Star by star, flag honored TR
By James Breig
When a former president passes away, people go into action to plan his funeral and determine what symbols would best mark the occasion. Those in charge of the services for Theodore Roosevelt thought of a unique event that had a special flag as its center point.
Their decision, made after his death on Jan. 6, 1919, was to appeal for donations to collect $5 million to build suitable memorials to him in Oyster Bay on Long Island, N.Y., where he lived and where he was interred. The means of promoting the fund drive was a “flag flight” held in the fall of 1919.
Here’s how it worked: High school students and Boy Scouts, carrying a large U.S. flag, walked across the width of the Empire State, beginning in Buffalo and winding up in Oyster Bay. The choice of Buffalo had a double purpose. It’s the westernmost major city in the state as well as the location where Vice President Roosevelt had been sworn in as president after the 1901 assassination of William McKinley.
From there, the flag was borne through such cities and towns as Batavia, Rochester, Elmira, Utica, Lake George, Albany, West Point and New York City. In all, there were four dozen stops, a number that was deliberately chosen.
When the flag started its journey, it had all of its 13 stripes, but none of its 48 stars. At each location along the route, a single star was sewn onto the blue field. Often, five girls from local high schools were chosen for the honor, each attaching one point of the star.
On Oct. 25, 1919, the Roosevelt flag arrived at the main public library in NYC. Traffic was stopped, and people doffed their hats as a hymn, “How Firm A Foundation,” was played. At the rite, the 47th star was added.
Two days later, on Roosevelt’s birthday, the flag, which had traveled 800 miles, reached Oyster Bay, where the 48th star was secured to it by girls who lived near the former president. Finally complete, the star-spangled banner that had journeyed across the state was laid on Roosevelt’s grave.
(Click here to see a newsreel about the Roosevelt flag, including the sewing of the final star)