The Dawn's Early Light

JUST BEFORE YOU ENTER THE TUNNEL on Interstate 95 outside of Baltimore, there's a brief moment when you can see these peculiar brown buildings off in the distance, unlike anything else around the modern seaport. That's Fort McHenry, the site of one of the most important stories in our national heritage.

Picture it yourself: it's 6:30 in the morning on September 13, 1814. Out in the harbor, the British navy has a plan to invade the city (as they had done in Washington, DC one month earlier), and Fort McHenry is the only thing standing between them. For 25 hours, British ships bombard the fort and the American commander refuses to surrender and haul down the flag. Meanwhile, a young attorney and poet is sitting detained out in one of the British ships watching all this happen and decides to jot down his thoughts.

The poet? Francis Scott Key. As the dawn revealed, our "star-spangled banner yet waved" and the first stanza of his popular poem became our national anthem in 1931. The commander? Major George Armistead. One of my ancestors, Armistead and his children kept the flag as a family keepsake for many years before his grandson entrusted its care to the Smithsonian Institution in 1912. Last month, a conservation team finished a seven-year cleaning of this massive and fragile piece of cloth. The Star-Spangled Banner will return to the public eye in its new home in the National Museum of American History in 2008.

History lesson, part two (there will be a quiz). Let's rewind 400 years. It's 1607 and three ships have just arrived in the New World. The king sent this group of about 100 men to establish the first permanent English colonial settlement in North America. This is Jamestown, a meager fort precariously setup on the banks of the James River, just upstream of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia.

From an ungainly beginning of disease, fire, and lousy relations with local natives, the great American experiment was born. A government represented by its citizens, an economic system where businesses freely compete, and an open exchange of ideas among a diverse people. Jamestown was the foundation for modern America and still influences our nation today.

So with 2007 just around the corner, my home state is getting this birthday party off to a grand start. One of the three ships, the Godspeed, is taking an east coast tour with a stop here in New York City over the holiday weekend. And I have the privilege of serving as a host for this "landing party." Throughout the day on July 4th, you can come find me working at the Godspeed and the surrounding exhibits on display at South Street Seaport.

Please stop by... I'd love to show you around and share a bit of what makes me proud to be a part of the rich tapestry we call America!

Cheers,
Armistead