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Barbara Fritchie's 9/11 spirit of defiance continues to inspire
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As the story goes, ninety-five-year-old Barbara Fritchie defied Confederates when General "Stonewall" Jackson and his troops marched along Frederick, Maryland, streets in September 1862. Confederate forces used the Maryland city, north of Washington, D.C., as a base. Gettysburg changed that.
Many southern sympathizers welcomed the Confederate presence, but some, like Barbara Fritchie, rejected orders to take down the Union flag. Confederate military victories, strong soldiers and deadly guns didn't frighten her. Fritchie's flag remainded.
When the story of Fritchie's fiesty display of patriotism reached abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier, he wrote a stirring account of her actions. Whittier's poem, "Barbara Fritchie," helped make the aging patriot and the "clustered spires of Frederick" famous. In doing so, the poem also inspired a war-weary nation to persevere and prevail.
'Shoot if you must, this old gray head,
But spare your country's flag,' she said."
--- John Greenleaf Whittier, "Barbara Fritchie"
If I don't tell you, someone else will: Historians have challenged the accuracy of the story Whittier's poem detailed, claiming another woman, not Barbara Fritchie, deserves credit for defying the invading southern troops.You decide.
In either case, Barbara Fritchie's House and Museum has drawn visitors and admirers from around the world who admire the defiant spirit of the heroine in Whittier's poem..
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt wrote about her memories of Prime Minister Winston Churchill's visit in 1943. As the presidential motorcade passed through Frederick on its journey to the presidential retreat, named Shangri-la (later known as Camp David) in the Catoctin Mountains, President Roosevelt pointed out the small window where Barbara Fritchie had hung her Union flag in defiance of Confederate troops. Churchill surprised the Roosevelts by reciting Whittier's entire poem.
Perhaps it should be of little surprise that Churchill should notice and admire a defiant voice who was willing to confront a brutal military presence.
Today a plaque stands in front of Barbara Fritchie's home reminding visitors of the long ago events and Whittier's poem. The home now serves as a museum. Although the original home was destroyed, it has been rebuilt and furnished with period artifacts so that visitors can get a glimpse into life then.
Today, on 9/11, other visitors to the Frederick, Maryland area, may still appreciate the fiesty spirit a small woman exemplified during the Civil War. As threats and battles continue to assault and challenge Americans around the world, the spirit that led Barbara Fritchie to defy opposition, continues to live among us. That's something good to remember when visiting the past and getting a glimpse into the spirit of those still present.
For more information:
Barbara Fritchie House and Museum
154 West Patrick Street
Frederick, Maryland 21701
301-698-8992
Hours:
Friday and Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sundays, 1 - 4 p.m.
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