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CNN Sunday Morning

Conserving Flag That Inspired National Anthem

Aired June 30, 2002 - 08:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Old Glory is the star of two exhibits currently on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

One focus on the conservation of the original flag that inspired our national anthem, the "Star-Spangled Banner" And the other is a look back at a time in history that magazines across the country united to display the American flag.

Joining us is Marilyn Zoidis, a curator for both exhibits.

Marilyn, good morming.

MARILYN ZOIDIS, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY: Good morning.

PHILLIPS: All right, now on this Fourth of July time -- we've got to talk a little history here, OK.

ZOIDIS: OK.

PHILLIPS: United we stand, the slogan, let's talk about where that came from. 1700s, right?

ZOIDIS: Exactly. In fact, the slogan goes back to before the Civil War, and it was very popular, it became popularized through a song in which the total phrase was, "united we stand, divided we fall."

Now, over time, that phrase kept reappearing in American society, especially during the Civil War. And you can see with a country divided, that it was very important for us to speak of unity.

It was also used by strikers in the late 19th, early 20th century to talk about worker solidarity, keeping together to fight for better wages, better working conditions.

The phrase reemerged in the second World War and was picked up by the organizers of the Magazine Publishers Association, United We Stand, flag campaign. Most recently, of course, we know the flag came to be best known following September 11 and the tragedy that occurred that day.

PHILLIPS: All right, you mentioned the flag. Let's go back in history a little bit, too. At your exhibit, you have this new composite image of that famous flag that inspired our national anthem. Let's talk about that, and go back, and talk about Francis Scott Key and all that neat stuff, all right.

ZOIDIS: During the war of 1812, the war was not going well for the United States. Washington had been bombed in August of 1814. Then the British were getting ready to attack Baltimore, were ready to stage an important attack on Fort McHenry in Baltimore, and land attack at North Port (ph).

Well, little Fort McHenry was built to defend the city of Baltimore, and there were 1000 men who were stationed at Fort McHenry. Here comes the largest military force on earth to attack the city of Baltimore, mainly through Fort McHenry.

PHILLIPS: And here comes this flag, so continue your story. We're going to show the flag now. Here we go.

ZOIDIS: The flag flew from Fort McHenry, had been specially made to fly at Fort McHenry. Now, those British ships bombed Fort McHenry for 25 solid hours. Bombs bursting in air, red rockets, red glare. And here we see this very flag being raised on the morning of September 14, 1814. It's a beautiful site.

PHILLIPS: By the dawn's early light?

ZOIDIS: Exactly. Francis Scott Key saw the flag by the dawn's early light, was so moved that Fort McHenry had survived, that his country had survived. So he took an envelope from his pocket, and right there and then, began penning the poem that would eventually become our national anthem.

PHILLIPS: I love it. All right, we're all getting pumped up here. So now, this flag -- you're working on conserving this flag. A special project going on right now, right?

ZOIDIS: There is a special project. An $18 million project funded through 10 million from Polo, Ralph Lauren; five from the Pew Charitable Trust, and three from you, the American people, to help save this flag. The conservation work is going very well. It started in 1999. Scientists tell us now that with the precautions we are now taking, the work we've done, we can save the flag conservatively for 500 years, optimistically, for a thousand.

PHILLIPS: Wow. All right, let's stay on that flag scene. Let's talk about the next part of your exhibit, and that is all these fabulous magazine covers. We are going back to the attack on Pearl Harbor, a time that we wanted to pump up Americans. Tell us about this part of the exhibit, and we're going to start looking at these covers as you're speaking with us, Marilyn.

ZOIDIS: The mood of America was very solemn in the early months of 1942. The Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. The early months of the war were not going well. The magazine publishers of America were afraid that their industry would be rationed, along with paper rationing, gasoline rationing and rubber rationing.

And their industry would suffer. They wanted to show to the government that they were a vital force in America at the time. That America's morale could be lifted by putting the flag on as many magazine covers as possible. The July 1942, United We Stand, flag campaign, was meant to do that.

You can see that the magazines have captured different aspects of American life in order to promote flags, and here in the "New Yorker," promote the sale of war bonds.

PHILLIPS: And these magazines -- you just said, to promote war bonds, right.

ZOIDIS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: OK, now we are looking at the "Gourmet" -- great recipe story, I understand.

ZOIDIS: Yes, there is. We all love this cover and thought it was great fun -- the red, white and blue torte, and the linzer torte cookies.

And so we wanted to reproduce this cover for a luncheon we were having to celebrate the opening of the magazine. So we called "Gourmet" and they went through their archives looking for the recipe from 1942 to make this mold. They couldn't quite fight find it, but they worked with the caterers for the luncheon to device a very similar dessert, and it was terrific.

PHILLIPS: Oh, I can imagine. What a great idea. All right, "Outdoor Life" had a really neat one about father-son relationships.

ZOIDIS: Yes. One of the things that these magazines was trying to do, was show that patriotism transferred from generation to generation. Here, you see an older man and his son, possibly raising the American flag at their fishing camp. I mean, it's such an American story. The love of the great outdoors that is so much a part of the American psyche.

And here, this man with his son, lifting the American flag so that it will fly over their home. Very American.

PHILLIPS: Yes, and something a lot of us have been doing lately. We got to go back to "Poultry" time for a moment. The story surrounding this is hysterical, Marilyn, you got to tell us.

ZOIDIS: Well, this is one of the more whimsical of the magazines. Some are serious, but everybody loves this one.

This little boy is saluting eggs, an important part of food production during the war years. The eggs are dressed with the overseas cap. You will see that the head egg has -- is carrying the American flag. And the little boy is saluting. And he's made one of those caps out of brown paper. So it's a funny, but yet, again, gets that idea of young children understanding the war effort, and the effort being put forward by many American industries and American people to win the war.

PHILLIPS: And we can't forget every birthday, where we always made those hats out of cartoon paper. Remember? That's embarrassing. We're really aging ourselves now. All right, let's go to No. 7, "Antiques," this is a neat cover.

ZOIDIS: Yes, this is a Currier and Ives Print, that they selected -- the magazine selected to put on their cover. In many cases, you would see the magazine try to use an illustration that reflected its purpose, that there was a close tie-in. And here this naval officer from the -- probably around the war of 1812, is wearing this, holding the American flag and, again, showing the historic importance of the flag as a symbol of America.

PHILLIPS: Now on to the cover of "Vogue." Who's the babe?

ZOIDIS: Lady Liberty. I've always -- this is actually my favorite cover. I always saw the woman as the personification of Lady Liberty. She's standing very tall and graceful. Her white dress is billowing in the breeze with the American flag standing on either side of her. I think it makes a wonderful statement about the gracious dignity of Lady Liberty.

PHILLIPS: That's beautiful. OK, then this cover won the contest grand prize, the cover of "House and Garden." Tell me why. What was the thinking behind -- why is this the winner?

ZOIDIS: Well, the U.S. Flag Association had started a contest to select the best magazine, best overall magazine that was part of this campaign. And they chose this cover. Unfortunately, the records -- the historical records of the U.S. Flag Association have been lost. So we can only guess.

One of the things about this is that it shows Mount Vernon in the background. And, of course, George Washington is ever present as the grand symbol of America, the father of our country, the head of the Revolutionary War troops. And the American flag is billowing gracefully, hung over Mount Vernon. It really has two American -- important American symbols on it.

PHILLIPS: Well, Marilyn, before we let you go, is this a permanent exhibit? How long will this be around so folks can come and see it?

ZOIDIS: The July 1942, United We Stand exhibition will be open until October 27. And the "Star-Spangled Banner" will always be there.

PHILLIPS: Amen. All right, Marilyn Zoidis, thank you so much. What a terrific segment. Happy Fourth of July.

ZOIDIS: And same to you. Thank you.

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