Richard D. L. Fulton “First Day of Issue” cover of the Francis Scott Key stamp, issued on August 9, 1948, in Frederick. “O say does that star spangled banner yet wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave…” ~ Defense of Fort McHenry, September 14, Frances Scott Key Celebrated Francis…

Area connections to the Star-Spangled Banner by James Rada, Jr. Frederick County native Francis Scott Key was a lawyer, who is not remembered for his legal expertise, but for a poem he wrote. In 1814, the War of 1812 was still raging. Some historians call it the second American Revolution. Less than a generation after…