Another historical gem shines light on Lincoln High's World War I vets

Just days before Veterans Day in November, Lincoln High School Media Technician Carter Hulinsky stumbled upon a historical gem: the service flag that was displayed above the school’s main entrance more than a century ago to honor its students who were serving in World War I.

Hulinksy displayed the flag in the Lincoln High library on Veterans Day for students, staff and media to visit and learn more about the school’s rich history of veterans.

That history lesson continues a month later, thanks to another unexpected discovery.

About a week ago, a local woman called the school and relayed the following story: As she and her sister were cleaning out their father’s house, they discovered a roll of brittle newspapers from the early 1900s. When they unrolled the newspapers, they spotted an article from February 1918 about the origin of the Lincoln High service flag.

The woman remembered media reports of the flag’s discovery in November and thought Lincoln High would be interested in the newspaper. She was right.

“It's an astonishing find,” said Hulinsky, also the school’s archivist. “When you consider the newsprint was stored for over 100 years and never tossed into a waste bin. Then to have it found just after the news story of the service flag aired on television. The odds were not at all in our favor, but how fortunate we are that these two women were curious enough to unroll the newsprint and discover the article about the service flag.”

The article read, in part:

“Patriotism reigned supreme at the Lincoln high school Tuesday forenoon when the 1,600 students met in the auditorium to celebrate Lincoln’s birthday, and unfurl a service flag, containing 323 stars, each one representing a student who was at present or in the past a member of the Lincoln high, but who are now somewhere in America or somewhere in France, in defense of the flag.

“The exercises opened with the singing of America, conducted by Chorister Ferguson, and participated in by nearly every student in a gathering that more than filled the auditorium.”

Now Hulinsky is working to ensure the page of the newspaper with the article is properly preserved for future generations of Links. He already has taken a high-resolution image of the article and is exploring options to either have it mounted and framed or stored in a flat file cabinet.

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