By John Ostapkovich
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, at 13th and Locust in Center City, hosts a special display on a special day Monday.
June 18th marks the 200th anniversary of the start of the War of 1812. The Society, which is not even usually open on Mondays, will have a free exhibit from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., of some of its treasures, one of which spokeswoman Lauri Ciello says is very, very rare.
“The copy of the Star Spangled Banner that we have here at the Historical Society was written in 1840, a little bit after the war, and Francis Scott Key wrote out the words to the Star Spangled Banner as a gift to a friend of his, General George Kime. There are only three copes of the Star Spangled Banner hand-written by Francis Scott Key and one of them is here.”
Ciello says Philadelphia’s connection to the war is the caricatures and political cartoons of William Charles, an immigrant from Scotland who loved to celebrate American victories. This War ended with both sides bloodied but unbowed. The Treaty of Ghent basically told the fighters to return to their respective corners.
Go to hsp.org for more.
