Kirkus Reviews
A full-length biography of an American icon. Miller (History/Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst) paints a detailed portrait of the woman credited with the creation of the Stars and Stripes. In fact, the story of George Washington's visit to Betsy Ross (1752-1836), in which she showed him that five-pointed stars were easier to make than the six-pointed ones he wanted, is impossible to verify. The documentary record shows only that Ross, who earned her living as an upholsterer, was one of several Philadelphians paid by the Continental Congress to make flags for the American forces during the Revolution. With so little evidence for Ross's main claim to fame, Miller digs into colonial and early federal history to examine the life of a working-class woman of the era. She covers Ross's Quaker upbringing, her apprenticeship in the trade she would follow all her life, her three marriages, the impact of the Revolution on daily life and the growth of the young republic. Ross's circle of relatives and acquaintances gives the author plenty of fodder for a survey of the changes in politics, religion, domestic life, social customs and economic trends of the time. For example, we get a look at conditions in an English prison where captured American sailors, including her second and third husbands, were held during the war; at controversies within the Philadelphia Friends meeting, which had expelled the young upholsterer for marrying outside the fold; and at the Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic of 1793, in which she lost her father and her sister. With copious notes and an extensive bibliography, Miller provides an exhaustive picture of the life of a craftswoman in colonial times, though readers with onlya casual interest in the subject may find it long-winded and digressive. Sometimes stiff, but more often rewarding. Agent: Brettne Bloom/Kneerim & Williams
From the Publisher
"What a fascinating book! Marla Miller looks closely at Betsy Ross and places her in the context of her Philadelphia. We learn of the contributions of the artisans and tradespeople to the Revolution and beyond as we witness them surviving the British occupation, rejoicing in American victory, suffering through yellow fever epidemics, reveling in their status as the capital city. And we can't help but marvel at the woman at the center of the story—Betsy Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypoole —as she runs her business, buries three husbands, raises her own large family plus those of her sisters, and provides flags for the new nation." —Cokie Roberts, author of Founding Mothers and Ladies of Liberty
"Marla Miller's Betsy Ross and the Making of America is a stupendous literary achievement. It's not easy to accurately write about a real folk legend. Miller does so with historical accuracy, vivid descriptive language, and an encyclopedic knowledge of her subject. The Revolutionary War era comes alive in these fine pages!" —Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Making of America
"Marla Miller's incandescent biography of Betsy Ross is a joy to read. She brings alive an ordinary Philadelphia woman who is far more interesting than the mythical seamstress of the first American flag. Through prodigious research and elegant writing, Miller chronicles the life of a thrice-married woman so vividly that the entire world of women and work, family and church, and war and politics in revolutionary and post-revolutionary Philadelphia comes alive. Surprise after surprise tumble from the pages of this beautifully stitched account, where the importance of everyday women and men in the birth of the nation becomes abundantly evident."—Gary B. Nash, author of The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create America
"Some might think that Betsy Ross is merely America’s most famous seamstress. Marla Miller brings her to life in all her glory and in the rich context of Revolutionary America. Moreover, she does so in a prose style that is accessible, compelling, at times even lyrical."—Joseph J. Ellis, author of the forthcoming First Family: Abigail and John Adams
"In an engaging biography, Miller shows that even though the flag story is riddled with improbabilities, the life of the woman who came to be known as Betsy Ross is worth recovering . . . Through skillful use of small details, Miller sustains her repeated assertion that the future Betsy Ross was often 'only a handshake away' from the men who made the Revolution . . . Miller's admiring biography will warm the hearts of those who love the Betsy Ross legend. It may also convince skeptics (Miller refers to them as 'naysayers') that there is something in the flag stories worth considering."—Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, The New York Times
"A detailed portrait of the woman credited with the creation of the Stars and Stripes…With copious notes and an extensive bibliography, Miller provides an exhaustive picture of the life of a craftswoman in colonial times."—Kirkus Reviews
"Through wide-ranging research and a skillfully crafted narrative, Miller has not only broadened our understanding of Elizabeth Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypoole but also the men and women of revolutionary America who 'went to work every day and took pride in a job well done.' Recounted are rich scenes from the City of Brotherly Love ranging from revolutionary upheaval to the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. With this distinct and persuasive biography, Miller weaves Ross into the fabric of the rich revolutionary tapestry. Fans of Woody Holton's Abigail Adams and Mary Beth Norton's Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750–1800 will be drawn to Miller's compelling account."—Brian Odom, Library Journal
"Miller has written a deeply researched and cogently argued gem of a book that gives us Betsy Ross as a complete person, not just a colonial character with a one-sentence claim on our attention."—Marc Leepson, The Wall Street Journal
"This first-rate biography of Ross (1752-1836) is authoritative and engrossing nad goes a long way toward recovering the history of early American women and work."—Publisher’s Weekly
"In this admiring biography, a historian shows that the life of the real woman behind the flag legend is well worth recovering"—The New York Times Book Review
"Affectionate, meticulously researched…The Ross that emerges in Marla Miller’s biography…is more authentically American than any character a storybook writer could dream up."—Ruth Graham, Slate Magazine
"The excitement of this book derives from Miller’s expert ability to sort fact from fiction, drawing on a wide range of documentary sources to show how Ross and other colonial women contributed to the nation’s culture and economy at the dawn of the republic."—Jonathan Lopez, The Associated Press
"A rich biography of the woman behind the myth, [Miller] ably demonstrates why Ross merits study in her own right."—Michael Kenney, The Boston Globe
"With this book, Miller reveals a refreshing new model of a colonial woman – one that encompasses business, politics, education, and war, as well as religion and family. Was Betsy Ross a central figure to the story of the American Revolution? No, but Marla Miller’s book demonstrates that she was an essential figure in the making of this new nation – flag or no flag."—Sioban Conaty, The Philadelphia Inquirer
"In this first scholarly biography of Ross, Miller uses what we do know to build a compelling portrait of a community and a nation...How much of Ross' story is fact and how much is fiction doesn't matter in this richly detailed biography. It's all fascinating."—Carol Memmott, USA TODAY
