Baseline-Meridian Chapter, United States Daughters of 1812 (U.S.D. 1812) for the second year, was unable to present the program “Star Spangled Banner” as it has in past years to the students at Bobby Barrett Elementary School in Mt. Ida due to COVID precautions. However, Chapter President Pat McLemore and member Mary Wilmuth presented the school with coloring books provided by the Arkansas Secretary of State.
Star Spangled Banner Day, commemorated on September 14th, recognizes the history of the poem that became our national anthem. The lyrics come from “Defence of Fort M’Henry”, a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Baltimore Harbor during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the large American flag, the Star-Spangled Banner, flying triumphantly above the fort during the American victory.
The poem was set to the tune of a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith. Set to Key’s poem and renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner,” it soon became a well-known American patriotic song.
“The Star-Spangled Banner” was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931, signed by President Herbert Hoover. The original 15-star flag that inspired Key to write the poem is among the most treasured artifacts in the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
The U.S.D. 1812 chapter adopted the Montgomery County school five years ago and provides dictionaries to each third-grade student as part of the “Dictionary Project.” Flags have been provided to the school and the chapter also encourages patriotism of the students by delivering hand-crafted Christmas Cards, Valentine’s Day Cards, etc., to Veterans at the VA hospital in North Little Rock.
The Chapter meets four times a year alternating between Little Rock and Hot Springs Village. For information regarding the activities of the society contact McLemore at pcmcmountain@yahoo.com.
