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FLAG REMOVAL
Removal Schedule
Members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and re-enactors from the 24th and 15th Iowa Infantries stood as honor guard as the first flag case was opened on January 23, 2002. Under the direction of Fonda Thomsen, a nationally recognized conservator specializing in Civil War Flags, the first twenty-five historic flags and their associated staffs and cords were gently unbound and lifted to the triage area.
The Heartland Regional Council of Carpenters and Carpenters Local 106 apprenticeship program had built the triage lab, designed by Scott Allen of RDG Bussard Dikis architects. The triage lab provides protection for the flags while providing the public a glimpse of the work involved in preparing the flags for transport to the flag preservation lab at the State Historical Building.
As each flag was removed from its’ display position it was gently placed on an archival work table. The flag's staff and cords were removed and tagged. The flag was then placed between layers of polyethylene cloth and archival tissue. A protective layer of bubble wrap was added. Finally the flags were placed in containers and transported to the flag conservation lab.
For the next four years, Civil War flags continued to be removed from
the rotunda cases. In the Spring of 2006, the last of these flags were
removed. The flags now reside in the protective environment of the State
Historical Building, undergoing extensive conservation.
THE FIRST FLAG REMOVAL:
Read a first hand account.
Download the PDF