April 1892 Letter from Francis Bellamy to the editor of New York Examiner requesting support for the National School Celebration on Columbus Day
date: label: date made
content: 1892-04-20
name: label: maker
content: Bellamy, Francis
notes: label: Description
content: Letter to the editor of the New York Examiner from Francis Bellamy, dated April 20th, 1892 on letterhead from the committee for the National Columbian Public School Celebration. Bellamy, as chairman of the committee was soliciting support for the program designed to celebrate the value of the nation's public schools particularly in teaching citizenship and as a platform for Americanization to new immigrant students. It also was the method chosen for commemorating the 400th anniversary of the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas. The program was to be featured at the opening ceremony for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago but when that was delayed the celebratory program was used for the official groundbreaking for Chicago and celebrated nationwide. New York City used the program on Columbus Day and combined it with a large parade, but other towns and cities postponed for a week or the weekend so the celebrations lasted throughout the second half of the month of October. Francis Bellamy designed the official program, which was sponsored by the Youth's Companion Magazine and the Federal Government; the program resulted in the introduction of the newly written Pledge of Allegiance in flag ceremonies across the nation and a massive display of American pageantry.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Boston
topic: label: referenced
content: Columbus Day
label: general subject association
content: Education
label: associated subject
content: Pledge of Allegiance
label: related event
content: National Columbian Public School Celebration of October 21, 1892
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Education
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Frank Di Berardino
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2019.0265.01
label: catalog number
content: 2019.0265.01
label: accession number
content: 2019.0265
objectType: label: Object Name
content: letter
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: typed; handwritted (overall production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 11 in x 8 1/2 in; 27.94 cm x 21.59 cm