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'For Whom It Stands' Exhibit At Reginald F. Lewis Museum Celebrates The Flag

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — USA Today calls it a must see exhibit, and it's ready to open right here at Baltimore's Reginald F. Lewis Museum.

Ron Matz reports "For Whom It Stands" celebrates America. the flag and its people.

"For Whom It Stands" celebrates the American flag and explores the diversity of the American experience.

Dr. Michelle Joan Wilkinson is the curator. Two years of work made it happen.

"It's definitely a lot of work, but it's a labor of love. The story of the flag and it's been really important to me for a long time, and it's wonderful to see it come to fruition," said Wilkinson, curator.

This exhibit coincides with the 200th anniversary of the writing of the "Star-Spangled Banner" right here in Baltimore.

"We're thrilled to open this exhibition to the public. We have over 100 objects in the show," said Asantewa Boakyewa, associate curator of exhibitions.

There's a fragment of that flag and a photograph taken in 1942.

"The exhibition is wide ranging. There are over 100 objects in here. We have the actual fragment of the Star-Spangeld Banner flag. We were able to borrow it from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House. It's part of the flag Mary Pickgersgill made with the assistance of Grace Wisher," Wilkinson said.

Grace Wisher is one of the untold stories. She was a 13-year-old African American who helped Mary Picksergill sew the Star-Spangled Banner flag.

"We don't know much about Grace. We know she was an indentured servant and we use that as inspiration to highlight other untold stories of the United States flag," Boakyewa said.

More than 100 works of art, artifacts, documents and photos: what the flag represents.

"My hope is that when people walk out of this exhibition they'll have a greater appreciation for what it has meant for them to be or to become American," Wilkinson said.

"For Whom It Stands" opens Saturday at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum and continues through February 28 of next year.

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