1 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: It's October twenty first, eighteen ninety two. Across the United States, 2 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:11,480 Speaker 1: school kids are gathering for a once in a lifetime 3 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: celebration the four hundredth anniversary of Columbus's discovery of America. 4 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: Of course, Columbus never actually stepped foot on American soil, 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: and he went to his grave thinking he really landed 6 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: in India. But that's a topic for another podcast. Back 7 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: to eighteen ninety two. In celebration of this flawed and 8 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:42,600 Speaker 1: historically inaccurate holiday, then President Benjamin Harrison issues a special proclamation. 9 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: He calls for America's new system of public schools to 10 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: fly the American flag high and proud. As parades of 11 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: Civil War veterans file into school yards across the country, 12 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,959 Speaker 1: students prepare to salute the flag, and not just that, 13 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: they're about to recite a new patriotic oath. They've been 14 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: practicing it every day for a month, just for this 15 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: special occasion. It's only twenty two words long, but it's 16 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: still a mouthful for a bunch of school children. For 17 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 1: anyone really. 18 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,320 Speaker 2: Pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which 19 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 2: it stands, one nation indivisible with liberty and Justice for. 20 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 1: All sound familiar. Sure, it's missing a few words and phrases. 21 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: Those would come decades later. But that day, October twenty first, 22 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety two, was the public debut of what we 23 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: all recognize now as the Pledge of Allegiance. The thing is, 24 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: back then, it wasn't called the Capital P Pledge of 25 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: Capital A Allegiance. It wasn't a thing yet in eighteen 26 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: ninety two, no one had an inkling that this short, 27 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: patriotic oath written for a one time event would ever 28 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:10,919 Speaker 1: be uttered again. As we'll see, the story of the 29 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: Pledge of Allegiance is a story of a nation at 30 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: a crossroads, a nation still healing from the collective trauma 31 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: of the Civil War, a nation experiencing one of the 32 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: largest influxes of immigrants in its history. It was a 33 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: time of tremendous anxiety over what it meant to be 34 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: an American, and the original Pledge, with its twenty two words, 35 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: was supposed to offer an answer. The crazy thing is 36 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,239 Speaker 1: more than one hundred and thirty years later, after reciting 37 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: the Pledge every morning in nearly every classroom in America, 38 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: we still have absolutely no idea who wrote it. Welcome 39 00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:01,000 Speaker 1: to very special episodes and iHeart original podcast. I'm your host, 40 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,399 Speaker 1: Danas Schwartz and this is the Pledge. 41 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 2: Welcome back to very special episodes. I'm Jason English and 42 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 2: today we've got a rerun. This was our fourth ever episode. 43 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 2: It's one of my favorites. It's a deep dive into 44 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 2: who actually wrote the Pledge of Allegiance. It feels like 45 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 2: a good week to reshare it now. If you've been 46 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:23,959 Speaker 2: with us from the very beginning and you've already heard 47 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,799 Speaker 2: this story, let me recommend another new podcast which launches today. 48 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 2: It's called American History Hotline with Bob Crawford of the 49 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 2: Abitt Brothers band. Bob has been soliciting history questions on 50 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 2: his social media and then he goes out and finds 51 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 2: and interviews the experts to get the answers. It's a 52 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 2: really fun show. Bob is a wonderful human with such 53 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 2: a warm and calming presence, very smart guy, and our 54 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 2: team's really excited for this one. So go subscribe to 55 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 2: American History Hotline and if you don't know the story 56 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 2: of the Pledge, keep listening. 57 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: America in the late nineteenth century was having a full 58 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: blown identity crisis when the Pledge was first recited in 59 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety two. It was only twenty seven years since 60 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: the end of the Civil War. Young people who had 61 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:18,039 Speaker 1: fought in and survived the war were now full fledged adults. 62 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 1: Families who lost loved ones still felt the ripple effect, 63 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: and the American institution of slavery had only recently been 64 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: formally abolished. 65 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 3: I mean, we have to keep in mind that an 66 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,840 Speaker 3: entire generation was wiped out in the Civil War. Right 67 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:38,239 Speaker 3: you think about the number of soldiers who were killed 68 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 3: in the United States, I mean, those are wounds that 69 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 3: are not going to heal very quickly. 70 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: That's Charles Dorn, a historian at Boden College. 71 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 3: Now we're into eighteen nineties and the war ends in 72 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:52,919 Speaker 3: eighteen sixty five, but it still stings, and the country 73 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 3: is still trying to figure out how to stitch itself 74 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 3: back together politically, economically, and socially. 75 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: If recovering from the Civil War wasn't enough, the eighteen 76 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:07,039 Speaker 1: eighties and eighteen nineties were also a time of unprecedented 77 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 1: urbanization and immigration. Suddenly, Americans who had been here for 78 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:17,040 Speaker 1: generations found themselves competing for factory jobs and tenement space 79 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: with millions of new immigrants from places like Italy, Russia, 80 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: and Poland. 81 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 3: So this is a very different kind of immigration into 82 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 3: the United States than what people believe existed prior to that. 83 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 3: The people comprising this wave of immigration are coming from 84 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 3: a different part of the world. So whereas initially immigration 85 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 3: in the United States is coming primarily from northern and 86 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 3: western Europe, now these immigrants are coming from southern and 87 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,239 Speaker 3: eastern Europe. And what this means is that they're speaking 88 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 3: different languages, Slavic languages for instance, They're practicing different faiths. 89 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:58,800 Speaker 1: What if these new arrivals failed to assimilate into American culture, 90 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:04,600 Speaker 1: what if they openly rebelled against American ideals and institutions. 91 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 1: Tensions reached a fever pitch. 92 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 3: And there's a real fear and a concern on the 93 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:15,040 Speaker 3: part of resident Americans, Americans already living here that this 94 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:19,200 Speaker 3: could somehow dilute America and it could really sort of 95 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 3: mess with the national character, and that something has to 96 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 3: be done to these people in order to essentially make 97 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 3: them Americans. 98 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:33,840 Speaker 1: What exactly do you do to people to make them American? Well, 99 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: the best way to americanize people, the government decided was 100 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:42,719 Speaker 1: through the public schools. Public schools were still a relatively 101 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: new concept in most of the country, but there were 102 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 1: high hopes that these uniquely American institutions could teach little Italian, Slavic, 103 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 1: and Irish kids to be patriotic and productive Americans. 104 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 3: There's a sense that these public schools are unlike anything 105 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 3: else that exists in any nation in the world, and 106 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 3: they are in some ways sort of symbols of democracy 107 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 3: and the democratic republic. So there was a real faith 108 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 3: in fact that public schools could pull off this Americanization 109 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 3: mission that many people believed needed to happen in order 110 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,720 Speaker 3: for immigrants to become a part of the national project. 111 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: From the start, the Americanization efforts in public schools centered 112 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: around the flag. Today, it's not really unusual to see 113 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:38,040 Speaker 1: an American flag flying outside most schools and inside most classrooms, 114 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: but that wasn't always the case. In fact, the main 115 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: reason schools are festooned with flags today dates back to 116 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: this immigration anxiety that gripped Americans. In the eighteen eighties 117 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: and eighteen nineties. There was a nationwide campaign to put 118 00:07:55,880 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: quote a flag in every schoolhouse. It was spearheaded by 119 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: patriotic civic organizations like the Grand Army of the Republic 120 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: and the Women's Relief Corps. They wanted the flag to 121 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: be a physical symbol of America to which young immigrant 122 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: children could pledge their loyalty. 123 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 4: And of course, there are national oaths of loyalty in 124 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 4: many countries at this point in time. In fact, the 125 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 4: United States is a little bit of an outlier in 126 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 4: not having one, and so the idea that there might 127 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 4: be a national statement of loyalty was not a new 128 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:33,199 Speaker 4: idea or a strange thing whatsoever. 129 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: The very first version of a pledge of allegiance was 130 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 1: written around eighteen ninety by a New York City education 131 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: reformer and Civil War veteran named George Bulch. Bulch wasn't 132 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: a fan of mass immigration. He referred to immigrant school 133 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:58,439 Speaker 1: children as quote human scum cast on our shores by 134 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: the tidal wave of as migration end quote. So you 135 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: know the kind of person we're dealing with, the most 136 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: popular version of Balch's pledge went like this. 137 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 2: We give our heads and our hearts to God and 138 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:16,559 Speaker 2: our country, one country, one language, one flag. 139 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: The message was hardly subtle. There was only room in 140 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: America for one type of American God fearing English speaking 141 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:31,320 Speaker 1: and unwaveringly loyal to the United States. Balches owed to 142 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: Assimilation had a nice little run. It was recited in 143 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,840 Speaker 1: New York public schools well into the twentieth century. But 144 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 1: obviously that's not the pledge of allegiance that American school 145 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: kids know today, and it was not the pledge that 146 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: was read out during the Columbus Day celebration in eighteen 147 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: ninety two. To hear the story of that pledge, the 148 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: real pledge, we need to travel to bas There we'll 149 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 1: find a former Baptist minister turned magazine editor named Francis Bellamy. 150 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: There he is hunched over his desk, sweating through his 151 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:17,120 Speaker 1: wool suit, wrestling with the words that would become an 152 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: American institution. It's a swelteringly hot August night in Boston 153 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety two. Francis Bellamy, a thirty seven year old 154 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:36,840 Speaker 1: writer and editor, has shut himself away in his office 155 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:41,200 Speaker 1: at The Youth's Companion, a children's magazine and one of 156 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 1: the most popular magazines in America. His waste paper bucket 157 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 1: overflows with false starts. His pencil is ground down to 158 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: a nub. Bellamy's boss, James B. Upham, has given him 159 00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:02,199 Speaker 1: an impossible writing assignment. Compose a brief patriotic statement, a 160 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: salute to the American flag, that somehow encompasses all of 161 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:12,520 Speaker 1: America's history and founding principles, and keep it short. Bellamy 162 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:17,160 Speaker 1: knows about the existing pledge written by George Balch, One Country, 163 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:22,080 Speaker 1: one language, one Flag, but he dismisses it as too juvenile. 164 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: Bellamy's boss wants something more sweeping and comprehensive, so Bellamy 165 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: racks his brain for a new approach. But how could 166 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: he possibly express the true essence of America in so 167 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:40,680 Speaker 1: few words? This scene, played out in a stuffy Boston 168 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:45,439 Speaker 1: office will become a watershed moment in Bellamy's life. When 169 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:48,680 Speaker 1: he writes about it thirty years later, he recounts the 170 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,679 Speaker 1: details like it was yesterday. 171 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,160 Speaker 5: The strain of the next two hours is still a 172 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:57,720 Speaker 5: distinct memory. 173 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 1: Very dramatic stuff. Bellamy certainly has a way with words, 174 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:06,679 Speaker 1: but he wasn't always a writer and editor. Before he 175 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:11,120 Speaker 1: worked for the Youth's Companion, Bellamy was a Baptist minister, 176 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: but he wasn't your typical fire and brimstone preacher. Bellamy 177 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:21,200 Speaker 1: and his friends were Christian socialists in the nineteenth century, 178 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: Christian Socialists believed that true Christians shouldn't just sit around 179 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 1: praying and waiting for God to act. Christians should get 180 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:34,559 Speaker 1: out there and actually try to fix some of society's 181 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:37,520 Speaker 1: toughest problems. Here's Charles Dorn again. 182 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:43,200 Speaker 3: And so the Christian Socialists are coming out of this 183 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 3: kind of belief system that society can act in cooperative 184 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:53,520 Speaker 3: ways to create systems that will create a kind of 185 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:55,360 Speaker 3: paradise or kind of heaven on earth. 186 00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:01,320 Speaker 1: Although Bellamy eventually left the ministry, still wanted to help 187 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:05,440 Speaker 1: people and improve society. But like a lot of good old, 188 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 1: homegrown Americans in the eighteen nineties, Bellamy was pretty rattled 189 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:15,040 Speaker 1: by the influx of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. 190 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 3: There is a real fear, I mean, we shouldn't understate it, 191 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 3: there's a real fear that bringing these people to the 192 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:27,840 Speaker 3: United States could really destabilize an already destabilized nation. So 193 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:29,839 Speaker 3: we've got to do something to make sure that that 194 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:30,520 Speaker 3: doesn't happen. 195 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: Like many others, Bellamy subscribed to the idea that the 196 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 1: best way to americanize immigrants was through public schools, and 197 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 1: he found a welcome home for his ideas at the 198 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:50,439 Speaker 1: youth's Companion. The Companion was one of the first subscription 199 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 1: magazines in America. Launched in eighteen twenty seven. It was 200 00:13:55,640 --> 00:14:00,240 Speaker 1: like an early version of Boys Life, stuffed with serialized 201 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:05,680 Speaker 1: adventure novels, news items, and casually racist reports from around 202 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: the globe. It was a hit with young readers and 203 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 1: their parents, and every week three hundred and eighty five 204 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 1: thousand copies were delivered to homes across the country. James 205 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: b Uppham, Bellamy's boss at The Companion, was a deeply 206 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 1: patriotic man, but he also had magazines to sell. It 207 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,360 Speaker 1: was Upham's idea to get the magazine involved in the 208 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 1: flag in every schoolhouse movement of the eighteen eighties. The 209 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 1: Companion ran ads offering American flags to any school that 210 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:44,600 Speaker 1: needed one. The flags weren't free. A nine foot flag 211 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:48,240 Speaker 1: cost the equivalent of one hundred and sixty dollars today, 212 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:53,000 Speaker 1: but schools could recoup their money. The magazine provided flag 213 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 1: certificates that students could sell to friends and neighbors for 214 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 1: about three dollars in today's money. Buyers were entitled to 215 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 1: quote one share in the patriotic influence of the school flag. 216 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:12,200 Speaker 1: It was an ingenious scheme that paid off handsomely. The 217 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: Youth's Companion sold more than twenty five thousand American flags 218 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: to public schools. Not only did the Companion make a killing, 219 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 1: but the magazine became synonymous with patriotism. And with this 220 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:30,960 Speaker 1: pivot to patriotism, the magazine brass wanted to lean heavily 221 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:35,880 Speaker 1: into their new identity, and just their luck, the perfect 222 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 1: opportunity came knocking. As I mentioned, eighteen ninety two marked 223 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: the four hundredth anniversary of Columbus's historic voyage. Civic organizations 224 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 1: floated the idea of a national public school celebration, and 225 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 1: the Youth's Companion was chosen by a committee of educators 226 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:00,720 Speaker 1: to create the actual program that schools would followed during 227 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: the celebration. If the Youth's Companion pulled this off, it 228 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,320 Speaker 1: would sell a crazy amount of magazines. 229 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,600 Speaker 3: So the idea is that the Youth's Companion will propose 230 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:19,000 Speaker 3: a celebratory program that will take place on a particular weekend, 231 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:22,080 Speaker 3: and there will literally be like a sequence of activities 232 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 3: or events or programs that communities can adopt and participate in, 233 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 3: and one of those is going to be bringing kids 234 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 3: together at schools and listenings who has some addresses and 235 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 3: some speeches, and then celebrating by reciting a national pledge. 236 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 1: A national pledge that was the kicker. James Upham was 237 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 1: insistent that the youth's Companion program include a salute to 238 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 1: the flag. He tried to write one himself a bunch 239 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: of times, but gave up. As the date of the 240 00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:01,600 Speaker 1: celebration neared. Upham turned in desperation to his junior employee, 241 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 1: Francis Bellamy. That's how Bellamy finds himself cloistered in his 242 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,760 Speaker 1: office on a hot August night in eighteen ninety two, 243 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 1: with a deadline looming for the most important part of 244 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 1: the Columbus Day program, the salute to the Flag. Bellamy 245 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:21,239 Speaker 1: sweats it out for a while before finally having his 246 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:29,400 Speaker 1: first breakthrough. One word allegiance. It means loyalty, faithfulness, obedience, everything. 247 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:33,480 Speaker 1: Bellamy wants the flag to inspire in immigrant school children, 248 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:37,879 Speaker 1: and just like that, six fateful words appear at the 249 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 1: top of the page. Here's what Bellamy wrote about that moment, 250 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:46,480 Speaker 1: looking back decades later, I. 251 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:50,640 Speaker 5: Pledge allegiance to my flag when those first words looked 252 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,520 Speaker 5: up at me from the scratch paper. The start appeared. 253 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:58,679 Speaker 1: Promising on a roll. Now Bellamy wrestles with the next part. 254 00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: Should it be country, nation or republic? 255 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:07,040 Speaker 5: Republic? One because it distinguished the form of government chosen 256 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:11,119 Speaker 5: by the fathers and established by the Revolution. The true 257 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 5: reason for allegiance to the flag is the republic for 258 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 5: which it stands. 259 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:22,359 Speaker 1: Next, Bellamy turns to his American heroes, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, 260 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:27,640 Speaker 1: and Abraham Lincoln. How would they characterize their beloved republic 261 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: in the wake of a wretching civil war? 262 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:35,560 Speaker 5: After many attempts, all that pictured struggle reduced itself to 263 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:41,679 Speaker 5: three words, one nation indivisible. To reach that compact brevity was, 264 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:44,879 Speaker 5: as I recall, the most arduous phase of the task, 265 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 5: and the discarded experiments at phrasing overflowed the scrap basket. 266 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,639 Speaker 1: Sure he was laying it on a little thick but 267 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:58,880 Speaker 1: with those words locked in one Nation indivisible, Bellamy searches 268 00:18:58,960 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: for a closure. 269 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:04,480 Speaker 5: What doctrines, then, would everybody agree upon? As the basis 270 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:08,880 Speaker 5: of Americanism, liberty and justice were surely basic, were undebatable, 271 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 5: and were all that any one nation could handle if 272 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,119 Speaker 5: they were exercised. For all they involved the spirit of 273 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 5: equality and fraternity. So that final line, with liberty and 274 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,720 Speaker 5: justice for all came with a cheering rush as a clincher. 275 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 5: It seemed to assemble the past and to promise the future. 276 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,320 Speaker 5: That I remember is how the sequence of the ideas grew, 277 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 5: and how the words were found. On that August night, 278 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:35,439 Speaker 5: with the cooling Boston sea breeze coming softly through the 279 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 5: open window of my room. 280 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: After two hours of writing, Bellamy had his twenty two 281 00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:48,439 Speaker 1: word national creed. I pledge allegiance to my flag and 282 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:53,239 Speaker 1: the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible with 283 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 1: liberty and justice for all. Bellamy proudly presents his pledge 284 00:19:58,240 --> 00:19:58,800 Speaker 1: to Upham. 285 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:03,879 Speaker 2: His reaction, francis, You've written a thing which I believe 286 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 2: will live long after you and I are dead. 287 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:11,920 Speaker 1: When the day of the Columbus celebration finally arrives, Bellamy 288 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:15,080 Speaker 1: is there to witness the very first reciting of his 289 00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: Pledge of Allegiance at a Boston high school. He's floored 290 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:25,440 Speaker 1: when four thousand students roar his words in unison. At 291 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:27,719 Speaker 1: the top of the episode, I said, we have no 292 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,239 Speaker 1: idea who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, yet we just 293 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: listened to Francis Bellamy's word by word account of how 294 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:40,200 Speaker 1: he wrote it. So case closed, right, Well, that depends 295 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:40,920 Speaker 1: who you ask. 296 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 6: Francis Bellamy insisted that he wrote it in August eighteen 297 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:52,960 Speaker 6: ninety two, had a very specific story about that, and 298 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:58,399 Speaker 6: this is a crucial point. He swore out legal affidavits 299 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,879 Speaker 6: telling a details el story of how he originated in 300 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,280 Speaker 6: August eighteen ninety two. But the evidence that we now 301 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 6: have really suggests that he falsified the entire story. I 302 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 6: think it's impossible to read all the evidence and not conclude. 303 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: That turns out Bellamy's detailed story of a sweltering August night, 304 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:25,800 Speaker 1: hunched over his desk with an impossible assignment, the arduous 305 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 1: search for the right words, the Eureka moment spurred by 306 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: patriotic reverence to the founding fathers, Well, it might all 307 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 1: be a big, fat lie. Cherryvale, Kansas is a tiny 308 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: farming town about one hundred miles outside of Wichita, a 309 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,920 Speaker 1: flat sea of corn stretching to the horizon. I'm assuming 310 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: I've never been. The year is eighteen ninety, a full 311 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:00,600 Speaker 1: two years before Francis Bellamy says he wrote the Pledge 312 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 1: of Allegiance On a hot August night in eighteen ninety 313 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:08,400 Speaker 1: two in small town Cherry Vale, the eighth grade teacher 314 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:12,560 Speaker 1: gives her students an assignment. Like most of her students, 315 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:16,159 Speaker 1: the teacher is an avid reader of The Youth's Companion, 316 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: the magazine Bellamy works at, and the Companion has just 317 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: announced a writing contest for kids. They call it The 318 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:29,840 Speaker 1: Flag and the Public Schools. The teacher encourages her students 319 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 1: to enter. She tells them to write a few sentences 320 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,919 Speaker 1: expressing the thoughts that run through their heads when they 321 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,280 Speaker 1: salute the American flag. One winning entry would be chosen 322 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:45,240 Speaker 1: from each state, and along with bragging rights, their school 323 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:49,120 Speaker 1: would get a shiny new American flag as a prize. 324 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,280 Speaker 1: Not all of the eighth graders take the assignment seriously, 325 00:22:54,720 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: but Frank does. Frank is a naturally patriotic kid, likes 326 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:04,160 Speaker 1: to read stories about George Washington and the American Revolution. 327 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 1: The flag really means something to him. He wants to 328 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,920 Speaker 1: become a soldier someday, but like any thirteen year old, 329 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:15,440 Speaker 1: he struggles to find the right words to express his feelings. 330 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:21,200 Speaker 1: After weeks of writing and rewriting, Frank finally has something. 331 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:25,639 Speaker 1: He's proud of Before mailing his submission off to the magazine, 332 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: he reads it out loud to himself while saluting an 333 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:30,720 Speaker 1: imaginary American flag. 334 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 2: I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for 335 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:39,439 Speaker 2: which it stands, one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice 336 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:39,880 Speaker 2: for all. 337 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 1: Sound familiar. Keep in mind this is eighteen ninety in 338 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:50,880 Speaker 1: Kansas and Frank is thirteen years old. Months go by, 339 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: but Frank doesn't hear anything from the Youth's Companion. He's disappointed, 340 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: but figures the magazine must have received a ton of submissions. 341 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:04,600 Speaker 1: Maybe his just wasn't good enough. More time passes two 342 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:09,399 Speaker 1: years to be exact. Now it's eighteen ninety two. School 343 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:13,440 Speaker 1: kids across the country are preparing for the national public 344 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:19,119 Speaker 1: school celebration of Columbus Day. Frank is excited. He picks 345 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:23,879 Speaker 1: up the official program published in the Youth's Companion and 346 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 1: he can't believe his eyes. There it is the very 347 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: same pledge he wrote two years ago in eighth grade. 348 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:38,959 Speaker 1: Word for word, Frank is blown away. How did this happen? 349 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,680 Speaker 1: Did he win the contest but the magazine couldn't find him? 350 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:47,200 Speaker 1: His own words are in a national magazine, But why 351 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: hadn't he heard from the Companion. There must have been 352 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:54,679 Speaker 1: some kind of mistake. Frank rushes home after school and 353 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:59,240 Speaker 1: writes a letter to the Youth's Companion explaining everything, how 354 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:03,200 Speaker 1: he submitted his pledge for the contest two years ago, 355 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,440 Speaker 1: how there must have been some confusion because no one 356 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 1: told him that he'd won. He couldn't wait to tell 357 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:14,639 Speaker 1: his parents. They'd be so proud. A few weeks later, 358 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:19,160 Speaker 1: a letter finally arrives from the magazine. Frank tears it open, 359 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,560 Speaker 1: holding his breath as he reads the reply. 360 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:25,200 Speaker 2: All essays, statements, or written matters submitted in this contest. 361 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:30,280 Speaker 2: She'll remain and is the property of the Youth's Companion magazine. 362 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:36,119 Speaker 1: What that's it? No congratulations, not even a flag. Didn't 363 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:39,680 Speaker 1: they understand that he had written the pledge of allegiance. 364 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,680 Speaker 1: That's the last that Frank hears from the Youth's Companion, 365 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 1: But despite his disappointment, he doesn't lose his love for 366 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:54,000 Speaker 1: his country. In eighteen ninety eight, he achieves his dream 367 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:57,399 Speaker 1: of becoming a soldier. He enlists in the army to 368 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: fight in the Spanish American War. While serving in the Philippines, 369 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: he contracts tuberculosis, Frank makes it home but never gets 370 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:10,199 Speaker 1: his health back. It's a struggle, and he dies a 371 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:14,800 Speaker 1: few months shy of his fortieth birthday. Frank is buried 372 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:19,680 Speaker 1: in the Fairview Cemetery back in Cherryvale, Kansas. His gravestone 373 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:23,720 Speaker 1: says nothing about the Pledge, just his service in the 374 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:27,639 Speaker 1: war and his name, Frank Bellamy. 375 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 7: Hold on, hold on, hold on. 376 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 2: This kid's name is Frank Bellamy. Yep, as in Francis Bellamy. 377 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:38,639 Speaker 1: Spelled exactly the same. 378 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:41,280 Speaker 2: But it's not the same person. 379 00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:44,000 Speaker 7: Somehow, Frank isn't short for Francis. 380 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:50,800 Speaker 1: Nope, Frank Bellamy is a completely different person than Francis Bellamy. 381 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:55,400 Speaker 1: They're unrelated. They just happen to have the same name, 382 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:59,560 Speaker 1: and they both claim that they wrote the Pledge of Allegiance. 383 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:06,159 Speaker 1: That's insane, completely insane, but it's true. Just ask Fred Shapiro. 384 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:13,440 Speaker 6: The story really gets astonishing when you mentioned Frank E. 385 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:14,080 Speaker 7: Bellamy. 386 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:19,399 Speaker 6: If you look in Kansas newspapers and Kansas Historical Society 387 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:24,440 Speaker 6: website and resolutions that have been passed by the Kansas Legislature. 388 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 6: In Kansas, they have long believed that Frank E. Bellamy 389 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:31,480 Speaker 6: wrote the Pledge of Allegiance. 390 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 1: Fred is the editor of the New Yale Book of Quotations, 391 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: and he is the authoritative source on who said what when. 392 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:46,000 Speaker 1: As Fred correctly points out, the state of Kansas has 393 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:51,200 Speaker 1: always backed a different Bellamy, thirteen year old Frank Elmer Bellamy, 394 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:55,280 Speaker 1: as the true author of the Pledge of Allegiance. As 395 00:27:55,359 --> 00:28:00,199 Speaker 1: recently as twenty fourteen, the Kansas State Senate passed a 396 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: resolution to quote, recognize and celebrate Cherryvale, Kansas, and Frank 397 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 1: Bellamy's authorship of the Pledge of Allegiance. In nineteen ninety six, 398 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 1: the citizens of Cherryvale erected a memorial with a photo 399 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:20,640 Speaker 1: of Frank Bellamy. A small plaque explains how Frank, as 400 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: a school kid, composed the nation's best known patriotic statement. 401 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:30,040 Speaker 1: But could it be true? Could an eighth grader from 402 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:35,159 Speaker 1: Kansas have written the original pledge in eighteen ninety and 403 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:40,600 Speaker 1: could Francis Bellamy and the Youth's Companion have stolen Frank's 404 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: pledge and claimed it as their own. Fred Shapiro thinks it's. 405 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:50,720 Speaker 6: Possible they did have a contest. I've looked at the 406 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:55,160 Speaker 6: old issues of Youth Companion. They definitely had a contest. 407 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,600 Speaker 6: The core Frank Bellamy argument is that he sent it 408 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,760 Speaker 6: in as part of this contest, which definitely did happen 409 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:06,520 Speaker 6: with Youth's companion. So the part of the anti Francis 410 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,760 Speaker 6: Bellmy argument may be that if Frankie Bellmy did send 411 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:15,120 Speaker 6: it in, that Francis spell Me plagiarized it and wouldn't 412 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:20,760 Speaker 6: show anyone the original submission and later claimed it as 413 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:26,600 Speaker 6: his own. That's the conspiracy theory to deny Frankie Bellamy 414 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,880 Speaker 6: his priority if he was indeed the first. 415 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: And if it is a conspiracy theory, it's a pretty 416 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:39,800 Speaker 1: juicy one. Big City magazine guy steals credit for the 417 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:43,160 Speaker 1: pledge of allegiance from farm Kit in Kansas, who has 418 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: the exact same name. But does this theory hold up 419 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:51,440 Speaker 1: to scrutiny. To get some answers, let's take a closer 420 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 1: look at the writing contest held by the Youth's companion. 421 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:59,680 Speaker 1: Fred Shapiro is right. In the January ninth, eighteen ninety 422 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:03,160 Speaker 1: is of the magazine, there's a call for submissions to 423 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:08,000 Speaker 1: a contest called the Flag and the Public Schools. But 424 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,920 Speaker 1: something is a little off. The description of the writing 425 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: contest given in the magazine is really different from the 426 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:20,960 Speaker 1: assignment supposedly given by Frank's teacher. The ad in the 427 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: magazine says. 428 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,640 Speaker 7: Students are invited to write an essay of not more 429 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:28,800 Speaker 7: than six hundred words in length on the patriotic influence 430 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 7: of the American flag when raised over the public schools. 431 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:37,760 Speaker 1: Huh okay. This is very clearly an essay contest with 432 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:41,320 Speaker 1: a six hundred word limit. It seems a little weird 433 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:44,480 Speaker 1: that Frank Bellamy would have submitted a single twenty three 434 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:48,840 Speaker 1: word sentence. To be fair, maybe the pledge portion was 435 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: a part of a longer essay about the importance of 436 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:56,920 Speaker 1: flags in schools. We don't know. Unfortunately, there are no 437 00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:01,680 Speaker 1: documents or other tangible proof that Frank Bellamy ever submitted 438 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:07,320 Speaker 1: a pledge to The Youth's Companion in eighteen ninety. Fast 439 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:10,720 Speaker 1: forward to nineteen fifty seven. Believe it or not, the 440 00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:14,200 Speaker 1: Library of Congress decided to get to the bottom of this. 441 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 1: They assigned a researcher to investigate various authorship claims for 442 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:23,440 Speaker 1: the pledge of allegiance. James Upham, Bellamy's boss, was also 443 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:25,640 Speaker 1: in the running, but we don't have time to fall 444 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 1: down that particular rabbit hole. The Library of Congress investigation 445 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:33,800 Speaker 1: all one hundred and forty eight pages of it concluded 446 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 1: that the most likely author of the pledge was Francis 447 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:43,080 Speaker 1: Bellamy of the Youth's Companion. While the report acknowledged some 448 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:47,520 Speaker 1: doubts about Bellamy's account, it decided, quote. 449 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:51,000 Speaker 7: Unless one is prepared to believe that Francis Bellamy was 450 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:55,120 Speaker 7: a deliberate and consciousless liar, the mass of his testimony 451 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:57,080 Speaker 7: is overwhelmingly in his favor. 452 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:02,200 Speaker 1: So where does that leave little Frank Bellamy? In a 453 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:07,000 Speaker 1: short paragraph in the report, the Library of Congress dismissed 454 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:10,440 Speaker 1: the kid from Kansas as nothing more than a plagiarist. 455 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 1: It alleged that Frank quote lifted the text from the 456 00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:19,080 Speaker 1: Columbus Day Program and attempted to claim it as his own. 457 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:24,120 Speaker 1: So much for Frank E. Bellamy, it seemed. But remember, 458 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 1: the Library of Congress report was written in nineteen fifty seven. 459 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:33,040 Speaker 1: That was sixty seven years ago. Would you believe that 460 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:37,160 Speaker 1: new evidence has come to light that put young Frank 461 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:42,720 Speaker 1: Bellamy back in the running? A few minutes ago, I 462 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:47,520 Speaker 1: said there were no surviving documents that corroborated Frank Bellamy's 463 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:50,960 Speaker 1: story that he wrote the Pledge of Allegiance in eighteen 464 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:55,520 Speaker 1: ninety while a school kid in Kansas. That's not quite 465 00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:56,760 Speaker 1: the case anymore. 466 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:04,200 Speaker 6: Very popic is. It's a retired attorney who has done 467 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:11,280 Speaker 6: fantastic research on all kinds of questions of priority origination 468 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:19,200 Speaker 6: for American history. Barry is probably the greatest newspaper researcher 469 00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:22,600 Speaker 6: in the world, and this is a fantastic discovery on 470 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:23,160 Speaker 6: his part. 471 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:28,800 Speaker 1: In twenty twenty two, Barry Poppek was searching newspapers dot 472 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:32,400 Speaker 1: com for the earliest published mention of the pledge of 473 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:38,600 Speaker 1: allegiance when he made a wild discovery. On May twenty first, 474 00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:43,400 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety two, a Kansas newspaper called the Ellis County 475 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:48,239 Speaker 1: Republican ran a tiny story on page four. It's a 476 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:51,960 Speaker 1: dispatch from the nearby town of Victoria, Kansas. 477 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:56,040 Speaker 8: It reads, on April thirtieth, our schools closed with a 478 00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:59,479 Speaker 8: flag raising. The pupils had been drilled to make a 479 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:03,520 Speaker 8: military salute and to repeat the following words while holding 480 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 8: the hand at arm's length toward the flag. I pledge 481 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:11,040 Speaker 8: allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands, 482 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:17,440 Speaker 8: one nation inseparable with liberty and justice for all. 483 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:22,600 Speaker 1: Remember Francis Bellamy the adult magazine editor swore up and 484 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:26,320 Speaker 1: down that he wrote the pledge of allegiance in August 485 00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:31,760 Speaker 1: of eighteen ninety two. He literally swore multiple legal affidavits 486 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:36,279 Speaker 1: to that effect. But here, buried in a small town 487 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:42,560 Speaker 1: Kansas newspaper is irrefutable proof that he didn't. The article 488 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:46,880 Speaker 1: says that on April thirtieth, eighteen ninety two, school kids 489 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:52,520 Speaker 1: in Kansas recited an almost identical pledge that's more than 490 00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:57,520 Speaker 1: three months before Francis Bellamy says that he wrote the pledge. 491 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:00,920 Speaker 1: Who could forget to quote that August night with the 492 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:04,759 Speaker 1: cooling Boston seabreez coming softly through the open window of 493 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:10,080 Speaker 1: my room. What's more, the only difference between Bellamy's pledge 494 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:13,239 Speaker 1: and the one that predates it in a Kansas newspaper 495 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:18,160 Speaker 1: is a single word inseparable instead of indivisible. 496 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:22,400 Speaker 6: How do we explain the fact that the exact same 497 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:27,680 Speaker 6: words virtually appeared several months earlier in a Kansas newspaper? 498 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:32,200 Speaker 6: And the thing is in his affidavits. Francis Bellamy, he 499 00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:34,799 Speaker 6: didn't just say yeah, I think I wrote it in 500 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:38,480 Speaker 6: August eighteen ninety two. He told us very specific story 501 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:41,680 Speaker 6: where his boss asked him to come up with a pledge, 502 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,360 Speaker 6: and he sat down and it was a hot day 503 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:47,160 Speaker 6: in August. This is not just a question of dates. 504 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:52,200 Speaker 6: This affects the question of authorship. How could Francis Spelmy 505 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:53,120 Speaker 6: be the author? 506 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:58,200 Speaker 1: Good question, Fred, I've got another one for you. This 507 00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:02,759 Speaker 1: article was published in a small town Kansas newspaper. You 508 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:05,480 Speaker 1: know who else was from a small town in Kansas. 509 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:10,320 Speaker 1: After all this time, after being ignored by the youth's 510 00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:15,320 Speaker 1: companion and being labeled a plagiarist by the Library of Congress, 511 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:20,800 Speaker 1: could thirteen year old frank E. Bellamy from Cherryvale, Kansas 512 00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:25,600 Speaker 1: have been telling the truth? Did a kid really write 513 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:27,279 Speaker 1: the Pledge of Allegiance? 514 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:32,160 Speaker 6: I can't say that Frankie Bellamy was the originator, but 515 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:34,239 Speaker 6: he may have been. The fact that he was the 516 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:37,760 Speaker 6: only person from Kansas and that this this strong link 517 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:42,640 Speaker 6: with Kansas suggests that he may have been the author. 518 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:48,000 Speaker 1: In a few years, Fred plans to publish a revised 519 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:51,800 Speaker 1: and updated edition of the New Yale's Book of Quotations. 520 00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:54,920 Speaker 1: He's still on the fence about what to do with 521 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:58,799 Speaker 1: the entry for the Pledge of Allegiance. He always attributed 522 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:03,360 Speaker 1: it to Francis Bellamy, editor at the Youth's Companion, just 523 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:08,720 Speaker 1: like everybody else. Now, Fred is considering changing the author 524 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:14,440 Speaker 1: to anonymous. A long forgotten article in a long forgotten 525 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:20,640 Speaker 1: Kansas newspaper has called everything into question. Fred can't read 526 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:26,000 Speaker 1: Francis Bellamy's overwrought descriptions of that hot August night in 527 00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:31,960 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety two, the overflowing waste paper basket, Bellamy racking 528 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:36,200 Speaker 1: his brains for inspiration, the words finally coming to him 529 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:42,640 Speaker 1: one by one, each imbued with immense patriotic significance. Fred 530 00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:45,960 Speaker 1: can't read all of that without wondering was it an 531 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:51,040 Speaker 1: elaborate fiction? Did Francis Bellamy make the whole story up? 532 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:56,319 Speaker 1: And if so, who really wrote the Pledge of allegiance. 533 00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:01,680 Speaker 6: It's a complex story. I can't say for sure who 534 00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:04,880 Speaker 6: the author was, but I do feel that I can 535 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:09,759 Speaker 6: say that it was not Francis Bellamy, and that it 536 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:15,760 Speaker 6: appears to me that he essentially fabricated a detailed story 537 00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:19,440 Speaker 6: of how he wrote it, which was not accurate. 538 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:25,520 Speaker 1: Today, in schools across America, kids start each day by 539 00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:30,480 Speaker 1: standing up, hand over heart and reciting the pledge of allegiance. 540 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:35,120 Speaker 9: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States 541 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:39,000 Speaker 9: of America and to the Republic for which it stands, 542 00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:45,160 Speaker 9: One Nations under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. 543 00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:48,200 Speaker 1: The Pledge has gone through some changes since it debuted 544 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:51,240 Speaker 1: more than one hundred and thirty years ago. The biggest 545 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:55,839 Speaker 1: was the addition of under God. That was President Dwight D. 546 00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:59,680 Speaker 1: Eisenhower's idea. He wanted to stick it to those godless 547 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:03,920 Speaker 1: ummies in the Soviet Union, so under God was added 548 00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:07,840 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty four. But despite a few new words, 549 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:10,719 Speaker 1: the job of the Pledge is still very much the 550 00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:14,800 Speaker 1: same as it was in eighteen ninety two, to instill 551 00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:19,680 Speaker 1: a spirit of patriotism in the next generation. Meanwhile, we're 552 00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:23,080 Speaker 1: still arguing about what it means to be an American. 553 00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:27,080 Speaker 1: Until we find an answer, We'll keep saying the Pledge. 554 00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:31,440 Speaker 1: We'll probably never know who really wrote it, but we 555 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,880 Speaker 1: can take its message to heart. Wouldn't it be nice 556 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:40,080 Speaker 1: if this nation was a little less divided and more indivisible, 557 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:44,839 Speaker 1: and that liberty and justice were truly for all. One 558 00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:49,240 Speaker 1: of those Bellamy boys was onto something, unless, of course 559 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:54,359 Speaker 1: they were both liars. Okay, Saren, I feel like you 560 00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:57,359 Speaker 1: already have casting in mind. For this one. Yes, our 561 00:39:57,400 --> 00:39:59,319 Speaker 1: go to casting director, you. 562 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:01,040 Speaker 5: Are one hundred percent that right. I'm gonna put on 563 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:03,480 Speaker 5: my Hollywood hat for a second. Okay, imagine the movie 564 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:05,600 Speaker 5: version of this. You go to see it because on 565 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:08,920 Speaker 5: the poster and in the trailers you have as Frank Bellamy, 566 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:12,600 Speaker 5: the older one, the adult Paul Rudd, and as Kid Bellamy, 567 00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:14,320 Speaker 5: it's the kid from Young Sheldon. 568 00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:18,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, get Young Sheldon here, that's perfect. 569 00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:20,239 Speaker 5: Right, He's got the vibe you want for this. 570 00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:24,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, a little poem writing child, perfect. 571 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:27,279 Speaker 5: Totally sensitive, loves America, he's in the heartland. 572 00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:29,320 Speaker 1: Looks good in a bow tie. 573 00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:30,920 Speaker 5: Exactly, little geeky really cares. 574 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:35,000 Speaker 2: I'd see that movie. I would also see the off 575 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:38,839 Speaker 2: Broadway play version where one person plays both Frank and 576 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:41,840 Speaker 2: young Frank Bellamy and you just kind of go with 577 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:49,120 Speaker 2: it and and lean into the insanity that they both yes, yes, 578 00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:51,120 Speaker 2: and if he's unavailable Paul Dano. 579 00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:53,200 Speaker 8: It's perfect. 580 00:40:54,080 --> 00:40:57,799 Speaker 2: How about very special character? Does anyone jump out at 581 00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:02,319 Speaker 2: you to to anoint this episodis I'm gonna throw out 582 00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:06,960 Speaker 2: Fred Shapiro while you're thinking, yes, from the Book of Quotations, 583 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:12,280 Speaker 2: because keeping this alive one hundred thirty years later. Good 584 00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:14,400 Speaker 2: for him giving us a nice hook to bring it 585 00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:16,160 Speaker 2: back to the present day as well. 586 00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:19,719 Speaker 5: And he's like the Snopes dot Com of quotes. We 587 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:21,480 Speaker 5: need people like him to make sure we get these 588 00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:23,880 Speaker 5: things right. It's like, Okay, here's the real story people. 589 00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:25,600 Speaker 5: Did you know Dana? Did you have one? Because I 590 00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:27,600 Speaker 5: have one? But it's a little bit of a theory. 591 00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:29,640 Speaker 1: I want your theory please. 592 00:41:29,719 --> 00:41:33,320 Speaker 5: Okay, mine is the anonymous woman who I believe actually 593 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:35,600 Speaker 5: wrote this pledge. And you're wondering, Zaren, I didn't hear 594 00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:37,360 Speaker 5: any woman in this Where are you coming with this? 595 00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:37,719 Speaker 7: Right? 596 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:42,200 Speaker 5: Wow, here's how it goes? Ready. I think both Bellamies 597 00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:45,120 Speaker 5: were plagiarists because the adult Frank Bellamy clearly he played 598 00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:47,840 Speaker 5: dress from kid Bellamy in Kansas, right, But the newspapers 599 00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:51,040 Speaker 5: dot com guy, he finds it two years earlier than that. 600 00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:54,120 Speaker 5: Kid Bellamy apparently allegedly wrote his pledge of allegiance in 601 00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:55,600 Speaker 5: a nearby town in Kansas. 602 00:41:55,719 --> 00:41:55,879 Speaker 7: Right. 603 00:41:56,120 --> 00:41:58,760 Speaker 5: Now, imagine a school marm is going between these two towns. 604 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:01,080 Speaker 5: She's the one who wrote the pledge of allegiance. She 605 00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:04,720 Speaker 5: teaches these Kansas kids. One day, Kid Bellamy sees the contest. 606 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:08,040 Speaker 5: He pilfers her pledge. She sends it in. Editor Frank 607 00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:10,480 Speaker 5: Bellamy's like, all this is amazing. He pilfers it from 608 00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:13,360 Speaker 5: the kid. Both bellambies. They steal the pledge of allegiance 609 00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:16,440 Speaker 5: from some anonymous school marm in Kansas. It's like Virginia 610 00:42:16,480 --> 00:42:18,880 Speaker 5: Wolf's goold quote about the women, which is you know, 611 00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:21,640 Speaker 5: for most of history anonymous was a woman. Did you 612 00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:23,880 Speaker 5: point out, Jason the Yale Book of Quotations they were 613 00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:26,160 Speaker 5: going to consider listing dude is anonymous, And I think 614 00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:29,120 Speaker 5: dude is a woman because it's anonymous. I bet a 615 00:42:29,160 --> 00:42:30,600 Speaker 5: woman wrote it. That's my theory. 616 00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:33,400 Speaker 1: I love this theory. And just a round of applause 617 00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:36,200 Speaker 1: on behalf of all women from sarn Thank you. 618 00:42:36,960 --> 00:42:39,879 Speaker 2: I would have Elizabeth Loss play that woman in our film. 619 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:41,239 Speaker 1: Yes amazing. 620 00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:45,680 Speaker 2: Very Special Episodes is made by some very special people. 621 00:42:46,239 --> 00:42:50,360 Speaker 2: This episode was written by Dave Ruse. Our producer is 622 00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:56,720 Speaker 2: Josh Fisher. Editing and sound design by Jonathan Washington, Mixing 623 00:42:56,760 --> 00:43:01,440 Speaker 2: and mastering by Beheid Fraser. Secial Episodes is hosted by 624 00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:07,440 Speaker 2: Danish Schwartz, Saren Burnett and me Jason English. Original music 625 00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:13,640 Speaker 2: by Elise McCoy, our story editor is Aaron Edwards. Research 626 00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:18,920 Speaker 2: in fact checking by Austin Thompson. Show logo by Lucy Quintania. 627 00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:23,560 Speaker 2: I'd like to thank our excellent voice actors, especially two 628 00:43:23,640 --> 00:43:27,800 Speaker 2: of my three daughters, Kate and Juliette English. We couldn't 629 00:43:27,840 --> 00:43:31,960 Speaker 2: meet Charlotte's asking price, but good work, Kate and Juliette. 630 00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:36,600 Speaker 2: Very Special Episodes is a production of iHeart Podcasts.