Portsmouth RI Historical Society Museum to Open June 11with special flags on display

Historical Society Museum to Open June 11 and June 25 with special flags on display

ThePortsmouth Historical Society museum and grounds will be open on June 11th and June 25th, from 2 to 4 PM. In addition to the usual exhibits, two flags from the Society’s collection will be on display to celebrate Flag Day. 

On display will be the Society’s oldest flag that has 13 five-pointed stars. According to the family, the flag came down through Mabel Tallman's great-grandfather Jonathan Tallman who was born in 1789. Mabel's father (William Lorenzo Tallman) and grandfather (Lorenzo Dow Tallman) have signed the hoist. Further research  is being conducted to properly date the flag.   

Also on exhibit will be the collection’s 34-star flag.   The 34-star flag was adopted with the admission of Kansas as the 34th state in January 1861.  It was only in use until 1863 when West Virginia became a state.  (Because the US believed that secession from the Union was illegal, no stars were removed from the flag during the Civil War.)

The museum and grounds will be open from 2 to 4 PM the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month until October with special programs each day..

For more information, visit www,portsmouthhistorical.org.

FLAG DAY 

In the United States, Flag Day is observed on June 14 and commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on that day in 1777, by resolution of the Second Continental Congress.The Flag Resolution stated: "Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."