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Star Spangled Stories: How America’s Star Spangled Banner was made in Baltimore
Did you know that America’s Star Spangled Banner was made by hand in Baltimore, Maryland?
Mary Pickersgill learned the trade from her mother, a Revolutionary War flag maker. By 1813, Pickersgill was a widow running her own business when the commander of Fort McHenry’s militia gave her an extraordinary request— a flag “so large that the British will have no difficulty seeing it from a distance.” So Pickersgill and a team of women worked for weeks, cutting, stitching, and assembling hundreds of yards of fabric. Over 40 feet long and weighing over 50 pounds - It took nine men to raise the flag over the Fort.