June 14 is Flag Day, celebrating the finalization of the design for the first American Flag in 1777. This Flag Day, the Nashua Historical Society will celebrate with the opening of a new World War II exhibit, World War II in Nashua: The Homefront and Beyond.
On June 14, 1777, in the midst of fighting for independence from Great Britain in the American Revolution, the Continental Congress adopted the resolution that “the flag of the United States shall be of thirteen stripes of alternate red and white, with a union of thirteen stars of white in a blue field, representing the new constellation.” The American Flag based on this resolution was carried into battle for the first time later that year, on September 11, 1777, at the Battle of the Brandywine.
When the first observance of Flag Day took place is a matter of debate. The earliest claim of the observance of Flag Day was in 1861, at schools in Connecticut. Schools across the United States observed Flag Day as a means of Americanizing immigrant children throughout the late nineteenth century. The first national observance of Flag Day was on June 14, 1877. In 1937, Pennsylvania became the only state to recognize Flag Day as a legal holiday.
In 1945, after Germany surrendered but while the United States was fighting World War II in the Pacific, President Truman proclaimed “June 14, 1945, as Flag Day, and ask that the people of our nation on that day do especially honor our Flag, and the men and women of the armed services who have served under it, and that they also pay honor to our Allies of the United Nations.” Flag Day became a national holiday in 1949.
Join us at the Nashua Historical Society this Flag Day for the exhibit opening:
World War II in Nashua: The Home Front and Beyond
Exhibit opening June 14, 2024, 5:30 pm
Florence H. Speare Memorial Museum, 5 Abbott Street, Nashua, NH
For more information, please see the Events Page.
Talk about Nashuans who served in World War II based on their letters:
Letters to Nashua: Stories of World War II
When: Saturday, June 15, 2024, 10:00 am
Where: Florence H. Speare Memorial Museum Library, 5 Abbott Street, Nashua, NH
For more information, please visit the Events Page.
World War II Documentary Premier:
At Home and Abroad: Nashua and World War II
When: Saturday, June 22, 2024
Where: Florence H. Speare Memorial Museum Library, 5 Abbott Street, Nashua, NH
For more information, please visit the Events Page.
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