Tag: Battle of Baltimore

A star-spangled path to writing a book

Guest post by Marc Ferris In 1996, while sitting in a graduate history seminar at Stony Brook University, I searched for a topic to write about. My professors indulged my inquiry into the culture clash between United States authorities and headhunting tribes in the Philippines after the Spanish–American War, but I wanted to combine my…

JHU Press events in September: Star-Spangled (and then some)

September is shaping up to be a banner month for JHU Press authors and staff—and decidedly star-spangled here in Baltimore. This month, the city hosts the Star-Spangled Spectacular to celebrate the bicentennial of the Battle of Baltimore and the moment when Francis Scott Key put pen to paper, and we’ll be waving the JHU Press flag…

The song (like the flag) is still there

Guest post by Marc Ferris The story of how The Star-Spangled Banner became America's national anthem and what took Congress so long to designate it as such is a fascinating tale that reflects the give and take between the rulers and their subjects over national symbols, the symbiotic relationship between patriotism and religion, and the song’s…

Flag Day and The Star-Spangled Banner

Guest post by Ralph Eshelman and Burt Kummerow On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the design of a national flag. Since 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation establishing a national Flag Day on June 14, Americans have commemorated the adoption of the Stars and Stripes by celebrating June 14 as…

Flag Day and The Star-Spangled Banner

Guest post by Ralph Eshelman and Burt Kummerow On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the design of a national flag. Since 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation establishing a national Flag Day on June 14, Americans have commemorated the adoption of the Stars and Stripes by celebrating June 14 as…