Our Flag Was Still There

View a recording of this program on our YouTube Channel https://youtu.be/BonnLStaPPs

Our Flag Was Still There details the improbable two-hundred-year journey of the original Star-Spangled Banner—from Fort McHenry in 1814, when Francis Scott Key first saw it, to the Smithsonian in 2023—and the enduring family who defended, kept, hid, and ultimately donated the most famous flag in American history. 

Tom McMillan tells a story as no one has before. Digging deep into the archives of Fort McHenry and the Smithsonian, accessing never-before-published letters and documents, and presenting rare photos from the private collections of Armistead descendants and other sources, McMillan follows the flag on an often-perilous journey through three centuries. Our Flag Was Still There provides new insight into an intriguing period of U.S. history, offering a “story behind the story” account of one of the country’s most treasured relics. 

Tom McMillan will join us in person for this presentation. Register to reserve your seat in the library OR register to join us online from your home. We will send you a Zoom link to join us. 

A lifelong student of history, Tom McMillan has served on the board of trustees of Pittsburgh’s Heinz History Center, the board of directors of the Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial, and the marketing committee of the Gettysburg Foundation. He has written three previous books, including Flight 93: The Story, The Aftermath, and the Legacy of American Courage on 9/11. McMillan recently retired after a forty-three-year career in sports communications, which included twenty-five years as VP/Communications for the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins. He has a journalism degree from Point Park University and resides with his family in Pittsburgh.