Circa-1859 Abolitionist Flag in online exhibit originally from county
The flag, which was purchased from an estate auction in Cherry Valley Township 10 years ago, is part of an online exhibition posted by The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York, at http://gilderlehrman.org. The exhibition, "Freedom: A History of US," opened online June 30.
The flag, a variation on the Stars and Stripes of the period, is called an Abolitionist Flag because there are only nine stripes and 20 stars. In 1859, 33 states were in the Union. Thirteen of those states were "slave states," and some abolitionists felt they had no place in the Union.
Sandra Trenholm, curator of the exhibition, says there were several versions of the Abolitionist Flag, but this one is unusual for its large size, 10 by 5 feet, and manner of construction. The stars are hand-sewn while the stripes were sewn with a machine.
"There are a few other versions available, all of them handmade and specific to a region," she says.
The abolitionists disdain for the slave states inspired the creation of these alternative national flags that banished the slave states in an inverse foreshadowing of Southern succession.