The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is as soon as once more below the highlight after a supervisor didn’t seek the advice of a collections committee earlier than buying a 21-star flag whose description as a uncommon banner marking Illinois’ 1818 admission to the Union is disputed.
The flag’s acquisition by means of a web-based public sale for greater than $15,000 precipitated an investigation by Illinois’ Workplace of the Govt Inspector Basic about cash used for the acquisition. The acquisition additionally led to division within the Springfield museum’s management and will have prompted the firing of an worker who mentioned the acquisition skirted procedures.
The flag, measuring 7-foot-5 by 6-foot-5, is named a “Grand Luminary” as a result of its 21 stars are organized within the form of a star. The museum is assured it represents Illinois’ admission because the twenty first state, spokesperson Christopher Wills mentioned.
Such flags are uncommon as a result of the design was modified a yr later when Alabama and Maine joined the Union.
However Jeff Bridgman, a revered vexillologist, or flag skilled, instructed The Related Press its building and supplies point out the flag was produced a long time later, through the Civil Conflict, and is maybe a Southern exclusionary flag whose stars symbolize states that remained loyal to the Union.
Bridgman, who shares roughly 3,000 principally Nineteenth-century flags, says it isn’t from 1818.
“If it was,” he mentioned, “I’d have been after it on the public sale.”
This isn’t the primary potential blow to the museum’s credibility.
Its prized buy of a purported Lincoln stovepipe hat appraised at $6.5 million went bitter when proof linking it to the sixteenth president was questioned. A director was fired in 2019 for sending with out approval a duplicate of the Gettysburg Handle, written in Lincoln’s hand, to a Texas exhibit operated by conservative political commentator Glenn Beck.
The museum’s acquisitions chief, Ian Hunt, submitted a request to the chief director to pursue the 21-star flag on Nov. 6, in keeping with paperwork offered to the AP below an open-records request.
The flag had been a part of the celebrated Zaricor Flag Assortment. Hunt gained the public sale on Nov. 13 and the museum paid $15,625 for the flag utilizing the King Hostick belief fund, an endowment to finance state historic analysis and artifact acquisition.
Museum coverage dictates that purchases exceeding $2,000 be proposed for advance consideration by a collections committee composed of division heads. The panel hadn’t met commonly due to a employees emptiness, nevertheless it convened to contemplate the flag on Dec. 7, three weeks after its buy, and voted 7-2 in favor.
Then-registrar Eldon Yeakel and analysis director Brian Mitchell voted “no.” Mitchell declined to remark to the AP. Workers feedback on the backside of the doc recording the vote embody considerations in regards to the flag’s authenticity and storage.
The committee vote would have been nearer had the acquisition not been a executed deal, Yeakel mentioned. The museum fired Yeakel Could 6, citing his poor efficiency and guidelines violations, however he blamed his “no” vote. Wills declined remark.
Yeakel mentioned he instructed investigators with the Govt Inspector Basic that the flag buy improperly sidestepped committee concurrence. They requested him if he knew of fraud or abuse within the transaction and whether or not King Hostick funds had been tapped. He instructed them he did not know of any fraud or abuse or the small print regarding Hostick cash or its meant use.
Two museum workers, one present and one former, instructed the AP that their complaints to the inspector prompted the investigation. They requested anonymity for worry of retribution.
Neil Olson, normal counsel for the inspector normal, declined touch upon the probe. The workplace has not launched any findings.
In circumstances of wrongdoing, the inspector normal’s workplace can advocate corrective cures, together with self-discipline or dismissal. The inspector additionally might conduct a legal investigation or refer a probe to the suitable legislation enforcement company.
Wills mentioned the museum has not been made conscious of any complaints to the inspector normal however was “clearly allowed” to make use of Hostick cash for the flag. He conceded a “misstep” by Hunt for continuing with out committee consideration however famous museum coverage solely requires the committee’s “advice” on dear purchases.
After the late Ben Zaricor bought the flag in 1995, he had famend vexillologist Howard Madaus look at it. Madaus decided the flag was made solely of cotton in 1818-20.
Bridgman thought-about Madaus, who died in 2007, a revered colleague and good friend, however he mentioned Madaus bought this one flawed.
Whereas he hasn’t examined the flag personally, Bridgman mentioned high-resolution pictures present the blue canton is wool or a wool mix, typical of Civil Conflict-era flags. It’s worn in lengthy, slender holes.
“Cotton does not try this. Wool completely does,” Bridgman mentioned.
A 2003 report by revered conservator Fonda Thomsen decided at the least a part of the flag is product of wool however “the flag was not examined sufficiently to attract any conclusions.”
Museum officers haven’t but inspected the flag, which was delivered to a conservation firm for stabilization and cleansing to make sure its longevity. The estimated price of conservation is $18,000.
The AP requested different vexillologists to look at pictures of the flag and choose its age. Just one responded. Dave Martucci of Washington, Maine, mentioned by way of e mail that he’s acquainted with the flag and believes the “design, building and measurement” level towards 1818, not 1861.
No matter its historical past, Wills mentioned the flag has “a strong pedigree” and was a sound funding.
“We’re at all times open to studying extra about it,” Wills mentioned. “And if it seems that it is from a unique period with a unique story, that is the way in which it goes. We’ll inform that story. And it simply so occurs that that story is an effective one, too.”
