Dedication
Irving Louis Horowitz (1929-2012)
This dedication is to memorialize the contribution of the late Irving Louis Horowitz, PhD., Editor in Chief and Principal of Transaction Publishers, Rutgers University, New Jersey, who passed away in May 2012. He was a friend and mentor when I was an undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
He represents the genesis of this flag collection for it was Irving’s insistence that we join a group for dinner at a pizza restaurant near the campus one night in April 1969 that led to the inception of this flag collection. During dinner we witnessed and became involved in helping a young man who was attacked by over a dozen men because they believed he was desecrating the American flag simply by wearing a vest with stars and stripes. As it happened the young man was arrested along with a couple of the people who tried to help him, which I was one. Luckily, Irving was not arrested, making it possible to post my bail later that morning. As a result of this incident I reflected about the power of symbols, in particular the American flag. A symbol that people will not only die for but also kill for as we nearly witnessed that night.
Irving’s insistence to have dinner at the pizza restaurant and our discussion after the incident about the power of symbols is the reason this collection exists today. The young man was attacked by a mob who believed they were defending their flag, losing sight the flag represents all the people not just those that have power. Their power; the sheer number of attackers some with guns. For years following this incident Irving and I reflected on this experience and the lesson it left us. His legacy continues through this collection.
Ben Zaricor
Howard Michael Madaus (1943-2007)
This website is dedicated to Howard Michael Madaus, former Chief Curator of the Flag Center and the Zaricor Flag Collection.
Howard Michael Madaus was the Curator of the exhibitions, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord & Conflict, at the Presidio in San Francisco in 2003, The Flag Symposium at the Star Spangled Banner Flag House, Baltimore, Md., in 2004 and The 2004 Presidential Debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., and co-author of the book of the same title with Dr. Whitney Smith. Mr. Madaus was a leading historian of the American flag, especially during the era of the American Civil War. He has served as associate curator of history with the Milwaukee Public Museum, as curator of the Cody Firearms Museum of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, and as chief curator of the National Civil War Museum. His major publications include the monographs The Battle Flags of the Confederate Army of Tennessee (1976), Rebel Flags Afloat (1986), and Flags of the Iron Brigade (1985/1997). In addition he has co-authored the massive study Confederate Rifles & Muskets (1996), and the book The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord & Conflict. Howard Michael Madaus died in 2007.
He dedicated his professional life to the promotion for the study and education of flags and a true friend and advisor to the Zaricor Flag Collection and Flag Center in Santa Cruz, Ca.
He represents the genesis of this flag collection for it was Irving’s insistence that we join a group for dinner at a pizza restaurant near the campus one night in April 1969 that led to the inception of this flag collection. During dinner we witnessed and became involved in helping a young man who was attacked by over a dozen men because they believed he was desecrating the American flag simply by wearing a vest with stars and stripes. As it happened the young man was arrested along with a couple of the people who tried to help him, which I was one. Luckily, Irving was not arrested, making it possible to post my bail later that morning. As a result of this incident I reflected about the power of symbols, in particular the American flag. A symbol that people will not only die for but also kill for as we nearly witnessed that night.
Irving’s insistence to have dinner at the pizza restaurant and our discussion after the incident about the power of symbols is the reason this collection exists today. The young man was attacked by a mob who believed they were defending their flag, losing sight the flag represents all the people not just those that have power. Their power; the sheer number of attackers some with guns. For years following this incident Irving and I reflected on this experience and the lesson it left us. His legacy continues through this collection.
Ben Zaricor
Howard Michael Madaus (1943-2007)
This website is dedicated to Howard Michael Madaus, former Chief Curator of the Flag Center and the Zaricor Flag Collection.
Howard Michael Madaus was the Curator of the exhibitions, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord & Conflict, at the Presidio in San Francisco in 2003, The Flag Symposium at the Star Spangled Banner Flag House, Baltimore, Md., in 2004 and The 2004 Presidential Debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., and co-author of the book of the same title with Dr. Whitney Smith. Mr. Madaus was a leading historian of the American flag, especially during the era of the American Civil War. He has served as associate curator of history with the Milwaukee Public Museum, as curator of the Cody Firearms Museum of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, and as chief curator of the National Civil War Museum. His major publications include the monographs The Battle Flags of the Confederate Army of Tennessee (1976), Rebel Flags Afloat (1986), and Flags of the Iron Brigade (1985/1997). In addition he has co-authored the massive study Confederate Rifles & Muskets (1996), and the book The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord & Conflict. Howard Michael Madaus died in 2007.
He dedicated his professional life to the promotion for the study and education of flags and a true friend and advisor to the Zaricor Flag Collection and Flag Center in Santa Cruz, Ca.
He dedicated his professional life to the promotion for the study and education of flags and a true friend and advisor to the Zaricor Flag Collection and Flag Center in Santa Cruz, Ca.