Hayes Lowe
Flags in Illinois. (very long)
Fri Jun 15 12:08:03 2001


First, the supposed flags are not in the possession of the Illinois National Guard Museum (which I assume is a State agency). They are [again, supposedly] in the possession of another State Agency... the State Archives. The one agency probably has nothing to do with the other, with little or no knowledge of most of the holdings of the other.

Secondly, the story that I was told [by a reputable collector, who has a huge collection that he displays publically, who was hesitant to answer any of my questions and really didn't want to tell me as much as he did (he thought that I was a government agent who was "after" his Alabama flag, rather than the Officer of the Court that I am), and who had nothing to gain by telling me this] matches much of what the State of Illinois does say about the care of its *own* State's Civil War flags. [See direct reprinting of their article at the site you keep referring us to, below.] By reading that article, you will see that contrary to what you say, Illinois HAS NOT been taking care of the flags in its possession.

Third, I will be providing this person's name (with his permission already given, but hesitantly) to those persons that I know to be credentialed in the area of flag research (such as Greg Biggs). If you are credentialed in this area, and can provide proof of such credential to me, then I will share his name, address and phone number with you.

From the referenced website:

Illinois Flag Conservation

So bear them on and guard them well
In yonder proud Memorial Hall.
The flag - the cause for which we fell
Swear brothers it shall never fall.
No Traitor's hand its glory mars
While yet a man is still alive
Who bore the banner of the stars
From Sixty-one to Sixty-five.


The above is a portion of the poem written by Lt. S.F. Flint of Galesburg, Illinois who was a member of the 7th Illinois Infantry. The poem was read at the dedication of Memorial Hall (Hall of Flags) in 1878 and reflects the deep patriotic feeling of the men who fought under the flags that they placed here.

Have we been faithful to their trust?

In 1878 the flags were removed from their staffs and placed on pieces of white tarlatan, which had been cut to the original size of the flag. The flags were then stitched to the tarlatan, pressed and placed back on their staffs.

In December of 1923, the flags were removed from the tarlatan, cleaned and sewn between two pieces of black silk netting. The flags were reattached to their staffs using leather strips and returned to the cases in Memorial Hall (Hall of Flags). No further effort at conservation or storage has been made since 1923.

Civil War flags were made of weighted silk and painted with oil based paints. Silk is a "natural product and due to weather, battle and age the silk has become brittle and has in many cases "turned to dust." Many of the flags are now beyond salvage and with the passing of time eventually all of them will disintegrate if not properly conserved. The silk netting applied to the flags in the 1920's has stabilized the flags to some extent, but the netting like the flags is silk and deterioration of the netting will soon occur.

Currently the flags are hanging from their staffs and stored in glass cases; the cases are not humidity or temperature controlled and "dust" at the bottom of the cases is evidence of deteriorating silk and paint. These conditions are unacceptable for any textile conservation and this is especially so when considering the value of the heritage that these flags represent.

At minimum the flags need to be removed from their staffs, studied, photographed and placed in flat archival trays - stored in a temperature and humidity controlled environment. Based on assessment of each flag's condition a decision could then be made relative to more extensive conservation measures.

A bill was pa