History

By Matt Webster, Restoration Project Manager
George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation (Kenmore)

October 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry.

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution to prepare a flag for our new republic. According to a well-known story, George Washington asked a Philadelphia seamstress named Betsy Ross to make a flag for our new country. Although there is no proof that this is the way our first flag came to be, Betsy Ross was a real person, and she was the official flag maker for the U.S. Navy.

What kinds of people settled the new lands of America? They had their own ideas about laws, religion, and what makes a good government. They were, in a word, independent.
In 1776, England was faraway, and people on this side of the Atlantic were heartily sick and tired of paying taxes on top of taxes to finance England's empty treasury. They were tired, too, of losing money by having the Crown interfere with their trade overseas. The men in the assemblies shouted that King George was a tyrant, so the King's men stopped the assemblies. When they still protested, the King brought in the army, making the colonists put them up in their houses. Any crimes the soldiers committed against the colonists were handled in the King's court by the King's judges.

If it's December, it's time for that familiar topic for reports: Christmas Customs Around the World. Fortunately, the library has a number of resources to help you.

Marcia Sewall's name can be found on the covers of tons of classic fiction and folktales in the library. She has a simple drawing style that conveys the rhythm and characters of the stories without overwhelming them. Whether the subject is a family issue such as the death of a loved one (Saying Good-bye to Grandma by Jane Resh Thomas) or something more light-hearted (The Leprechaun's Story by Richard Kennedy), Marcia's drawings give the books a simple clarity.