Flag Day, the commemoration of Old Glory’s creation in 1777, is deeply rooted in Southeastern Wisconsin.
The annual celebration on June 14 is traced to Waubeka, an unincorporated community of about 640 residents in Ozaukee County that is part of the town of Fredonia, about 35 miles north of Milwaukee. It was there in 1885 that Bernard Cigrand, a 19-year-old teacher at Stony Hill School, placed a 10-inch, 38-star flag in an inkwell on his desk at the front of his one-room classroom.
Cigrand prompted his students to write an essay about what the flag meant to them, referring to that day, June 14, as the flag’s birthday. From then on, Cigrand dedicated himself to inspiring not only his students but all Americans to reflect on the significance of the American flag.
The origins of Flag Day have long fascinated Patrick Mullins, associate professor of history at Marquette University. Mullins noted that Cigrand wanted to be a dentist and the following year moved to Chicago to attend dental school. “But he couldn’t let go of this idea,” Mullins said.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
The assignment with his students in Waubeka led Cigrand to come up with the idea of a national flag day. He was a native of Waubeka, but his parents were immigrants from Luxembourg, as were many people in the area. This was at a time when there were hundreds of thousands of immigrants flooding into America every year, mostly from Europe.
“Cigrand thought that having a flag day could help attach school children, particularly the children of immigrants, to the American Republic and make them think of the symbol as an object of reverence,” Mullins explained. “Cigrand became a dentist but the great crusade of his life was campaigning to make Flag Day a national holiday.”
It took decades but ultimately Cigrand, who died in 1932, saw his cause take steps toward fruition. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson, through a proclamation, declared June 14 as National Flag Day, celebrating the American flag as a steadfast symbol of freedom. But the proclamation would have to be renewed by each succeeding president.
On Aug. 3, 1949, President Harry S. Truman signed an Act of Congress that finally and formally recognized Flag Day as a national holiday.
In 1962, a historical marker was installed at Stony Hill School in honor of its status as the birthplace of Flag Day. On June 14, 2004, the 108th U.S. Congress unanimously voted on H.R. 662, which declared that Flag Day originated in Waubeka.
Today, Stony Hill School, located on a rural road a few miles outside the main stretch in Fredonia, is a historical site and home of the National Flag Day Foundation, of which Cigrand once served as president. Flags from all 50 states surround the site. A larger American flag, flying from a taller flagpole, is situated in front of the school.
Yearly celebrations of Flag Day occur in Waubeka, on the second Sunday in June, drawing crowds from near and far. “The locals have done a great job of preserving the legacy,” Mullins said, noting that there are patriotic parades and fireworks displays, among other events. “People come from all over the region to enjoy it,” he said.
This year, a The National Flag Day Foundation held a Flag Day celebration in Waubeka on June 8, with a formal program, parade and family day festivities.
But Flag Day festivities continue.
On Saturday, the Ozaukee County Historical Society invites the community to attend the National Flag Day program and celebration at Stony Hill School, N5546 County Road I. The event is free and open to the public. Patriotic songs, flag etiquette and flag raising will be part of the festivities. Children will receive a commemorative flag and pin.
Stony Hill School is at the center of Flag Day observances in Waubeka.
“When Flag Day began, the school was dilapidated,” Mullins said. “Then, a statewide network of fraternal organizations bought it from the town of Fredonia for $1 and raised money for its restoration. Stony Hill School has been preserved ever since as a national historic site.”
The school also functions as a museum called the Americanism Center, which fosters civic education in general but particularly stresses the importance of the flag.
Mullins said the importance of Flag Day tends to rise when Americans feel the need to unify around a foreign threat.
“It’s not that the U.S. doesn’t have a foreign threat right now but there are plenty of threats that are looming,” he said. “I think right now the meaning of Flag Day will be framed less in response to unifying against a foreign threat and more about Americans trying to come together and overcome their political differences. My hope is that the people across the political spectrum will see that the flag can mean positive things to everybody and should be a way of bringing us together in these really divided and somewhat scary times.”
