'Star-Spangled Banner' to Hit the Road for 200th Anniversary

The “Star-Spangled Banner” manuscript – written by Maryland native and lawyer Francis Scott Key– will make a short trek to the nation’s capital this summer before returning back home.

The Baltimore Business Journalreports the document containing the words to the National Anthem will move from its permanent home at the Maryland Historical Societyin Baltimore to the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

The visit to the Smithsonian will run June 14 — Flag Day — through July 6. The road trip is part of Maryland’s Star-Spangled Summer 2014, marking the 200th anniversary of the National Anthem.

Key wrote the words to the song as a poem during the Battle of Baltimore at Fort McHenry in 1814, according to the National Park Service. He was moved to write the verse after seeing American soldiers at Fort McHenry prevail over British troops after 25 hours of bombing during the War of 1812.

The “Star-Spangled Banner” will return to the Maryland Historical Society on July 7, the Business Journal says.

>>Read the full story on the Baltimore Business Journal website.