A bit more flag "myths"

Ever since the start of this month, the tales of Betsy Ross and our American "mythology" have been featured. It might have ended with my conversations with Rivka, but then I found the following blog article, "5 myths about the American flag" in my July 5th Inbox from AARP.  The very first comment, even before the "5 myths", describes how we have schoolchildren pledge allegiance to the flag. 

See a video clip at YouTube

As a One-Room Schoolteacher I have to figure out the time frame for each specific program.  Rural schools of one and two rooms ranged from pioneer times -- remember those pioneers and their schools kept moving west -- to some rural areas.  This even continued beyond the improvements made to many schools by the 1930s WPA.  There's a fascinating story in Wikipedia about the twists and turns of the Pledge.  When figuring the timing for usage in historical programs, I need to consider the Pledge of Allegiance didn't exist until 1892 when  Francis Bellamy created it.  Even then it only started to include "under God" in 1954.  Wikipedia omits that the third myth paragraph points to New York as the first state to require public school students to recite the Pledge daily and that wasn't until 1898, although it was used in public school Columbus Day observances in 1892.

Dear Betsy, her myth or reality, which started this series of articles, indeed is explored in the first myth of the article.  I don't think she fared all that badly.  My first week's story of the First Flag, however, right before showing how to cut a five-pointed star, lets the author, Elizabeth Dillingham, give the meaning of the colors as: red says be brave, white says be pure, the blue says be true.  While the AARP article's second myth's paragraph claims "the colors do not have, nor have they ever had, any official imprimatur" and attributes them ultimately to the Union Jack, yet even there the article gives a contradiction by quoting Charles Thomson, the Continental Congress secretary, and once again bringing up the Great Seal of the United States  which includes Francis Hopkins, which led to Rivka's initial comment here.  Searching a bit further, I found Francis Hopkinson's role was more limited than Rivka's linked article might have made it seem.

Flag burning became an issue of the 1960s until the Supreme Court in 1989 declared it First Amendment Free (symbolic) Speech.  Such symbolic speech, while not incendiary, certainly seemed to be everywhere over the Independence Day holiday, violating the 1923 Flag Code.  As historian, journalist, and author of Flag: An American Biography, Marc Leepson concludes in the AARP article, "There is no Flag Police. You will not be arrested for wearing a flag-embossed T-shirt on Independence Day — or any other day of the year."  That's good because 21st century patriots and commerce alike seem to feel happy to include it nowadays. 

Since our American symbols and stories have varied from colonial times to the present, it's a story that depends on when it is discussed.  Our ancestors may have been raised on myths, but it is still worth noting their values shaped our country.  As Pledge creator Bellamy stated in the 1945 Congressional Record:   "At the beginning of the nineties patriotism and national feeling was at a low ebb. The patriotic ardor of the Civil War was an old story ... The time was ripe for a reawakening of simple Americanism and the leaders in the new movement rightly felt that patriotic education should begin in the public schools." 

Sometimes it reminds me of working with a woman from Hong Kong whose frequent comment was said in accented Chinese speech as "It's all so complicated." 

About that Flag story...

Comments are always welcome on my blog even if Blogger's software isn't as receptive to displaying them as I might prefer.  The Betsy Ross story about making the first flag sparked an off-the-blog dialog with

New Jersey storyteller, Rivka Willick.

Like me, Rivka tells many a historical program.  Being a true lover of her home state of New Jersey, her comment just had to mention Francis Hopkinson and the possibility he was just as likely to deserve the credit for our first flag.  She sent me the link about Hopkinson and it's interesting he not only signed the Declaration of Independence, but even has documented design experience for many official designs including working on the second version of the Great Seal of the United States.  Still his role in the design of the revolutionary flag has never been confirmed any more than we can be sure about the tale of Elizabeth Claypool Ross.




My own response to that, opening emails back and forth a bit, was: Wondered if anybody was going to count on the possible mythical nature of the story. Of course our Public Domain stories include a lot of that sort of thing and some time I probably need to do an article on it.  That's some research that may be overdue or it just may be a case of our storytelling being true even if it's not exactly what happened. Didn't know your specific NJ gentleman, but posted my appreciation for your comment. Wish Blogger let those comments be a bit more visible. Thank you for your own contribution.

Rivka next mentioned Parson Weems' role in our American "mythology", saying: I keep finding 'American History for Kids' as 80 parts myth and 20 parts truth.  Parson Weems wanted to write a book about the childhood of our first president, and when he realized the modesty and styles of the times didn't collect stories about children, he made them up.  If you ask the average person if the George and the Cherry tree is true, they'll say yes.  If you ask them if it's a myth, more will say yes, few know it's a fabricated literary story.  I have a feeling Betsy Ross might fall into that category, especially if the designer wanted to get paid.  The early Congress did a lot of nasty things to avoid unnecessary expenses. 

If you look into Weems' work, he wrote four books in the first  generation of the 19th century titled The Life of (beginning with Washington, then General Francis Marion; Benjamin Franklin, with Essays; and William Penn), but it was The Life of Washington with its cherry tree story, now acknowledged as a myth, which ties his name to Rivka's " 'American History for Kids' as 80 parts myth and 20 parts truth."

It was why I commented back: Ah, yes, Parson Weems.  That and those Childhood of Famous Americans books certainly produced our American mythology.  My problem is when I'm doing historical reenactment programs like an old-time rural schoolteacher, that was precisely the material she used to mold her students.  The material could be called moldy, but it was the character education of our ancestors.  The trick is to find both the truth -- in the sense of facts -- and the value.

LoiS(tarting to feel another project coming on) 

and Rivka replied: Sometimes I wonder if this is the norm of all mythology.  A story gets created and the orginators are forgotten, so we don't know why it was created, we just have the creation. In the last couple hundred years with all of our technology creating cheap printed content, we can trace back the who and maybe even the why.  But I think there will be push back because we crave myth and folklore and maybe we just don't want to know the real story. Just a thought.

 

Just a thought indeed.  

Rivka had heard yet another interesting story related to Parson Weems, prairie schools, and how this tale of Washington's boyhood honesty and an ax influenced "Honest Abe" Lincoln.  It's a funny story for Lincoln had a way with storytelling himself.  Come back next week as part of my Keeping the Public in Public Domain series to see what I mean.

Dillingham - First Flag of the United States - Keeping the Public in Public Domain

As the 4th of July approaches, this is a bit early, but the story of our 1st flag (and how to make 5-pointed stars) needs telling.

 

I sometimes say I'm Origami-impaired, but even so I love this story.  Thank heavens Betsy Ross's uncle knew her talent, including folding a 5-pointed star.  This came from the same book, "Tell It Again" Stories, by Elizabeth Thompson Dillingham and Adelle Powers Emerson I mentioned at the start of June.  That article is worth another look and the entire book is available at Archive.org, including several holiday stories. 

While you're looking back here, remember all the rest of June I had puppetry-related articles and would love to see you at the Great Lakes Regional Puppetry Festival in Detroit, July 25-27.  It's not too late, but it was the June focus of this blog to give you plenty of time to schedule it.  Hope to see you at my own workshop,  A to Z, Puppets Are Easy, so you can...

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This is part of a series of postings of stories under the category, "Keeping the Public in Public Domain."  The idea behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the authors and their immediate heirs were compensated.  I feel strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the 20th century.  My own library of folklore includes so many books within the Public Domain I decided to share stories from them.  I hope you enjoy discovering new stories. 

At the same time, my own involvement in storytelling regularly creates projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an audience.  Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing of Public Domain stories will not occur that week.  This is a return to my normal monthly posting of a research project here.  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my monthly postings as often as I can manage it.    

  
There are many online resources for Public Domain stories, none for folklore is as ambitious as fellow storyteller, Yoel Perez's database, Yashpeh, the International Folktales Collection.  I recommended it earlier and want to continue to do so.  Have fun discovering even more stories!

Dillingham - How the Peacock Got His Tail - Keeping the Public in Public Domain

"The one that got away!"...whether it be a fish, job, love, or a story, that's something guaranteed to haunt you.  Ages ago I heard a story about a peacock.  It was a pourquois tale, one of those stories that explain how something came to be the way it was.  Today's story isn't the one I vaguely remember, but it's a keeper anyway.

I  can just picture ending that story with a peacock feather fan or at least bringing out a peacock feather.

Today's story came from "Tell It Again" Stories, a book by Elizabeth Thompson Dillingham and Adelle Powers Emerson.  The entire book is available at Archive.org.  There are holiday stories there, including "A Halloween Story", which you can find on YouTube as an audio story.  The photo of a jack-o-lantern there gives away the obvious story ending, but it would make a good story to start with a large pumpkin shape and then cut out the parts, possibly inserting either a cat puppet or a cat cutout.  That story isn't even one of the best in the book, in my opinion, but the book gives clues to the authors having connections with Kindergarten Magazine and other material aimed at very young children, so it's a good choice for somebody seeking a gentle Halloween tale.

The holidays also include three for Christmas, a Valentine tale, and a pair of patriotic stories, one of which I'm eager to bring here for my Fourth of July selection.  Beyond the holidays there are various nature and animal stories, adaptations of stories like Cinderella, Arthur and the Sword, Noah and the Ark, Moses in the Bulrushes, the Midas Touch, two stories from Longfellow, all 42 simplified and condensed for an introduction to the youngest listeners, and, of course, even more. 

Both Dillingham and Emerson and other selections from different authors in the collection often were published in children's magazines, but are otherwise fairly anonymous, although a Plymouth Colony resident also was named Elizabeth Thompson Dillingham.  Slightly more is known about Adelle Powers Emerson as RootsWeb states: I have an old high school photo of Miss Adelle Powers Emerson. She was the daughter of William and Clara Powers Emerson. She was born January 1879 in Orland, Maine. By 1900 they had moved to Worcester, Mass.
The book's copyright registration from 1911 is for Worcester and the authors dedicated the book to "our fellow kindergartners of Worcester and the little children under their care." 

Some of the material seems beyond today's kindergarten students, but it's worth a look when seeking material for young children and beyond.
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This is part of a series of postings of stories under the category, "Keeping the Public in Public Domain."  The idea behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the authors and their immediate heirs were compensated.  I feel strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the 20th century.  My own library of folklore includes so many books within the Public Domain I decided to share stories from them.  I hope you enjoy discovering new stories. 

At the same time, my own involvement in storytelling regularly creates projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an audience.  Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing of Public Domain stories will not occur that week.  This is a return to my normal monthly posting of a research project here.  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my monthly postings as often as I can manage it.