At the end of lessons each school day in the mid-1890s, Redlands teacher Mary Fackler would decide if students had behaved and done their schoolwork properly.
If all had gone well, one student would be selected to hold a small American flag while the rest of the class was rewarded by being permitted to recite these words:
“I pledge allegiance to my flag, and to the Republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
No, the kids weren’t wrong in their recitation – this was the original wording of the Pledge of Allegiance more than 125 years ago. They also had no idea that they were among the first students in America to regularly recite the Pledge in a classroom.
“The children understood that to be good citizens they must appreciate the value of time, and they valued the privilege of saluting the flag,” Fackler told the Redlands Daily Facts, April 21, 1930.
Before the turn of the century, a flag salute was not a regular practice at schools or other public events. In fact, many schools and public buildings didn’t even have national flags, according to “To The Flag,” a 2005 book on the history of the Pledge, by Richard J. Ellis.
But Fackler was inspired to hold these regular salutes at Kingsbury School because of what transpired on Columbus Day, 1892, when the nation celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s first voyage.
There was much patriotic fervor in those days, including a campaign that more national flags should be on display in public locations. Among the most vocal for such a drive was the young people’s magazine, “Youth’s Companion,” which also sold flags by mail.
The Boston-based magazine urged participation for the Columbus anniversary – the National Columbian Public Schools Celebration – and distributed to schools an array of patriotic activities they could put on, including honors to the flag.
A part of this celebration was a flag pledge written by magazine employee Francis Bellamy. In his discussions with magazine personnel, Bellamy said he desired to write a pledge that “must not only be an expression of loyalty to the nation but they should express the reason for loyalty,” wrote Ellis.
There are few details about much participation by local schools in the Columbian celebration in 1892, but obviously the wording in Bellamy’s Pledge did inspire Fackler, whose class then began regular flag salutes.
Few, if any, schools duplicated the process started in Redlands and what today is commonplace across the nation. After the turn of the century, four states in the East did mandate regular patriotic events in schools but largely left it to teachers to decide how and when to do that, Ellis wrote.
And it’s possible no one would ever remember the daily Pledge being given at Kingsbury School if it hadn’t caught the attention of some rather prominent people.
Fackler had in her class three children of Henry and Mary Lawton. Henry Lawton was a prominent military officer who also had a ranch in Redlands. Lawton, who would soon go off to serve in the Spanish-American War and later become a general, was obviously very impressed by what students did each day.
At a meeting on Oct. 19, 1895, the Daily Facts reported that the Lawtons’ son, Manly, presented a flag from his father donated to the second grade of the school.
This was no easily handled flag – it was a rather heavy 10- to 12-foot-long military garrison flag, probably once flying from a flagpole at a military base which Lawton regularly visited for inspections. The huge flag with 44 stars had likely been taken out of service that year because Utah had been approved as the nation’s 45th state, requiring an additional star be added.
We have no word as to just how, or even if, Fackler displayed such a huge flag in her classroom; perhaps it was hung from a rafter or on a wall.
Also, during a visit to the Lawtons, Army Gen. Joseph C. Breckenridge came to Fackler’s classroom with Mary Lawton to observe Kingsbury children pledging their allegiance.
Breckenridge was so impressed that he later went to Washington and spoke to a convention of the Sons and Daughters of the Revolution. He orchestrated a flag pledge as done in Redlands, according to a letter written by Mary Lawton to Fackler in 1897.
“He had children give the salute, which was beautiful and impressive and created much praise, enthusiasm and applause. It was mentioned as coming from the California children,” the letter said. “I thought you would like to know, since it is all owing to you.”
With so many schools and districts in the nation, it’s hard to truly determine when or even if Fackler’s classes influenced how the Pledge is done elsewhere today. Ellis in his book had no mention of the Redlands classes’ early Pledge activities.
Meanwhile the Pledge itself underwent some changes in wording and even how to salute it.
A conference of patriotic and other groups came together 100 years ago last month in Washington and approved changes to Bellamy’s original wording of the Pledge, first replacing “my flag” with “the flag of the United States” and later adding “of America.” Seventy years ago next month, President Dwight Eisenhower approved a congressional resolution adding “under God” to the official wording.
And placing the hand over the heart wasn’t always the usual method, either. In some cases, according to Ellis, one held their right arm into the air during the salute with the palm turned upward. Later, its similarity to the so-called Nazi salute resulted in the change to our more familiar salute over the heart.
It is interesting to note that in Redlands it wasn’t until 1961 that the school board required all its students to recite the Pledge, reported the Daily Facts, Nov. 11, 1961. Before that, only elementary students repeated the Pledge daily.
Fackler retired in 1921, but remained active in the community, often working on local election boards. She died at age 83 on June 30, 1945.
Knowing her end was near, she made it clear where she wanted two of her most precious mementos kept safe.
She sewed a blue and white cloth bag for the flag and on it stitched the words, “Gen. Lawton’s Flag for University of Redlands.” The flag is in the Redlands University archives and in good condition, including where she repaired a dozen or so holes on the stripes with white or red thread. The 1897 letter to her from Mary Lawton was also given to the university, reported the Daily Facts, Aug. 27, 1969.
Joe Blackstock writes on Inland Empire history. He can be reached at joe.blackstock@gmail.com or Twitter @JoeBlackstock. Check out some of our columns of the past at Inland Empire Stories on Facebook at www.facebook.com/IEHistory.
