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Woman shares her 48-star flag with Colonial House
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FarkRAPID CITY -- Lorraine Kammerer has never been one to keep her treasures to herself.
So, she is sharing her 48-star flag with the rest of Rapid City. It is on display at the Colonial House restaurant for all to see.
The 48-star flag was the official flag of the United States for 47 years, longer than any other flag, through two World Wars and the emergence of the U.S. as the leading nation of the world, according to usflag.org.
Eight Presidents served under the 48-star flag, including William H. Taft (1909-13), Woodrow Wilson (1913-21), Warren Harding (1921-23), Calvin Coolidge (1923-29), Herbert Hoover (1929-33), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-45), Harry S. Truman (1945-53) and Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-61).
The U.S. flag grew to 48 stars with the addition of New Mexico on Jan. 6, 1912, and Arizona on Feb. 14, 1912. An executive order of Taft dated June 24, 1912, established the proportions of the flag and provided for arrangement of the stars in six horizontal rows of eight each, a single point of each star to be pointed upward.
Kammerer loves to collect antiques, but the 48-star flag came into her possession not at an auction or from an antiques store; she got it through her job as a teacher at Linden Elementary School in Sheridan, Wyo.
“That was the flag we said the Pledge to every morning,” she said. “I remember we talked about it in class. How were they going to fit two more stars on the flag because the ones already there were so even.”
Kammerer asked if she could have the 48-star flag as a memento.
“I wrapped it in tissue paper and kept it all these years,” she said.
There actually was a 49-star flag that was official for only one year, until July 4, 1960, when Hawaii achieved its statehood, and the 50-star flag was born. Eisenhower was the only president to serve under the 49-star flag.
The official 50-star flag was born July 4, 1960.
During a recent move, Kammerer came across the 48-star flag and decided it needed to be shared.
“It makes me feel really good that I can share a piece of history with other people,” she said.
Sandy Beshara of the Colonial House said she welcomed the donation and considered how it might be displayed. She and Kammerer agreed to have the flag framed.
“I called up the school Lorraine had taught at and asked them to send along a picture,” Beshara said.
The school picture, flag and a short story about the flag are framed and mounted in the dining room at the Colonial House.
“I see a lot of people going up to the wall to look at it and read it,” Beshara said.
Contact Deb Holland at 394-8416 or deb.holland@rapidcityjournal.com
Lorraine Kammerer, seated, and Sandy Beshara are shown in front of the 48-star American flag on display at the Colonial House restaurant on Mount Rushmore Road. During a recent move, Kammerer came across the 48-star flag and decided it needed to be shared, so she donated it to the restaurant. (Don Polovich/Journal staff)
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