"A portrait is a picture in which there is just a tiny little something not quite right about the mouth." -- John Singer Sargent

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Barbara Fritchie


This photo of Barbara Hauer Fritchie hangs in the Barbara Fritchie Candystick Restaurant on West Patrick Street in Frederick Maryland.
"Barbara Fritchie (née Hauer) (December 3, 1766 – December 18, 1862), also known as Barbara Frietchie, and sometimes spelled Frietschie, was a Unionist during the Civil War. She was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and married John Casper Fritchie, a glove maker, on May 6, 1806. She became famous as the heroine of the 1863 poem Barbara Frietchie by John Greenleaf Whittier, in which she pleads with an occupying Confederate general to 'Shoot if you must this old gray head, but spare your country's flag.'" -- Wikipedia

The portrait is part of a patriotic display at the iconic Frederick Diner.



 A box of Barbara Fritchie chocolates bears this youthful image of Barbara Fritchie:

"Here we see Barbara Fritchie as in her teens, however it was not until reached her ninety-fifth year, when thru one Heroic Gesture, she gained fame through-out the English-speaking world."
 The "Story Box" also includes this rendering of Barbara Fritchie's "Heroic Gesture."


"Shoot if you must this old gray head
But spare your country's flag" she said.
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For another youthful portrayal of Barbara Fritchie (or Frietchie) see Julia Marlowe's performance in Clyde Fitch's play Barbara Frietchie, Frederick Girl from 1900.

3 comments:

  1. I live in Reno. And her flag draped over Jesse Reno's coffin at the funeral in Boston.

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  2. What basis do you have to state the image in the restaurant is a "photograph?" There is no likelihood the image would have been taken with an American flag.

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  3. Interesting... It looked to me like a b/w photograph. Perhaps it's a photo of a painting or a re-interpretation of an earlier photo.

    ReplyDelete