Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1913-01-30
RESTORING OLD FLAGS
WORK ABOUT FINISHED
StupendOus Undertaking Of a
Wonderful Woman Almost
Completed.
MRS. AMELIAFOWLER THE ARTIST
An Expert NeedIewoman Has Saved
Nations Valuable Flags at Naval
Academy.

brought to its highest perfection, Mrs.
Anne liza Fowler, of Massachusetts,
has saved to the nation its valuable
flags at the Naval Academy, which
money could not buy and the world
could not replace.
A stupendous work of which the
outside world knows little, if any
thing, has been in progress for the
last six months, or more, under the
roof of the Naval Academy Auditor
ium, which has been converted into a
'fiag ro0m.' The work of the res
toration of these priceless old flags
was begun on July y, 1912, and the
last of the finishing touches" will
be placed upon the emblems within
the next day or two.
For the accomplishment of this
work the United States Government
appropriated $50, 90 by an Act of
Congress, after the claims were pre-
sentt d for the restoration and pre-
servation of these old flags at the
Naval Aca Jenny, which the work of
time and age as well as surrounding
conditions had caused to disintegrate.
In the collection at the Naval Acad-
emy are over two hundred flags, some
of them invaluable, sand which can
never be replaced. The necessity
for their preservation was brought to
bear upon Congress by those inter
ested, anu with the desired result.
The next thing of Importance after
the necessary appropriation Tor the
flags restoration was who was to
do the work, question of equal i'm
portance, not at first easy of solu-
tion. But as the word Success"
seems TO have been emblazoned on
every step of the movement under
taken, the restorer Of the flags
in the person of Mrs. Fowler was
finally determined upon. Mrs. Fow-
Ter has brought this work to the
highest possible standard, and really
may be called the pioneer in this
work.
Mrs. Fowler's process and method
of flag preservation was acknowl-
edged as a work of art in 1898 and
1899, when a number of Civil War
flags that had been rolled up for
years in cases in Memorial Hall, Bos-
ton, were restored by Mrs. Fowler's
method. At first it was thought the
work was impossible to accomplish,
so badly we're the flags pulled to
pieces by their own weight. But
Mrs. Fowler made a study of the
work which she accomplished after
earnest endeavor and expert needle
craft, to the great pleasure and satis-
faction of Governor Guild, who gave
her the we'll deserved credit for the
work.
Mrs. Fowler has made and embroider-
ed the regimental col9rs of the State
of Massachusetts,, and exc cuted
| through her needlecraft the coat of
arms of the State of Massachusetts,
a difficult and tedious work. But moth
ing is too difficult for Mrs. Fowler to
accomplish with the needle, for she
| has wonderful resourcefulness to draw
from. As child, it is said, she
showed marked skill with the needle.
There are nearly two hundred flags
at the Naval Academy. and when
| this work was undertaken by Mrs.
| Fowler she was obliged to secure
| many helpers. These were girls and
i women from Annapolis and vicinity,
and sometimes there were as many
as 81 girls and women employed by
| Mrs. Fowler at work on the flags, the
work room being the Auditorium at
| the Naval Academy, place admir-
bly, adapted for the scope of the work
of this great undertaking. The
room is commodious and adapted it.
self for the display of the flags, some
of which are of huge dimensions. OF
the Naval Academy flags the 1872
series is the oldest.
The girls employed were not en-
gagged for any special feature OF
the work with which they were en-
tirely unfamiliar. 1t was raw ma
terial that Mrs. Fowler had tc
work with, and the chief magnitu ie
of the work consisted in making
incompetent workwomen do compe.
tent work, and inartistic people Dc
artistic work. The greatest com
pliment that can be paid Mrs. Fow
ler, or any needle craftswoman II
that she is capable Of simplifying
difficult thing, and with verbal in
struction and direction and by means
of pencil marks and color brush tn,
raw material in the shape of he
helpers was dominated by he
mentality and artistry.
The magnitude of the work abou
completed by Mrs. Fowler, and to b
turned over TO the Government il
: tn next day or two, can only be ap
, preciated by those who watched it
process and its progress, and VIII
realize that her method of stitch ha
restored the old wornout flags as goo
as new, that they can never disinte
: CRATE, so carefully are the parts in
] | terwoven, and that the eolors Of sill
, used in the needle will not fade i
t hundreds Of years. A certain site
is used in weaving these tattered an
: torn pieces of flag together, and thi
stitch was taught the girls by Mr.:
! Fowler, and was original with bel
The manner and character Of th