PHOTO PROVIDED Jill Lawrence portrays Betsy Ross. Lawrence will be visiting Wellsboro on March 15 as part of the Deane Center’s 2022-2023 History Comes Alive Series.

An icon perhaps even more American than apple pie will be visiting Wellsboro in the coming weeks, according to a press release.

The Deane Center’s 2022-2023 History Comes Alive Series will continue with Jill Lawrence portraying Betsy Ross, the woman who, according to legend, designed and made the first American flag. Lawrence’s visit will be Wednesday, March 15 at 7 p.m. in the Coolidge Theatre at 104 Main St., Wellsboro.

After the performance, the audience will be invited to ask Lawrence questions.

According to Wikipedia, Betsy Ross was an American upholsterer who was credited by her relatives in 1870 with making the first official U.S. flag known as the Betsy Ross flag.

Though most historians dismiss the story, Ross family tradition holds that General George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and two members of a congressional committee — Robert Morris and George Ross — visited Ross in 1776.

Ross convinced George Washington to change the shape of the stars in a sketch of a flag he showed her from six-pointed to five-pointed by demonstrating that it was easier and speedier to cut the latter. However, there is no archival evidence or other recorded verbal tradition to substantiate this story of the first U.S. flag.

It appears that the story first surfaced in the writings of her grandson in the 1870s (a century after the fact), with no mention or documentation in earlier decades.

Ross made flags for the Pennsylvanian navy during the American Revolution. After the Revolution, she made U.S. flags for over 50 years, including 50 garrison flags for the U.S. Arsenal on the Schuylkill River during 1811. The Pennsylvania Navy Board oversaw the flags of the Pennsylvania navy. The board reported to the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly’s Committee of Safety.

In July 1775, the President of the Committee of Safety was Benjamin Franklin. Its members included Robert Morris and George Ross. At that time, the committee ordered the construction of gunboats that would eventually need flags as part of their equipment.

As late as October 1776, Captain William Richards was still writing to the committee or Council of Safety to request the design that he could use to order flags for their fleet.

Ross was one of those hired to make flags for the Pennsylvanian fleet. An entry dated May 29, 1777, in the records of the Pennsylvania Navy Board includes an order to pay Ross for her work.

For many years, Lawrence welcomed visitors from all over the world as Betsy Ross at the Betsy Ross house.

Lawrence has been an adjunct professor at Camden County College, a writer and tour guide for Once Upon A Nation and a guest storyteller at the National Archives in Washington.

She has performed with the Ziggaraut Theater in Los Angeles, The Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, American Family Theaters and The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, just to name a few.

Lawrence earned her bachelor’s of fine arts with honors in musical theater from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and her high school diploma from the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem.

The History Comes Alive Series will end on Wednesday, April 12 with Robert Gleason portraying William Penn.

Those who purchased a series ticket for $75 will be admitted to the March and April shows.

Tickets for each of the two remaining shows are $15. Children 12 and under accompanied by a paying adult are admitted free.

For tickets, call 570-724-6220 or visit www.deanecenter.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the door beginning at 6:30 p.m. the night of each performance, if available.