MANCHESTER, NH – The Manchester Historic Association will display the newly restored historic American flag created by First Lady Edith Roosevelt with a gala silent auction fund raiser and exhibit opening on Thursday, Nov. 9 at the Millyard Museum.
The Roosevelt flag will be included in a larger exhibit called “Rally ‘Round the Flag,” that will feature many notable flags from the MHA collection, including:
- An Abraham Lincoln campaign flag from his 1860 run for the White House;
- A signal flag used by Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders in the Spanish American War in 1898;
- The Bicentennial flag that was stolen from atop the Weston Observatory in 1976, only to be returned anonymously to the MHA in 2014 by “a misguided son of Manchester.”
The center of it all, however, will be the Edith Roosevelt flag, which features an embroidered image of George Washington that was described by textile restoration expert Camille Breeze as “The finest example of pictorial needlework that I have ever seen.”
This unique American flag was made in 1903 by Mrs. Roosevelt in response to a request from the W. W. Brown Camp, Manchester’s chapter of the Sons of Veterans.
When the Sons of Veterans saw the flag, they wrote again to Mrs. Roosevelt, and asked permission to keep the flag, a wish that she granted. The Sons of Veterans later donated the flag to the MHA in 1936.
With ties to George Washington, Teddy and Edith Roosevelt, veterans’ organization, American flag history and needlepoint, this artifact is a unique piece of American history that has been conserved, restored, and displayed for all to enjoy.
The “Rally ‘Round the Flag” exhibit opening will run from 5:30-8:30 p.m., and it is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the MHA at 603-622-7531.
