Even as the veterans' organizations and the hereditary societies
began to have some success in establishing the custom of placing
an American flag in schoolyards and classrooms, the next step in
the developing relationship between the flag and the public
schools began: the call for patriotic ritual in the classroom. In the
initial years of the movement, the focus had been on establishing
the presence of the flag in schools. The concerted effort of one
New York reformer, George T. Balch, proved influential in the
development of patriotic ritual for the classroom, and his pioneer-
ing efforts opened the way for more widespread contribution to
flag ceremony from the most widely circulated children's pe-
riodical of the day, The Youth's Companion. This journal topped off
a campaign to place flags in all schools of the nation by Columbus
Day, 1892, with the first nationally organized recitation of the
Pledge of Allegiance. An analysis of the background, develop-
ment, and dissemination of the pledge reveals that this significant
act, learned and repeated time and time again by millions of
Americans, originated as supporters of the cult of the flag cap-
italized on the attention given to the Columbian National Exposi-
tion in Chicago by politicians, patriots, and the media.

George T. Balch was a New York City auditor who in 1886
received the assignment of reviewing the accounts and admin-
istration of the city health department. While pursuing this proj-
ect, he became interested in what he and a host of others called
the "tenement-house problem," the living conditions of many of
the recent immigrants. After leaving the staff of the New York
Commissioner of Accounts in 1887, Balch wrote a history of the
causes and growth of this problem in New York City during the
period 1839-88.

Concerned about the potential social disruption of Americaniz-

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