• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 334 0

of information for the story of the Pledge of Allegiance, and hundreds were accessed to write this history. The bibliography below includes both published and unpublished resources, ranging from broad histories of nineteenth- and twentieth-century America to intricate stories of the Bellamy family and the Youth’s Companion. To do a proper accounting of the Pledge as it was lived and debated over the last 120 years, we need to know something about the Civil War and its aftermath, about the debate over public schools, the meaning of the Gilded Age, and the arguments about socialism, as well as what Henry Luce, founder of Time magazine, called “the American century,” the one just passed, and the central role of the Pledge in our evolving understanding of the First Amendment and the group that proved to be one of its great defenders. The fact that President Dwight Eisenhower was raised a Jehovah’s Witness, the religious sect that fought against the mandatory recitation of the Pledge for several decades, and signed into law the most controversial rephrasing of the Pledge, is just one of the more fascinating parts of this history. And then there was 9/11.

The references below were all used in the writing of this book and provide a deep background for our story. They should be included in our acknowledgments since they provide a rich and profound record of fact and opinion about the Pledge of Allegiance and what it means to “the Republic for which it stands.” The reader may dip into any of them to be both enlightened and entertained.

Adams, Gridley. So Proudly We Hail. United States Flag Foundation, 1953.

American Press Association. “Columbus Day Page, No. 3,” A full page (11x20), no date. Includes the “Address for Columbus Day” by “the Youth’s Companion,” “The Official Programme,” the “Ode for Columbus Day” by Edna Dean Proctor, and “The President’s Proclamation.” Francis Julius Bellamy Papers (see Bellamy, Francis Julius, p.191).

Baer, John W. The Pledge of Allegiance: A Centennial History, 1892–1992. Annapolis, Md.: Free State Press, Inc., 1992. Partial availability online at http://oldtimeislands.org/pledge/pdgech0.htm. Downloaded January 2010. The book is cited in footnote number one in the written U.S. Supreme Court decision of Elk Grove School District v. Michael Newdow, June 14, 2004, available at http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-1624.ZO.html#FN5. Downloaded January 2010.

———. The Pledge of Allegiance: A Revised History and Analysis, 1892–2007. Annapolis, Md.: Free State Press, Inc. Partial availability online at http://oldtimeislands.org/pledge/pdgech0.htm. Downloaded January 2010.

———. The Pledge of Allegiance: A Short History. Available at http://oldtimeislands.org/pledge/pledge.htm. Downloaded January 2010.

Bailey, Diana L. American Treasure: The Enduring Spirit of the DAR. Marceline, Mo.: Walsworth Publishing Company, 2007.

Balch, George T. Methods of Teaching Patriotism in the Public Schools. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1890.

Bellamy, David. David Bellamy Papers. Department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation, Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York. Date Range: 1890–1980. 3 boxes. The David Bellamy Papers are primarily concerned with the controversy surrounding the authorship of the Pledge. Ref. http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?page=790. Downloaded January 2010.

Bellamy, Edward. Looking Backward. Boston: Picknar, 1888; reprint, New York: New American Library, Signet Classic, 1960.

Bellamy, Francis Julius. Francis Julius Bellamy Papers [FJBP]. Department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation, Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York. Date Range: 1890–2002. 6 boxes, 1 package. This collection is closely related to collection D.147, Bellamy (David) Papers, 1892–1980. Ref. http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?page=1779. Downloaded January 2010. An index to the collection contents is available online.

———. Affidavit. State of New York, County of New York. August 13, 1923. Exhibit A is 11 pages, includes copy of