TOPEKA, Kansas — Behind several locked doors at the Kansas Museum of History is a trove of flags, some 75 in all, that were once carried by Union troops in the Civil War.
Most were donated to the state more than 100 years ago and put on display at the Statehouse.
But that, museum curator Boone Dodson said, is where they were damaged by light.
"After 160 years have passed and something's been on display for a very long time ... then the light will actually get to the silk fibers and will break down the fibers," he said.
According to the Kansas Historical Society, most of the flags are battle flags of various Kansas regiments, but there also are Confederate and border ruffian flags and political banners. Among the collection are a Confederate flag captured at Lookout Mountain by the 8th Kansas Infantry and a banner presented to Abraham Lincoln and used in the 1860 presidential election in Kansas.
"Some of the flags show damage from their service in battle, while all have suffered the effects of time and environment," the society says on its website.
Dodson said the restoration work is being done by Textile Preservation Associates Inc. The work on a single flag could cost $20,000 to $35,000, he estimated.
Why is it so expensive?
"(It's) extremely specialized work," Dodson said. "Every aspect of their work has specialized equipment, specialized knowledge more than anything."
The museum is currently closed for renovations, but when it reopens in November, several of the restored flags will be on display. A Save the Flags campaign is accepting donations to support the restoration work.
