For more than two centuries, the Star-Spangled Banner has been a powerful symbol of American resilience, inspiring the national anthem penned by Francis Scott Key.
But behind the towering legend of the flag that waved over Fort McHenry, an overlooked Black girl—just 13 years old—stitched her way into history.
Grace Wisher, an African American indentured servant, played a crucial role in creating the very flag that became an enduring national icon.
A Young Girl’s Silent Contribution

Grace Wisher was bound in service to Mary Pickersgill, the Baltimore seamstress often credited with making the Star-Spangled Banner. However, the massive size of the flag—30 by 42 feet—and its six-week deadline meant that Pickersgill didn’t work alone. Her nieces, an enslaved person, and Wisher herself labored to complete it.
Though Pickersgill’s name was preserved in history, Wisher’s role faded into obscurity—an all-too-common reality for Black women who shaped America from the shadows. But the truth cannot be erased: an African American girl helped create the very flag that represents this nation.
The Complex Reality of Indenture in 19th-Century Baltimore
By the early 1800s, indentured servitude was in decline, yet Maryland laws still allowed Black children to be bound into service, often against their will. The legal system could separate children from their families, forcing them into labor under white households deemed more “suitable.” Wisher, like many other African American children, became an apprentice in a system where her future was dictated by forces beyond her control.
Though enslaved people and indentured servants were often treated similarly, Wisher’s story is a reminder that forced labor took many forms in Black history—beyond the well-documented horrors of chattel slavery.
A Ghost in the Painting, a Presence in History

Today, the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, where Wisher once lived and worked, recognizes her contributions in a uniquely haunting way.
A 1962 painting by artist Robert McGill Mackall depicts the Pickersgill household sewing the flag—but Wisher is absent. In a later tribute, museum curators added a ghostly outline—a traced figure representing the young girl who should have been there all along.
Her presence may be a shadow in art, but in history, she was flesh and blood, thread and needle.
Honoring Wisher at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum

A groundbreaking exhibition at The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture in Baltimore brings Wisher’s story to light. “For Whom It Stands: The Flag and the American People” explores the flag’s complex history, uncovering the hidden narratives behind the national symbol.
While no personal artifacts of Wisher have survived, the exhibition weaves together other untold stories of forgotten patriots. Among them is a 1942 photograph of an unknown African American woman meticulously handling flags in a military depot—a modern-day Grace Wisher, her contribution unrecognized, her name lost to time.
A Legacy Stitched into the Fabric of America
Grace Wisher’s hands shaped a nation’s most revered flag, yet her name has remained in the margins of history books. This Black History Month, her story reminds us to uncover and uplift the voices of those who were essential in shaping America—but left without credit.
The next time the Star-Spangled Banner waves proudly in the wind, remember: a 13-year-old Black girl helped stitch that flag, ensuring that freedom, though imperfect, would have a symbol to rally behind.