Dr. Bernard J. Cigrand’s

Dental Office Exhibit and Sculpture

Blackberry Farm/Pioneer Village

100 S. Barnes Rd.
Aurora, IL 60506
(630) 892-1550

       Blackberry Farm/Pioneer Village in Aurora is home to a fascinating exhibit portraying the reproduction dental office of Bernard Cigrand, the founder of Flag Day in the United States and the son of Luxembourg immigrants.  Cigrand moved to Batavia, Illinois near Aurora in 1912.  He began a dental practice in his Batavia home until 1920 when he opened offices at 47 ½ Fox Street in Aurora.  Cigrand gained national fame not only as the father of Flag Day but also as a distinguished professor and practitioner of dentistry.

       The Cigrand Dental Office exhibit can be found in Blackberry Farm’s Early Streets Museum.  The exhibit depicts Cigrand’s office as it would have looked in the early years of his practice including his original roll top desk, old-fashioned dental chair and hand-powered equipment including a pedal-powered drill. 

        In addition to the Dental Office exhibit, a bronze sculpture depicting Cigrand’s bust further honors him at Blackberry Farm. The sculpture is located in the courtyard entrance to the Early Streets Museum. 

        The bust was sculpted by Georges Calteux, now retired Director of National Sites and Monuments in Luxembourg, and donated to Blackberry Farm in 2002.  A dedication ceremony for the sculpture was held on June 15, 2002.  Honored guests at the ceremony included Speaker of the US House of Representatives, J. Dennis Hastert; Mr. Jean Asselborn, Vice President of Luxembourg’s Chambre des Députés; Madame Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, Luxembourg’s Minister of Culture, Higher Education & Research; Madame Arlette Conzemius, Luxembourg Ambassador to the US; and Mr. Georges Calteux.

        Blackberry Farm/Pioneer Village is located at 100 S. Barnes Road and is open to the public from May 1 through October 1.  Visit their website for more detailed information.

 A Brief Biography of Dr. Bernard J. Cigrand

        Dr. Bernard J. Cigrand, the founding father of Flag Day in the United States, was the son of Nicholas and Susan Cigrand, immigrants from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.   Bernard was born in Waubeka, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin on October 1, 1866.  As a youngster, he displayed an early interest in American history, a devout patriotism for the land of America, and a great love for the flag of his country.

         At the age of 19, Bernard became a schoolteacher at Stony Hill School near Waubeka.  There he conceived the idea of observing June 14 as the “birthday of the flag” bearing in mind that Congress had officially adopted the Stars and Stripes as the flag of the US on June 14, 1777.

          Bernard held the first observance of Flag Day on June 14, 1885 at Stony Hill School where observers recall the small American flag that stood in a bottle on his schoolroom desk.  On that day, the graduating students turned in themes he had assigned them on the subject of the American Flag.  That was the beginning of many years of Bernard’s fervent effort to bring about a national observance of Flag Day.

         In 1886, Bernard left his position at Stony Hill School and went to Valparaiso, Indiana, to begin training for his chosen career of dentistry at Northern Indiana Normal School.  In 1888, he graduated from Northwestern University Dental School in Chicago and in 1891 from Lake Forest University.  The next two years found him studying industrial, educational and political economy at the University of Chicago.

        Upon his graduation in 1888, Bernard began a dental practice in Chicago.  One year later he married Alice Needham Crispe.  Six children were born from their union:  Bernard H., Joyce Alice, Elroy, Elaine, Virginia and Clyde. 

         Bernard was a prolific writer.  His best known works include the profusely illustrated Story of the American Flag, History of the American Emblems, The Real Abraham Lincoln, Life of Alexander Hamilton, History of American Heraldry, History of Dentistry, History of Medicine, Cigrand Family Genealogy, and Crispe Family.  He was a contributing editor to the Encyclopedia Americana and to numerous dental and literary journals. 

         Bernard served on the faculties of Northwestern University, the Illinois School of Dentistry, of which he was dean, and the University of Illinois.  National recognition for his leadership in dentistry was evidenced when he was elected and served for several years as President of the American College of Dental Surgery.  He also was at one time President of the Chicago Public Library.

         Throughout his career as dentist and educator, Bernard never gave up his crusade to have June 14th recognized as a national holiday when Americans might honor their flag.  He made his first public proposal of the idea in June 1886, through the medium of the Chicago Argus newspaper.  He campaigned tirelessly thereafter in newspaper and magazine articles, in books, and on the lecture platform, advocating for the recognition of Flag Day. 

         In 1894, Cigrand and LeRoy Van Horn of Chicago, a Civil War veteran, issued a newspaper call to “all persons who desire to commemorate the birthday of the American Flag” to attend a meeting in the assembly hall of the Grand Pacific Hotel in Chicago.  At this meeting was formed an Illinois Corporation known as the “American Flag Day Association”, whose purpose was to celebrate the flag on the third Saturday in June and to conduct such exercises in the interest of school children.  Cigrand was made Secretary of this organization and later when he became President in 1896, he directed that the actual date, June 14, be observed.  The Association held celebrations in the large parks in Chicago and because of the nationwide interest they evidenced, the National American Flag Day Association was formed and Bernard became its President.

          In 1912, Bernard and his family moved to Batavia, Illinois to new stone house he built on Batavia Avenue.  He opened a dental office in this home where he practice until 1920 when he moved his practice to 47 ½ Fox Street in Aurora, so that his son, Dr. Elroy might practice with him.  During World War I, Bernard served with distinction as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy. 

          The crowning achievement of Bernard’s life came at the age of 50, when President Woodrow Wilson, on June 14, 1916, issued a proclamation calling for a nation-wide observance of Flag Day.  Bernard’s years of campaigning for this designation came to fruition and the celebration of June 14th as Flag Day continues to this day.  Each year, as the Flag is honored so is the name “Bernard J. Cigrand” heralded as the “Father of Flag Day”. 

          In the spring of 1932, an ageing Bernard and Alice Cigrand moved to a new home in Aurora.  They were barely settled in their home when Bernard succumbed to a heart attack on May 16, 1932 in Chicago where he had gone to deliver his weekly lecture at the University of Illinois Dental School.  His remains were laid to rest in the Cigrand family plot in Riverside Cemetery. 

           A variety of memorials to Dr. Bernard J. Cigrand, the Father of Flag Day, have been created in Waubeka, Wisconsin and Aurora, Illinois.  These two communities, so vitally important to him during his life, now embrace his memory in a special way for generations to come.