Issue 25

GWAV CBFA

A joint meeting of GWAV (Great Waters Association of Vexillology) and CBFA (Chesapeake Bay Flag Association) was May 3-4, 2008 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The meeting began at noon on Saturday at the Carnegie Free Library in Carnegie, PA. One of the highlights of the library was their Civil War room. The room was originally home of the Thomas Espy Post of the Grand Army of the Republic which was established in December, 1879. Under the agreement made when the post moved into the library space, when the post ceased to exist, its inventory would become the property of the library which would preserve it.

The last post member died in 1937 and the library closed the room until it was reopened in 1984. While all the contents were intact, there had been no efforts to maintain and preserve them. Consequently, the items were ravaged by roof leaks, insect infestation, and climatic changes. Executive Director of the library Maggie Forbes explained the past financial problems the library experienced and the ongoing restoration efforts which include the Civil War room and its many contents.

Among the items in the rooms inventory are meeting records, arms and swords, drums and uniforms, furniture, battle souvenirs, photographs, and of course, flags. Although some of the flags were not in a condition where they could be displayed, attendees were able to view some of the holdings.

After a light lunch, meeting-goers heard presentations from three attendees. Dick Gideon. a Pittsburgh vexillologist, spoke about Flags of the Whiskey rebellion; CBFA member Peter Ansoff told of The American Flag in History and Myth; and Nick Artimovitch, also of the CBFA, presented Nineteenth Century American Flags. GWAV member, Bill Belanich talked about flags from his collection that commemorated various Olympic games.

On Sunday, GWAV member John Purcell related his experiences while attempting to gather information on Ohio municipal flags in a presentation entitled The Itinerant Vexillologist. CBFA member Dale Grimes showed several flags manufactured at Mare Island, California and GWAV member David Breitenbach told of a discovery in the Chicago Municipal Flag Ordinance. The meeting closed with a flag auction that raised $335.00 which will be divided between the NAVA conservation fund and the Carnegie Library.