‘Father of Flag Day’ called Collier Township home
Rennerdale’s William T. Kerr lobbied for national holiday to honor American flag
Driving through Collier Township, motorists will see plenty of homes and businesses proudly flying American flags out front, just like in many other towns across the country.
What makes Collier unique, however, is that it’s home to the “Father of Flag Day,” which pays homage to the man who successfully lobbied the federal government to honor the American flag with its own national holiday.
William T. Kerr was fanatical about the American flag ever since he was a little boy. Born in Pittsburgh in 1868, Kerr showed an interest in the flag in grade school, even speaking about its history and importance at the young age of 14 while visiting Chicago, according to the book, “Forgotten People of Collier Township,” written by authors Rand Gee and Debbie Pelkey.
Kerr founded the American Flag Day Association of Pennsylvania in 1888 when he was 20, and a decade later formed a nationwide group to push for a federal holiday, according to “Forgotten People,” which can be found at the Bridgeville Area Historical Society. Kerr eventually moved to Rennerdale, a small village in the heart of Collier Township, and lived there from 1911 until 1928. All the while, he led the American Flag Day Association and lobbied federal lawmakers for a national holiday.
“Flag Day is sort of an evolutionary process that began before the Civil War,” said Brady Crytzer, who is an Oakdale resident and history professor at Robert Morris University. “It’s like a lot of political movements where it lacks a focus or targeted effort to lobby Congress or the federal government to make a change. And that’s where Kerr comes in.”
While many others had pushed or prodded federal officials to make Flag Day a national holiday, their efforts were either piecemeal or ended without success. But not Kerr, who regularly met with congressmen and visited with every president from Williiam McKinley in the late 1800s to Harry Truman in the mid-20th century, according to Crytzer.
“He takes a very unfocused effort and, like a laser, goes to the right places,” Crytzer said. “It also shows how one person can make a difference at a national level. It’s not really difficult, but you need to be persistent and persistent and persistent.”
At first, Kerr was able to institute “flag week” in the early 1900s. And his dream of making Flag Day a national holiday was somewhat fulfilled when he went to President Woodrow Wilson, who proclaimed in 1916 that it would be celebrated every June 14. That specific date was a nod to the day in 1777 in which the Second Continental Congress adopted the new United States flag as its symbol.
But there was more work to be done, and Kerr spent years continuing to lobby for an official national holiday, which finally happened with congressional approval in August 1949 and signed into law by Truman, with Kerr standing by his side during the ceremony.
“It wasn’t controversial, but you needed to work every branch of government effectively to nail (the votes) down and get it through,” Crytzer said. “Kerr was the driving force of that movement. … It takes a lifetime of work to create a new national holiday. And that was Kerr’s dedication of his lifetime.”
Kerr left Rennerdale for work in Philadelphia in 1828, but he still is celebrated by residents in Collier, which erected welcome signs in multiple places in 2012 announcing that the township is the “Home of National Flag Day.” A historical marker was placed along Noblestown Road in Rennerdale in 1999 on the 50th anniversary of the formation of Flag Day.
Crytzer thinks Collier has embraced Kerr more than anywhere else because of the work and dedication he put into the movement while living in Rennerdale.
“He’s not born there. He doesn’t live most of his life there,” Crytzer said. “I think it’s really two parts. Rennerdale is a small community, so that’s a major achievement for such a small place. But some of his hardest work comes through there. The real groundwork comes from when he’s in Collier Township. I think they rightfully have a claim to him.”
Kerr died in the Philadelphia suburb of Yeadon in 1953 at age 85, according to “Forgotten People.” Still, his legacy continues today for a national holiday that doesn’t offer a day off from work, but instead comes with a sense of pride about the flag and what it means to be an American.
“It’s time for Americans to stop and reflect on who we are and where we came from,” Crytzer said. “I don’t think Kerr ever envisioned (June 14) as a day we shut down. It’s a day to raise your flag and fly it proudly. It’s a moment to pause and reflect, but ultimately to keep going.”