WEDNESDAY PHOTOGRAPH
Historic BALTIMORE HARBOR gets little of the attention showered on Washington, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Every school child hears the story of Francis Scott Key’s inspiration for the “Star Spangled Banner,” but few adults remember that the battle described in the story took place in Baltimore Harbor. Fort McHenry overlooks the harbor. The modern city of Baltimore spills onto the water across the harbor from the ruins of the old fort. It was from one of these places that Key could see in the morning after a battle on the Chesapeake Bay between the British and American Navies that the American flag was still flying. The 35-year-old Key, an amateur poet, wrote “The Defense of Fort McHenry.” It was from his poem that the lyrics of the national anthem were taken.