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Historic Flag Gets New Gallery In American History

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Nov 19, 2008 8:52 am US/Eastern

Historic Flag Gets New Gallery In American History

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The Star Spangled Banner is so threadbare you can see through tattered sections of the stars and stripes to the table on which it rests.

The nearly 200-year-old flag is the centerpiece of a dramatic new gallery in the overhauled National Museum of American History opening this week. The flag inspired the national anthem during the 1814 British attack on Baltimore.

President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush are scheduled to help dedicate the Smithsonian Institution museum Wednesday. Doors open to the public Friday with a reading of President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by Gen. Colin Powell.

Architects have reorganized the central core of the museum to make it easier to navigate and to help visitors find the history they're looking for. Favorite exhibits, such as Dorothy's ruby slippers from "The Wizard of Oz," will again be on view.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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