🇺🇸 This American flag was handmade in Scotland by citizens working through the night. Why? They wanted to bury American soldiers under their own colors. Over 200 were killed when the SS Tuscania was torpedoed off their island of Islay in 1918. Four women and one man did the work. They used an encyclopedia as their guide and hand-sewed a 48 star American flag. Work finished around 2 a.m. to be ready for the first funerals that day. It was later sent to the White House and is now in the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The women were Jessie McLellan, Mary Cunningham, Catherine McGregor, and Mary Armour. The man was John McDougall. Thank you! 🫡🇺🇸 Photo: NMAH

🇺🇸 This doll is called the “Silent Witness.” It was in the room with Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. When the meeting ended, Union officers went through the house looking for souvenirs. They found the doll and tossed it from hand to hand. Col. Horace Porter of Grant’s staff later wrote that the younger officers called it the “Silent Witness.” The doll was homemade. It belonged to a 7 year old girl named Lula McLean who lived in the house. Coarse unbleached cotton for the body. A plain round face. Ink for eyes. Capt. Thomas W. C. Moore of Sheridan’s staff took it. His family kept the doll for 127 years. In December 1992 it was given to Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, where it remains on exhibit. Lula never saw her doll again.