Author: James Breig

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Bio
James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. His most recent book is “Star-Spangled Baseball: True Tales of Flags and Fields” about the links between the sport and flags. He is also the author of a nonfiction book about WWII, "Searching for Sgt. Bailey: Saluting an Ordinary Soldier of World War II" and co-author of "The Mystery of the Multiple Mothers," a novel. All three are available at www.amazon.com. His articles have appeared in newspapers and national magazines, including the Colonial Williamsburg Journal (search for them at www.history.org/journal) and History Magazine. He has won many national awards for his opinion writing, media columns and feature articles.
History Lessons

Family crests, heirloom flags and a president

Washington's bookplate shows his coat of arms. (Mount Vernon)

Think you can’t be as important as a president of the United States? Think again, and raise a family flag with your ancestors’ crest on it to declare to the world that your line is as significant as anyone else’s. And if you don’t have a family crest, you can create your own, just as… continue

History Lessons

Flag-lover works at Lincoln’s summer home

One of Cooper's ornaments

Since 2008, Jamie Cooper, a member of the North American Vexillological Association, has worked as the museum store manager at Lincoln’s Cottage, where the 16th president lived for one-fourth of his term (see last week’s article). “The greatest part of my job is talking with visitors about shared experiences and how they came across the… continue

History Lessons

Recalling day Lincoln met veterans

Disabled Civil War veterans. (National Library of Medicine)

Veterans Day provides an opportune moment to recall a spring afternoon when President Abraham Lincoln met with disabled vets from Civil War regiments. It wasn’t his only encounter with injured soldiers. In fact, he lived among them for one-fourth of his time as chief executive. Halfway through the Civil War, a chaplain at St. Elizabeth’s… continue

History Lessons

Holocaust survivors thanked GI with American flag

Sgt. Hall's photo at the ceremony. (U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum)

Kyra Schuster, a curator at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., recently took part in a once-in-a-lifetime experience when the family of Sgt. Donald Hall donated an American flag. It was given to the WWII soldier 70 years ago by survivors of Langenstein, a Nazi concentration camp. Schuster agreed to answer some… continue

History Lessons

Harrisburg scrambled to design municipal flag

Harrisburg's original flag design

In 1907, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, had a major problem with a flag and not much time to solve it. Virginia had invited cities around the U.S. to attend the Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition to mark the founding of that town in 1607. “Bring your flags” was one suggestion, but Harrisburg’s answer was, “We don’t have one.” In… continue