Just in time for the focus on patriotism as Americans remember 9/11, the Thomas McCall Chapter National Society United States Daughters of 1812 (NS USD1812), donated an educational kit, “Stars and Stripes,” to Swainsboro Elementary School. Karen Claxton used the kit on Wednesday to teach her students about the Star-Spangled Banner.
“We put the kit together so that students will begin to understand the heroic and historic events that make the United States of America the greatest nation on earth,” shared Pat Mercer, Chapter Regent. “It is our hope that as teachers and students read the books, they will understand the sacrifices others made and appreciate the history of our Nation Anthem.”
During the Battle of Baltimore in 1814, the British ships launched 1,500 rockets and bombs at Fort McHenry for 25 hours, but the fort’s defenders did not give up. Francis Scott Key was an American who was on a British ship negotiating a prisoner exchange. The battle was fierce, but Key never gave up hope that the Americans would win, and he was right! By the dawn’s early light, as the song says, he could see Mary’s giant flag being raised and waving over Fort McHenry. Francis Scott Key was so inspired by seeing the flag that he wrote a poem, “The Defence of Fort M’Henry.” Later the poem was put to music, and it became “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the national anthem of the United States.
“We value and benefit from community support. We are grateful to this patriotic group of women who provided this educational resource for our teachers to use in their fourth grade Social Studies classrooms,” said April Woods, Assistant Principal at SES.
Founded in 1892 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the National Society United States Daughters of 1812 is a non-profit, non-political, women’s service organization for descendants of American patriots who rendered civil, military or naval service to our country during the years of 1784 to 1815 inclusive. For more information, contact https://usdaughters1812.org/sites/georgia. © Copyright 2024 The Forest-Blade/Emanuel County Live
