This display featured 24 white plastic flags from the 2020 public art installation designed by artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg. The In America: How could this happen... installation outside of RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., was designed to honor and remember the lives lost in the U.S. to COVID-19. The museum added the flags to its collection as part of its efforts to collect artifacts related to the discovery, response, and loss that has continued as a result of COVID-19. The flags have hand-lettered tributes to deceased family members and friends as well as to those on the front lines of the pandemic.
See a collection of related artifacts in our object group.