JULY 1 2009
AMERICANWAY 23
environment thatwouldadequatelyprotect
anddisplay thispricelesspieceofAmerican
history. Hearing the awed reactions of the
exhibit’s visitors gives her a great sense of
accomplishment.
“It tookawhile to comeupwith the exhi-
bition design,” she says. “Wewere trying to
balance the preservation needs of the arti-
fact
[
with our desire
]
to create the oppor-
tunity for people to feel like theyhad a very
personal experiencewith theflag.”
That flag, which was created by Mary
Pickersgillduring theWarof 1812at thebe-
hest ofMajorGeorgeArmistead, is the cen-
terpiece of the Smithsonian’s dramatically
redesigned National Museum of Ameri-
can History, which reopened in Novem-
ber 2008 after two years’ and $85million
worthof renovation.TheNationalMuseum
of AmericanHistory has long been known
as America’s Attic for its collection ofmore
than three million historically significant
pieces, including the desk Thomas Jeffer-
sonwrote theDeclarationof Independence
onand the ruby slippersJudyGarlandwore
in
TheWizardofOz
.
The museum acquired the famous Star-
Spangled Banner in 1907 from New York
stockbrokerEbenAppleton, thegrandsonof
Major Armistead. For years, it wasmount-
ed on a frame on the wall of themuseum’s
central FlagHall,where itwasprotectedby
a screen (called an
oleo
) that was lowered
everyhour, revealing theflagas thenational
anthem played. Once the song concluded,
the oleo would be raised again, covering
the flag. But when a mechanical failure
rendered the oleo temporarily inoperable
in 1994,museum conservatorsdecided that
rather than simply repair the system, they
would explore other preservation possibili-
ties. Themuseumhosted a conferencewith
50 conservators, flag historians, scientists,
and curators, and they developed a conser-
vation plan for the artifact that would use
themost advanced technologies available.
InDecember 1998, the planwas put un-
der way. First, Thomassen-Krauss oversaw
the removal of the flag from its longtime
home and its transfer to the temporary
40-by-50-foot laboratory in the museum
where it would be studied. The lab was
equipped with an environmental-control
system that kept the temperature between
68 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit and the
The last of the
great
independents.
The owner/
operatorswho
give not only fine
beef but their
hearts aswell
The Independent Retail
Cattleman’s Association
557Mt. Pleasant Road
Kingston Springs, TN 37082
Visit:
Manny’s
MINNEAPOLIS,MN................612.339.9900
Proprietors:
Phil Roberts, PeterMihajlov
&KevinKuester
Grill 225
CHARLESTON, SC................843.266.4222
Proprietor:
NickPalassis
ExecutiveChef:
DemetreCastanas
McKendrick’s SteakHouse
ATLANTA, GA........................770.512.8888
Proprietors:
Claudia&DougMcKendrick,
RickCrowe
Malone’s
LEXINGTON, KY....................859.335.6500
Proprietors:
BrianMcCarty &BruceDrake
MetropolitanGrill
SEATTLE, WA........................206.624.3287
Proprietor:
RonCohn
Gene&Georgetti
CHICAGO, IL.........................312.527.3718
Proprietors:
Tony &MarionDurpetti
St. ElmoSteakHouse
INDIANAPOLIS, IN................317.635.0636
Proprietors:
SteveHuse&CraigHuse
III Forks
DALLAS, TX...........................972.267.1776
Proprietor:
Chris Vogeli
AUSTIN, TX.............................512.474.1776
Proprietors:
CurtisOsmond&JamieGutierrez
