THE PRESIDENT'S FLAG DAY ADDRESS

In honor of Flag Day, we share with you the first two and last paragraphs of The President's Flag Day Address With Evidence of Germany's Plans, delivered by President Woodrow Wilson on June 14, 1917, in Washington, D.C.

"My Fellow Citizens:

We meet to celebrate Flag Day because this flag which we honor and under which we serve is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation. It has no other character than that which we give it from generation to generation. The choices are ours. It floats in majestic silence above the hosts that execute those choices, whether in peace or in war. And yet, though silent, it speaks to us--speaks to us of the past, of the men and women who went before us and of the records they wrote upon it. We celebrate the day of its birth; and from its birth until now it has witnessed a great history, has floated on high the symbol of great events, of a great plan of life worked out by a great people. We are about to carry it into battle, to lift it where it will draw the fire of our enemies. We are about to bid thousands, hundreds of thousands, it may be millions, of our men, the young, the strong, the capable men of the Nation, to go forth and die beneath it on fields of blood far away--for what? For some unaccustomed thing? For something for which it has never sought the fire before? American armies were never before sent across the seas. Why are they sent now? For some new purpose, for which this great flag has never been carried before, or for some old, familiar, heroic purpose for which it has seen men, its own men, die on every battle field upon which Americans have borne arms since the Revolution?

... We are Americans. We in our turn serve America, and can serve her with no private purpose. We must use her flag as she has always used it. We are accountable at the bar of history and must plead in utter frankness what purpose it is we seek to serve."

If you would like to read the entire speech, ask a Bullis Room volunteer to access Document 2634 from our archives.

STRAWBERRY GEMS OF '93

The back cover of Lovetts Guide to Fruit Culture, Spring, 1894, features these gems of 1893 and reminds us that we will soon be loading our cars with baskets and heading for the nearest berry farm. Some of us make jams, jellies, pies and our favorite Strawberry Shortcake recipes while all of us enjoy eating them fresh off the vine.

Strawberries are the first fruits of summer here in Western New York, followed by raspberries, blueberries, and then apples, peaches and pears. Coffeetable-size books with colorful plates showing these luscious summer fruits are on the shelves here in the Bullis Room. So let's enjoy all of these fruits while they're in season. And come November, we can take these books off the shelf and spend the winter dreaming of next summer's bounty. That way we can have our fruit and eat it too.

VOLUNTEERING

Ever wonder what it takes to keep a collection of unique books organized, usable, and available? Lots of stuff.
Here's some of the things that happen during a typical week here in the Bullis Room:

dusting
organizing files and documents
shelf reading
cataloging materials
maintaining the database
repairing books and materials
planning outreach
maintaining display case
researching
interpreting materials
planning publicity
transcribing account books and diaries
evaluating materials
numbering documents
cross-referencing ephemera in books and on data base

AND (equally important)

sitting at the round table or in one of these soft chairs, enjoying a book or some of the fascinating maps, diaries, and other documents that make up this collection.

The Bullis Collection cannot be maintained without the dedicated volunteers who donate their time and talents to its well-being. Come to think of it, that's true for our community...and country...and this world in which we live. Thank you, Volunteers, everywhere, for all you do and for just being there.

IN MEMORY OF...

...THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR US.

In Flanders Fields
by Lt. Col. John McCrae (1872-1918)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)



Local folks often recall the lush poppies Charlie Bullis grew in his garden. As he planted and tended these red symbols of sacrifice, could he have been remembering his comrades who died in World War I? We'll never know Charlie's reason for his choice of flowers, but it seems appropriate to us today.

When we make our traditional poppy purchases this weekend, let's remember Charlie Bullis, his WWI comrades and all those before and after who made that supreme sacrifice.

REMEMBERING ARMED FORCES DAY

Written by Nettie Bullis, November, 1944


HIS NEED FOR A GUN

He'd been playing war on the sitting-room floor,

He sprang to meet you, as you came in the door,

You told him that night as he sat on your knee

How the pirates of old had raided the sea.

And he told you that night how he'd make them run,

If you'd only buy him a little toy gun.


You went out to the store and bought him the toy,

For you realized then the need of your boy.

And now in a war far away from our shore,

In a danger far greater, his need is much more;

but the bonds you will buy on the way home tonight

Will help him tomorrow in winning the right.

THE RIVER

Follow the river as it winds and bends
thru hamlets and towns…

M
E
A
N
D
E
R
I
N
G
DOWN.

Follow the river thru shady green coves
Where in deep pools the bass lay low.

Follow the river thru cities bold
Where barges and boats ferry their load.

Follow the river as it rolls to the sea,
And calls to you, "follow me!"

For those of you interested in waterways, we suggest you stop by the display case outside this room and take a look at some Bullis books on rivers and canals.

These volumes cover local waterways, such as the 1901 STATE OF NEW YORK REPORT ON THE BARGE CANAL FROM THE HUDSON RIVER TO THE GREAT LAKES, and distant rivers, THE NATURALIST ON THE RIVER AMAZONS, an 1875 "record of adventures, habits of animals, sketches of Brazilian and Indian life, and aspects of the nature under the equator during eleven years of travel," written by Henry Walter Bates.

You'll also see a copy of THE RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN, (RIVERS OF THE EAST COAST), with illustrations and maps, published in London, 1889, as well as an 1896 copy of Mark Twain's THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN.

Also for you Mississippi River enthusiasts, a "must-read" is DOWN THE GREAT RIVER, published in Philadelphia, 1889, and written by William Glazier. This is a wonderful armchair trip "embracing an account of the discovery of the true source of the Mississippi together with descriptive views and pictorials of the cities, towns, villages, and scenery." Some of the towns and villages mentioned are St. Anthony, St. Paul, Davenport, Rock Island, Saint Louis, Vicksburg, and Fort Snelling.

This is the time of year to get out and enjoy our rivers and other waterways. We encourage you to begin the season in the Bullis Room.

GLIDING AND SAILFLYING

We wrote about the natural flying creatures in our last two postings. Now our attention turns to one of the many man-made flying objects--gliders. And how to build and operate one.

If you want a complete ground course on operation and construction of gliding and sailflying, then here's a book just for you: HENLEY'S ABC OF GLIDING AND SAILFLYING. It's edited by Victor W. Page, Major-U.S. Air Corps Reserve and has 72 illustrations with drawings and instructions for building a primary training type glider.

Henley Publishing Company published this book in 1930, and way back then for the price of $1.50 (bound in paper) or $2.00 (bound in cloth) you could have read a brief history of gliding and soaring "with motorless airplanes" as well as bird flight and its relation to sailflying. You could also have read about popular German and American gliders and soaring planes as well as how to form a glider club, select terrain for gliding, and train glider pilots. And you could have found more books on the subject from the dust jacket list "New Aviation Books Covering All Phases of Operation or Servicing of Modern Airplanes."

Almost 80 years later, this book sits on Shelf GG5 in the Bullis Room, a bit warped from the 2001 water damage but still offering an entertaining and informative look-through, even for those of us who prefer to keep our feet on the ground.