Grants Awarded
Young Defenders' Day The Maryland Heritage Areas Authority awarded a grant for $10,000 for Star-Spangled Banner/Defenders' Day Weekend 2012. In addition to support toward programming, the grant supported transportation for more than 1,100 students primarily from Baltimore City for Young Defenders Day educational activities. Children experienced a immersive educational day with over 100 living history interpreters and re-enactors in a recreation of the historic encampment learning what it was like to live and work in the early 19th century at Fort McHenry.
Star-Spangled Virtual Resource Center The Maryland Heritage Areas Authority awarded a grant for $40,000 and Chesapeake Bay Gateways awarded a grant for $50,000 for the development of a virtual resource center focusing on the War of 1812.
In preparation for the Bicentennial of the writing of our National Anthem and the War of 1812, Fort McHenry worked to increase access to relevant web-based educational resources and lesson plans for students and teachers nationwide. The Friends of Fort McHenry in partnership with Living Classrooms Foundation applied for funding support to create a metafile, searchable database incorporating all existing and future lesson plans, curriculum and other related documents and articles on the War of 1812, the Battle of Baltimore, and the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner. The database is available to teachers and students free of charge on Maryland Public Television's www.thinkport.org website. Searchable by keyword or subject, one can also filter by national and local educational standards. Material will be continually added, with training sessions offered to parties interested in using the related tools and features. Visit the Star-Spangled Virtual Resource Center!
Hold the Fort! In partnership with the National Park Service, Friends help complete Hold the Fort, a new online educational experience that immerses students and the general public in the British attack on Fort McHenry. Funding graciously provided by the National Park Service and a grant from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority in order to fund the software contractor, EduWeb.
Corp to Fort! The Friends received a capacity building grant from National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) to introduce new audiences to the Fort in 2013. The first will be a corporate group with the theme of “Corp to Fort Family Days” and subsequent groups will be from the hospitality community. Friends will work with the Fort’s Interpretation staff to create unique stations for this special experience.
[LH1]This belongs on Archive page, right? Not so sure about this order either
Star-Spangled Bicentennial Celebration 2012-2014
More than 6,600 Maryland students and their chaperones created the largest ever 15 stars & stripes Star-Spangled Banner Living Flag, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the writing of the "Star-Spangled Banner." In 1914, Fort McHenry saw the creation of a Living Flag by 6,500 participants in honor of the Centennial.
Photo by Greg Pease, courtesy of the Friends of Fort McHenry.
Formation of World’s Largest Living Flag Broadcast Live on YouTube September 9, 2014
link to press release Star-SpangledBannerlivingflagwebcast090514
More than 7,000 school students, each wearing red, white or blue formed the largest 15 star/stripe Star-Spangled Banner flag ever created on September 9, 2014! Students from every county in Maryland and the City of Baltimore traveled to Fort McHenry for this experiential learning experience. Visitors watched the formation of the living flag or participated virtually! The nation-wide learning opportunity reached students and visitors across America through distance learning, live streaming and social media.
STAR-SPANGLED BANNER LIVING FLAG - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
~ Giant Living Flag Created to Honor Bicentennial of The Star-Spangled Banner ~
In a spectacular show of red, white and blue today at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, more than 6,600 Maryland students, teachers and chaperons created the largest 15 stars and 15 stripes Star-Spangled Banner Living Flag ever assembled.
The enormous undertaking was a cooperative effort between the National Park Service and the Friends of Fort McHenry as part of the 200th anniversary celebration of The Star-Spangled Banner, our National Anthem. The event was webcast live on YouTube, and students from around the country participated in the festivities via a live distance learning event.
The day included a star-spangled education program historic characters, a special “Wheel of Fortress” trivia game, special films, music and more. Afterward, they began the nearly 90-minute task of forming the living flag.
The Star-Spangled Banner Living Flag was a legacy from the centennial celebration, when Fort McHenry and the students from Baltimore created the great “Human Flag of 1914.” The event in 2014 included Miss Myrtle Sanders, who was part of the 1914 flag as a three-month-old infant, as well as several descendants of participants from 1914.
Photo by Greg Pease, courtesy of the Friends of Fort McHenry.
Francis Scott Key Award The Friends of Fort McHenry present the Francis Scott Key award annually to an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to the preservation and/or public appreciation of Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine.
Previous Francis Scott Key Award Recipients:
2019 Congressman John Sarbanes
2018 Spectacular Reception cancelled due to weather
2017 Alan Walden, Chairman Emeritus, Friends of Fort McHenry
2016 Trip Bailey, Chairman Emeritus, Friends of Fort McHenry
2015 Bill Pencek, Executive Director, Md War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission and Star-Spangled 200
2014 Bicentennial Commemorations precluded an award this year
2013 Lt. Governor Anthony Brown
2012 Bicentennial Commemorations precluded an award this year
2011 - Raymond A. "Chip" Mason, Chair of the Md War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission and former President & CEO of Legg Mason
2010 - Admiral John C. Harvey, Jr.
2009 - Society for the War of 1812, Nelson Bolton, President