“United Nations Flags Made Here” said the caption in the Planters Press newspaper of Bossier City, La. above a photo of Mrs. W. P. Belcher holding the United Nations emblem and Mrs. W.E. Richie with a standard flag-sized cloth laying on the table before her. No, a new factory didn’t open up, though the two factories that did exist in the U.S. for making the flags were already cranking them out as fast they could in the Fall of 1950. Taking up the slack for the increased demand for U.N. flags caused by the onset of the Korean War and the United Nations Day of late October, were women and girls of Home Demonstration Clubs and 4-H clubs that were affectionately referred to at the time as modern-day “Betsy Rosses.”
When North Korea attacked South Korea on June 25, 1950, the United Nations, formed on October 24, 1945, took action that invigorated much of the American public’s interest in and support of the U.N., even among folks who originally did not have high hopes for it. It was American farmers, under the urging of Mr. Albert Johnson, the head of The National Grange, a longtime fraternal organization for farmers, who conceived of the United Nations countrywide flag-making effort. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture through its Cooperative Extension Service endorsed the project and provided the leadership to promote the effort. The Extension Service tapped the National Committee on Boys and Girls Work (later known as the National 4-H service Committee and National 4-H Council) to make kits of materials and patterns for the flags, and got the woman and girl-power to put them together through its Home Demonstration (women) and 4-H Club (youth) membership.
The kits contained iron-on patterns of the U.N. logo design, blue cloth, and directions to make the 3x5 foot flag. Clinics for making the flags were planned for Oct 16th through Oct. 23rd of 1950 though Bossier actually started on Sept. 22nd when the home demonstration council had its regular meeting. The Louisiana State Agricultural Extension Agent, H.C. Sanders, assured potential makers that the plans were simple. (The fact that the Bossier Parish “champion United Nations Flag Maker,” Mrs. Clotelle McCoy of the Bossier City Home Demonstration Club, was so-designated because she made two flags, with each one taking twenty hours, seems to belie that statement!)
.jpg)
Anything to which people pledge their allegiance attracts scrutiny, and the U.N. flag making project was no exception. The program had critics who said it was un-American. One of these critical groups was the Veterans of Foreign Wars under its National Commander, Charles C. Ralls, who disparaged it as an effort to supersede the American flag. The major U.S. farm organizations released an editorial to rebut this claim, saying:
“Kremlin propagandists who have been attempting to discredit the United Nations have been given invaluable assistance by uninformed and bigoted American groups seeking to block display of the UN flag on October 24, United Nations Day; The farm organizations
unanimously reaffirm their confidence in the United Nations as the greatest single instrument for peace in the world; The project…was accepted immediately by members of the national labor, business, veteran, civic, fraternal and educational groups; Display of the United Nations flag along with the American flag on October 24 will be an expression of the same unity on the home front that exists on the battlefield of Korea where the men of free nations are fighting and dying under the United Nations banner...” - Joint statement by American Farm Bureau Federations, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, National Farmers Union and National Grange, 10/12/1950.
Perhaps as a rural locale with a strong farming tradition and an exceptionally strong Home Demonstration program, U.N. flags were completed and raised, often accompanied by elaborate ceremonies, throughout Bossier Parish. The publisher of the Planters Press boasted in his newspaper that they were the first in the parish to fly one of the flags at their printing plant on Traffic Street in Bossier City and that he personally hung it. The following week his paper gave a detailed example of U.N. Day (October 24th) 1950 at a local school with Benton High School’s event, which was sponsored by the Benton 4-H Club:
The entire student body, faculty, T. L. Rodes, Supervisor of Schools, Home Demonstration Club members Mayor Carter and Mrs. Voncell Lank associate Home Agent, attended the celebrations. A letter to all youth of the nations was read by Mary Alice Stinson. The United Nations flag, made by 4-H members of that club, was advanced on a staff by George Stroud along with a United States flag of the same size advanced by John Paul Jones. The audience then pledged allegiance to the United Nations Flag. Barbara Grisham gave the history of the flag. A panel discussion on United Nations was led by the 4-H Club, president, Bobbie Jones…
If you have any information, stories, or photos about the UN Flag project or other Home Demonstration or 4-H local club photos or stories, we would love to see them or to copy them, with permission, to add to the History Center’s research collection. Please come to the History Center to do research or see our exhibits at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 10-8, Fri 10-6, and Sat 10-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org
For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.
Photo: H.C. Sanders, Director of the Louisiana Agricultural Extension Service, and Miss Ellen Le Noir, State Home Demonstration Agent, hold up the first United Nations flag made in Louisiana to launch a statewide campaign to make the flags in preparation for United Nations Day on October 24, 1950. Bossier Parish Home Demonstration Clubs and 4-H Clubs answered the call and U.N. flags were raised throughout the parish on that day. Photo from The Planters Press Thu, Oct 19, 1950 · Page 4
Article by: Pam Carlisle
No comments:
Post a Comment