BENNINGTON — A two-sided cream silk and painted flag of the Washington Benevolent Society, of Bennington, is now hanging in the Center Gallery of the Bennington Museum, along with other artifacts relating to the Washington Benevolent Society political campaigns. In May 2023, Bennington Museum received significant funding from two grants to restore the 1811 flag. The conservation project was carried out by Spicer Art Conservation in Delmar, N.
Y. The work reversed the previous treatment from 1928 which added many unoriginal stitched embellishments. The front of the banner was separated from the back, which will be safely stored until its restoration can take place at later date.
The front was then cleaned, stabilized, humidified, rehoused and retuned the the museum almost a year after it left the premises. Politics in early America were bitterly diverse in ways that might feel familiar to us today. The Washington Benevolent Society was a grassroots political group active from 1808-1816 and run by the Federalist Party to electioneer for votes.
The Bennington chapter was organized in July 1811 by Gov. Isaac Tichenor. It was originally formed as a group intending to provide relief for members in distress (hence the name), but very quickly its political aims dominated the agenda.
At that time, Americans were divided between the Federalist party (which favored strong central government) and the Democratic-Republican party (which championed individual liberty and free trade). The F.
