The Flag and the Flagpole, Still Stand

*The flagpole was moved to Crown Hill Cemetery in 1968 (photo S Jason Cole).*

The Excelsior Citizen has partnered with the Excelsior Springs Museum and Archives to bring you stories of our community’s rich history. Learn more about the Museum and Archives and how to become a member by visiting their website.

When artist Fred Tripp created his now-famous oil painting, Our Flag, of the American ﬂag at rest in the years between World Wars I and II, he was inspired by the view from his window at the McCleary Clinic here in Excelsior Springs, where he was a patient. From his room, he could see the American ﬂag at peace above the former U.S. Post Oﬃce in downtown Excelsior Springs. Most viewers of the widely distributed lithographs tend to focus on the resting ﬂag and ignore the flagpole. But, the leaders of the Clay-Ray Veterans Association and the Crown Hill Cemetery Association recognized the historic and artistic signiﬁcance of the flagpole. In 1968, they negotiated the move of the ﬂagpole from its old location downtown (now the Church of Christ) to its current location at Crown Hill Cemetery.

Lithographs *of the painting Our Flag by artist Fred Tripp are widely distributed (archival photo).*

According to information on ﬁle at the Excelsior Springs Museum and Archives, the eﬀort to move the ﬂag began with the veterans, who applied to the church for the ﬂagpole to be donated to them. They in turn applied to the Crown Hill cemetery trustees for space to erect the ﬂagpole. The veterans dismantled, moved, and installed the ﬂagpole in a location “in a spot near the west entrance where we frequently have a ﬂower garden.” The move took considerable negotiation in February and March of 1968, as evidenced by letters now in the Museum’s collections. Ernest L. Wharton, who founded the Wharton Insurance Agency and headed the Cemetery Association, wrote to other cemetery board members Dr. C.H. McKinney, Marylist Lewis, and Mary Sisk discussing the move and placement of the pole. The cemetery was concerned they would become responsible for maintaining the pole and ensuring the ﬂag was in place daily, but ultimately it was learned that the veterans “intend it to take the place of the individual ﬂag decoration of graves on Memorial Day … and it is their intention to take care of ﬂying the ﬂag.” Dr. McKinney was a longtime local dentist; Lewis (whose husband was Glenn Lewis), and Sisk (whose husband was Wilbur Sisk) were civic leaders active in local women’s groups. Veterans involved in the correspondence included Vets Club president Milton E. Holt, secretary George Daughters, and Pat Elson.

The ﬂagpole was dedicated on May 26, 1968, as a perpetual memorial to “our comrades who died in their country’s service, and to those who oﬀered their lives during a time of war and peace.” Taking part in the ceremony were the Rev. Edwin Shelton, post chaplain; George Daughters, Fay Denney, Bill Cox, Jewell Manley, Arthur Emmons, Harold Tennyson, Edward Harrison, Ben Hankins, Hayden Swearingen, Kenneth Bassett, Ronald Pope, and Robert Duncan. With Memorial Day coming up on May 25, be sure to remember the veterans who kept the ﬂag waving atop this historic ﬂagpole.

*How many times have you driven by this flagpole never knowing its significance? (photo S Jason Cole).*

This article was originally published in the April 25, 2015 edition of The Phunn, the official newsletter of the Excelsior Springs Museum and Archives. The article was written by Kathy Duncan, and edited by S Jason Cole for the Excelsior Citizen. Read more about Fred Tripp and his painting at the Museum and Archives website.