Becoming Mary Pickersgill

 

Blog 29

Becoming Mary Pickersgill

Mary Pickersgill?  Who is she? Why should I care? Tell her story? Why?

Those were the thoughts racing through my head when I was invited to tell Mary’s story at the Association of Lodging Professionals Conference in Baltimore this year.

I love Baltimore.  I was born in Baltimore. I started my teaching career in Baltimore.
There’s lots to love in Baltimore and wouldn’t it be nice to give the conference attendees a glimpse into what’s wonderful about Charm City?

I was given 5-7 minutes to tell her story.

Mary Pickersgill was the woman who sewed the Star Spangled Banner – the one that is hanging in the Smithsonian’s American History Museum.  The flag that one sees upon entering that museum.  If you haven’t seen it, you really should. Everyone knows Betsy Ross, who sewed the first American Flag, but very few know of Mary Pickersgill.

All good historical stories begin with research.  So I sat at my trusty computer and googled “Mary Pickersgill” to see what would pop up.  Truthfully, it wasn’t much, but it was enough for a start.  The most fruitful research was at the Flag House in Baltimore, which is where Mary Pickersgill lived and worked and created the flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814.

Mary’s home has been beautifully restored to show us how she lived and where she worked.  It was a reality check on the conditions of her life rather than some romanticized picture of this woman’s life.  Life in Baltimore in the early 19th century was truly exciting because of the commerce brought to the city because of its Port.

However, it was also a time without central heat or indoor plumbing.

It was a time when infant mortality and maternal mortality were high. Children often didn’t live to become adults. Mary had 4 children.  Only one survived childhood to become an adult. Life expectancy was low. In the early 19th century in the US, the life expectancy was 29.  Mary was widowed at the age of 29.

As a widow, Mary needed an income to support herself and her daughter.  So, she came to Baltimore because of the Port and the opportunity it afforded her. When she was approached about making this flag, which was to be 30 X 42 feet, she said “yes.”

Mary and her daughter, 2 nieces, one indentured servant, and her mother created this flag during June and July, 1813, without the aid of a sewing machine, without electric lighting, without air conditioning, without indoor plumbing, all while wearing clothing that was restrictive and cumbersome to wear.

 As I learned about her, I was struck by her accomplishments later in life.  She earned enough from her flag making business to buy her home, as unbelievable accomplishment for her time.  But what really made me her biggest fan is her commitment to women, long before the suffragette movement had manifested.  As a widow, she understood the economic perils of living without a husband. So, she founded the first retirement home for widows and other desperate women. That first home is still in existence today in Towson, MD. Just recently, it was renamed as the Pickersgill Retirement Community.

Mary Pickersgill is one of our unsung heroes. It was a privilege to bring just a piece of her story to the conference.  The last lines of my piece were:
“There was this man, a lawyer from Frederick, MD…his name was Key…Francis Scott Key.  He wrote the most glorious poem about the flag still flying when the shelling had stopped. I hear tell it’s be set to music. Would you like to hear it?”

  

The crowd said, “Yes!”

I continued. “Ladies and Gentlemen, please rise for the United States Naval Academy Brass Quintet.” Sporting full dress uniforms, the musicians came on stage and played the “Star Spangled Banner.”   There were goose bumps, there were tears.  And for just a moment there was a swell of patriotism that defied the climate in which we find ourselves in 2022.

That’s why I tell stories.