00","slug":"uri-textile-experts-examine-old-battle-flag-in-stonington-conn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2014\/07\/uri-textile-experts-examine-old-battle-flag-in-stonington-conn\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 textile experts examine old battle flag in Stonington, Conn."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tFlag to be displayed in August during town\u2019s celebration of Battle of Stonington<\/p>\n


\n
\nKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 July 17, 2014 \u2013 A centuries old flag that flew over Stonington, Conn., during a British naval attack went under the microscope at the 溏心vlog免费B站 not long ago. The prognosis: in good health, with promising years ahead.<\/p>\n


\nThat\u2019s the conclusion of Susan Jerome, manager of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s historic textiles collection, who examined the flag for the Stonington Historical Society as the town prepares to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the battle.<\/p>\n


\nThe woolen flag, with 16 stars and stripes, holds a special place in the hearts of Stonington residents. Hand-sewn by women of the Stonington Congregational Church between 1796 and 1803, the flag flew over Stonington Point as the British fired cannonballs into the town for four days in August, 1814 while under siege during the War of 1812.<\/p>\n


\nAfter the battle, the flag remained with the local militia and was eventually given to a local family. In 1895, it was donated to the historical society and displayed in a glass case at a Stonington bank for decades as a symbol of the town\u2019s independence and refusal to surrender.<\/p>\n


\nConcerns about its deterioration prompted the historical society to remove it in 2004. Jerome, a longtime Stonington resident, offered to examine it at 溏心vlog免费B站, along with Renee Walker Tuttle, a graduate student in textile conservation, and Margaret Ordonez, a professor in the University\u2019s textiles, fashion merchandising and design department. <\/p>\n


\nThey concluded that the flag, at considerable cost, could be restored at some point, much like the more famous Star-Spangled Banner flag, now displayed in the National Museum of American History. Today, the Stonington flag is carefully stored at the historical society\u2019s Woolworth Library and will be on display next month for the bicentennial celebration.<\/p>\n


\nJerome and her colleagues worked with the fervor of forensic detectives during their analysis. Using a high-powered microscope in the Textile Conservation Laboratory, they found that the Stonington flag is made of hand-dyed, hand-spun wool. The thread is made of flax. Tiny holes suggest damage from insects \u2013 or possibly cannonballs, Jerome says.<\/p>\n


\nThe flag measures 12 by 18 feet, although the original flag was most likely longer. Over the years, worn-out sections might have fallen off or people might have cut off pieces for mementos. Giving a \u201cpiece of history\u201d to a family was a common practice back then, Jerome says: \u201cWe don\u2019t do that today.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe flag\u2019s uniqueness is indisputable. The women in the sewing circle added a 16th star and stripe to recognize Tennessee, admitted to the union in 1796. At that time, American flags were required by law to have 15 stars and stripes, Jerome says. In fact, the official flag design did not change until 1818 when Congress authorized a flag with the more manageable 13 stripes and 20 stars, one for each state.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe Stonington flag is rare and sometimes called the \u2018little sister\u2019 of the larger Star-Spangled Banner,\u201d says Jerome. \u201cStonington might have the only flag in the United States with 16 stars and stripes.\u201d The Stonington flag is also believed to be older than the Star-Spangled Banner, which dates to 1813 and was the inspiration for the Frances Scott Key poem. (He wrote the poem that became the national anthem after seeing that flag fly over Baltimore during another British attack \u2013 one month after the Stonington battle.)<\/p>\n


\nThe Stonington flag is too fragile to hang, but will be displayed on a flat surface Aug. 8 and 9 at the Woolworth Library, 40 Palmer St., in Stonington as part of the celebration. Jerome, of course, plans to visit the red, white and blue that she examined with pride, affection and a gentle touch.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWe live so far away from what\u2019s real in the past,\u201d she says. \u201cI think that\u2019s why we have to preserve things from the past. They can teach us so much about our present and future.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nClick here for more information<\/a>. Jerome recently wrote an article about the flag\u2019s history for the historical society\u2019s publication, \u201cHistorical Footnotes.\u201d <\/p>\n


\nPictured above: Left to right, former 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate student Renee Walker Tuttle, Margaret Ordonez, professor in the textiles, fashion merchandising and design department at the 溏心vlog免费B站, and Susan Jerome, collections manager for 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s historic textiles collection. Stored in Quinn Hall, the collection has 30,000 items, from 18th century quilts, dresses and shoes to 19th century farmers\u2019 clothes. \u201cWe have a wonderful pair of trousers from around 1820,\u201d says Jerome. \u201cThe trousers have 28 patches and each patch is a different fabric. I can just hear someone saying, \u2018No more holes!\u2019 \u201d Photo courtesy of Stonington Historical Society.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flag to be displayed in August during town\u2019s celebration of Battle of Stonington KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 July 17, 2014 \u2013 A centuries old flag that flew over Stonington, Conn., during a British naval attack went under the microscope at the 溏心vlog免费B站 not long ago. The prognosis: in good health, with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}