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Contact: Logan McSwain For Immediate Release
News
Release
Charlotte’s Pole to Pole Flag
Exhibit
Opens CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte’s Pole to Pole Flag exhibit, which opened December 2006, traces a Charlotte city flag’s journey to the North and South Poles. The flag’s journey begins with Charlotte businessman George M. Ivey, a world traveler who wanted to set foot on all seven continents. In 1964 he was invited to join the US Navy’s “Operation Deep Freeze” Antarctic expedition team. About 20 newspaper writers and photographers, four Congressmen, several governmental officials, Naval Reserve officers and businessmen formed the rest of the team. Knowing that he would have the opportunity to stand at the South Pole, Ivey wanted to bring along a Charlotte city flag to fly there. The city didn’t have one to give him, so he asked some of his employees at the J. B. Ivey Department Store to create a smaller version of the flag to take. Ivey’s expedition flew first to Washington, D.C., then to Hawaii, on to New Zealand, then finally to Antarctica. On December 5, 1964, Ivey flew the Charlotte Flag at the South Pole. “We boarded open sleds standing clutching the rails on the sides as we were pulled by tractor about 200 yards to a flag pole with the United States flag flying at the exact geographic South Pole at the bottom of the world. The flag of the City of Charlotte was attached to the flag pole by one of the Navy men and I held the edge of it flying over the South Pole,” Ivey wrote in his journal. George M. Ivey’s trip lasted from November 27 to December 13, 1964, when he became sick and had to be taken back to New Zealand. When he recovered, Ivey returned to Charlotte with quite a story to tell. His experiences were shared with the public through newspaper articles and recorded interviews. Twenty-one years later, in 1985, this same flag accompanied George Ivey’s nephew Ervin Jackson, Jr. on an expedition to the North Pole. Jackson did not attempt his quest alone; some very famous people were with him on this expedition including, explorer Sir Edmund Hillary, adventurer J. Stephen Fossett, and astronaut Neil Armstrong. “We were all fully aware of the risk of arctic travel. Once the group departed Resolute Bay, N.W.T., all standard procedures took on a military-like attitude with check and double check. Unpredictable weather conditions could wipe us out unexpectedly,” Jackson wrote about the dangers of the trip. “At 9:04 EST, April 6, 1985, I had the privilege of flying our Charlotte City Flag over the North Pole. Exhilaration came over me with the realization that I was on the “top of the world” and wondered if the late George Ivey, Sr. experienced that same inner excitement when he planted the Charlotte Flag on the South Pole in 1964,” wrote Jackson. Visit The Charlotte Museum of History and see Charlotte’s Pole to Pole Flag exhibit. Charlotte’s Pole to Pole Flag gives visitors the opportunity to feel inside authentic polar mittens and boots; compare and contrast facts and figures about Charlotte and the two Poles; and trace the expeditions on a special rotating globe. Visitors will also learn more about the people that made the expedition to the Poles and see the special Charlotte flag on display. The Charlotte Museum of History is located at 3500 Shamrock Drive (between Eastway and Sharon Amity). ### General Information The Charlotte Museum of History is Where History Has A Home. The museum, with its core and visiting exhibitions, explores Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s rich history during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The museum is home to the oldest surviving structure in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, the Hezekiah Alexander House (circa 1774). Set on eight acres of park like grounds, the museum is also home to the American Freedom Bell, the Backcountry Patriot Statue and historic gardens. In addition, the museum offers: rental space for events and weddings, education programs for adults, schools and families, and membership benefits and opportunities The Charlotte Museum of History is supported, in part, with a Basic Operating Grant form the Arts & Science Council. The Charlotte Museum of History is located at 3500 Shamrock Drive (between Eastway and Sharon Amity). Open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Free every Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. Open Mondays from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Guided tours of the Hezekiah Alexander Homesite given daily at 1:15 and 3:15 p.m. For more information call 704 568-1774, email info@charlottemuseum.org or visit www.charlottemusuem.org. |
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The Charlotte
Museum of History & Hezekiah Alexander Homesite |