A historic flag that was embroidered by a woman known as 'Utah's Betsy Ross' nearly a century ago is coming back to the state after being displayed regularly and preserved at the Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge Historic Park in Philadelphia.
"I love our state, I love our state’s history. And I want to make sure we do everything we can to make sure we preserve our state legacy," State Senator Dan McCay told Fox 13 News Anchor Amy Nay Monday from his home in Riverton. "We stand on the shoulders of giants, we hear that, and I’m really grateful quite honestly that we continue to find ways to preserve our history still all the time."
McCay says this all started when he grew concerned about what is happening to all the historic flags following Utah adopting a new state flag that many areas across the country and here in the state now fly instead.
"I was getting worried about some of these historical pieces that had been flown around the country, for example there’s one in the basement of the US Capitol, and the one that's been at Valley Forge," McCay explained.
Senator McCay says he took a family trip years ago and just happened to be at the historic site when they were celebrating Utah, and spotted the unique hand sewn flag, "They celebrate a different state every week - and I just happened to be there in October where they were celebrating Utah, and I saw this flag and it was just absolutely stunning."
Embroidered by a woman by the name of Hannah Wilcox Dupont, it was donated by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers in 1931.
"She was known as the Betsy Ross of Utah because she would hand sew these state flags and we didn’t want to lose that state history and so I started thinking about how do we preserve."
Sen. McCay started a conversation last Fall with someone at the parish when he spotted a post on social media, hoping the flag wouldn't just get lost, after being so well taken care of all these years.
Then last week he says Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson let him know she would be there with family and could arrange to bring the flag back.
"It just didn’t feel right to have something that historically significant in a Fedex envelope," expressed McCay.
The flag as of Monday night was back in Utah, with the Lt. Governor commenting on how vivid the colors still were and intricately detailed the handiwork, the flag appearing to be in pristine condition.
"Here we’re looking at something over a hundred years old, that has such amazing history behind it."
Sen. McCay says they're still working out all the details, but they hope to have the historic flag a prominent part of the new state history museum currently under construction behind the state capitol for all to see in the years to come.
Watch: Work continues on 'Smithsonian of Utah' at state capitol
Work continues on 'Smithsonian of Utah' at state capitol
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