Robert G. Heft: Difference between revisions
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#REDIRECT [[Flag of the United States#The 49- and 50-star unions]] |
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{{Infobox person |
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| name = Robert G. Heft |
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| image = Robert G. Heft by Gage Skidmore.jpg |
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| caption = Robert G. Heft on December 5, 2009, seven days before his death. |
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1941|1|19}} |
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| birth_place = [[Saginaw, Michigan]], U.S. |
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| death_date = {{death date and age|2009|12|12|1941|1|19}} |
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| death_place = Saginaw, Michigan, U.S. |
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| death_cause = [[Heart attack]] |
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| known_for = Self-proclaimed designer of the 50-star flag |
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}} |
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'''Robert G. "Bob" Heft''' (January 19, 1941 – December 12, 2009) claimed to be the designer of the current [[United States|American]] [[Flag of the United States|50-star flag]]; he designed a proposal for a [[51st state|51-star flag]] proposal.<ref>Social Security Death Index</ref> Born in [[Saginaw, Michigan|Saginaw]], [[Michigan]], he spent his childhood in [[Lancaster, Ohio|Lancaster]], [[Ohio]], where he created his design as a school project as while a junior at [[Lancaster High School (Ohio)|Lancaster High School]] in 1958. |
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{{R to related topic}} |
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==Early life and education== |
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Heft was born in [[Saginaw, Michigan|Saginaw]], [[Michigan]], but was raised by his grandparents in Lancaster, Ohio, where he graduated from [[Lancaster High School (Ohio)|Lancaster High School]] in 1960. He subsequently studied at [[Ohio State University]] and [[Ohio University]].<ref name=Ohio>{{cite news |first=Jill |last=Sell |url=http://www.ohiomagazine.com/Main/Articles/Starring_Role_5134.aspx |title=Starring Role |publisher=''Ohio'' magazine |date=June 2015 }}</ref> In 1961, he was president of the Fairfield County, Ohio Young Democrats.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19910459/local_young_dem_at_state_meet/ Local Young Dem at State Meet], Lancaster Eagle-Gazette (Lancaster, Ohio) 19 Jun 1961, page 2, accessed at [[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}}</ref> That year he designed a new seal for the club.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19910675/ DiSalle Will Attend Democrat Ox-Roast], Lancaster Eagle-Gazette (Lancaster, Ohio) 31 July 1961, page 1, accessed at [[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}}</ref> |
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==Career== |
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After high school, Heft worked as a draftsman.<ref name=Ohio/> In 1963 he ran for city councilor in Lancaster, Ohio. During that race, the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette wrote that he was the youngest candidate for public office in the country.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19910768/ Ohio Democrat Chairman Coleman Speaks At Annual Fall Luncheon], Lancaster Eagle-Gazette (Lancaster, Ohio) 18 Oct 1963, page 3</ref> He served as Fairfield County chairman of the 1964 March of Dimes. At that time he was also chairman of the Lancaster beautification committee and a member of the Ohio Beautification Commission.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19910886/ Wenger Names Successor to Head 1964 Dimes Drive, Lancaster Gazette-Eagle (Lancaster, Ohio) 16 Nov 1963, page 2], accessed at [[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}}</ref> In 1965 he was named Ohio Young Democrat of the year.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19910996/ Heft Is Named Outstanding Young Democreat of Ohio], Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, (Lancaster, Ohio) 24 May 1965, page 2</ref> Also in 1964, Heft was a leader for Southern Ohio in [[John Glenn]]'s senate campaign.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20052058/new_glory_the_evening_sun_baltimore/ New Glory], The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland) 31 Jul 1964, page 17, accessed at [[Newspaper.com]] {{open access}}</ref> He later taught history at Lancaster High and at [[Northwest State Community College]] in [[Archbold, Ohio|Archbold]]. Bob Heft taught at Sheridan Middle School for one year before moving to Northwest.<ref name=Ohio/> |
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He served seven terms as mayor of [[Napoleon, Ohio]], serving six terms from 1973 to 1988 and served as vice president of the Ohio mayors association in 1987 and worked as a real-estate agent.<ref name=Ohio/><ref name="News-Messenger1987">[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19909478/designer_of_flag_to_speak_the/ Designer of flag to speak]. The News-Messenger (Fremont, Ohio) 5 Oct 1987, page 3, accessed at [[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}}</ref> He was the first Democrat to be elected mayor in Napoleon for 20 years.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19910238/flag_imput_noted_from_mayor_heft_the/ Flag Imput Noted From Mayor Heft]. The Evening Review (East Liverpool, Ohio) 7 Nov 1975, page 15, accessed at [[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}}</ref> He also traveled widely speaking about patriotism and the flag.<ref name="News-Messenger1987"/><ref>Cross, Sue. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19909675/ Bob Heft Vividly Remembers Designing Flag], Lancaster Eagle-Gazette (Lancaster, Ohio) 1 Jul 1985, accessed at [[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}}</ref> After retiring from teaching, he became a tourist and visited Europe, looking at flag designs. |
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He was a longtime member of the Harvey Spaulding [[Toastmasters International|Toastmasters]] club in Saginaw, where he earned the nickname "Father Time" as he often filled the role of timer during meetings.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}} He was a member of numerous civic organizations and in 1967 was awarded to the Honorary Legion of Honor of [[DeMolay International]].<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19911063/two_get_highest_demolay_awards/ Two Get Highest DeMolay Awards]. Lancaster Eagle-Gazette (Lancaster, Ohio) 27 April 1967, page 2</ref> |
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==Claim to flag design and adoption== |
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{{Multiple image |
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| total_width = 280 |
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| image1 = Flag of the United States.svg |
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| image2 = US flag 51 stars.svg |
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| footer = Current [[flag of the United States]] (top) and [[51st state|51-star American flag]] (bottom), both were supposedly designed by Heft |
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| direction = vertical |
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}} |
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According to Heft, he designed the 50-star U.S. Flag in 1958 as a class project in his junior-year high-school history class, cutting up an old flag that belonged to his grandparents. His teacher, Stanley Pratt, gave him a [[Academic grading in the United States|B-]] for the project, but after discussion agreed that if the flag design was accepted by the [[United States Congress]], he would reconsider the grade. Heft enlisted the aid of his congressman, [[Walter Moeller]], who lived nearby, and the 50-star flag design that was the same as Heft's was chosen and adopted by presidential proclamation in 1959 after the admission of [[Alaska]] into the union and before that of [[Hawaii]]. According to Heft, Pratt honored their agreement and changed his grade to an [[Academic grading in the United States|A]] for the project.<ref name="Ohio" /><ref name="fnrasmussentbs">{{cite news |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-backstory-1960-flag-20100702,0,1768337,full.story |last=Rasmussen |first=Frederick N. |title=A half-century ago, new 50-star American flag debuted in Baltimore |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |date=July 3, 2010 }}</ref> Heft also stated that he was invited to the National Mall on July 4, 1960, to see his flag fly over the U.S. Capitol. There he was, with a congressman on one side and President Eisenhower on the other." |
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To date, there is no independent verification of Heft's account. First, "the official designer is listed as the Army Institute of Heraldry."<ref name=":0">Martucci, David B. "Wayne's World (of Flags)." ''Raven: A Journal of Vexillology'' 22 (2015): 67-77.</ref> Heft's story does not account for the fact that more than 1,500 flag designs were spontaneously submitted to President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] during the time Alaska and Hawaii were being considered for statehood; although some of them were 49-star versions, the vast majority were 50-star proposals. Nor does Heft's story account for the fact that the Acting Secretary of the Army by 1958 had already sent designs for the 49-star and 50-star flags prepared by the Army's Institute of Heraldry to the Secretary of Defense that included the designs that would be ultimately selected by the president.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/historyweek/1-7Jul.htm|title=This Week In Quartermaster History 1-7 July |website=US Army Quartermaster Museum|access-date=2018-04-14}}</ref> "In fact, by the time Heft submitted his design, the final design probably had already been chosen."<ref name=":0" /> In September 1958, the Acting Secretary of the Army had already sent designs for the 49-star and 50-star flags to the Secretary of Defense that included the designs that would be ultimately selected by the president.<ref name=":1" /> At a cabinet meeting on November 19, 1958, President Eisenhower received a briefing on the history of the flag design process and several suggestions were made regarding designs for the new flags. |
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==Death== |
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Heft spent his last years in [[Saginaw, Michigan]], where many of his family lived. On December 12, 2009, he died from a heart attack at Covenant Medical Center at the age of 68.<ref name=AllMichigan>Barber, Barrie (December 17, 2009). [http://www.mlive.com/opinion/saginaw/index.ssf/2009/12/column_hats_off_to_saginaw_fla.html "Hats Off to Saginaw flag designer who gave America 50 stars"]. [[MLive]].</ref> |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist|refs=}} |
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==External links== |
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*[http://www.storycorps.org/listen/stories/bob-heft/ Story Corps oral history of the creation of the 50 star flag in the words of Robert G. Heft.] |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Heft, Robert G.}} |
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[[Category:Flag designers]] |
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[[Category:American artists]] |
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[[Category:Mayors of places in Ohio]] |
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[[Category:People from Saginaw, Michigan]] |
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[[Category:People from Fairfield County, Ohio]] |
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[[Category:People from Henry County, Ohio]] |
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[[Category:American Lutherans]] |
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[[Category:1941 births]] |
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[[Category:2009 deaths]] |
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[[Category:20th-century American politicians]] |
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[[Category:Napoleon, Ohio]] |
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[[Category:Democrats (United States)]] |
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[[Category:Democratic Party (United States) politicians]] |
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Revision as of 10:28, 6 March 2023
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