Photo By Jason Wilson
Peggy Wright always liked the American flag—so much so that casual displays of patriotism would cause her eyes to swell with tears.
And then came the morning of 9/11.
Wright was awake early, watching as the events unfolded on TV. She witnessed the second plane crash while on the phone with her sister.
“I just knew right then that patriotism had to re-emerge,” Wright says.
From that moment on, she began hunting for the American flag wherever she could find it—and in whatever form it materialized. Wright picked up newspapers and magazines that had printed the flag, donated $50 to the Salvation Army in exchange for a print of Thomas Kinkade’s limited-edition The Light of Freedom and purchased Raymundo Gardea’s The Twin Towers Heroes—print No. 201.
Her co-workers, friends and family noticed her zeal and began contributing to her collection, seeking out bizarre forms of the flag in the hopes she hadn’t come across anything like them. Soon, Wright had battery-operated hats that would light up like the flag; red, white and blue running shoes; even a lighter in the shape of an American flag-decked guitar.
Her son, Brian, had moved out from her home only weeks before the disaster, leaving behind an empty room; within three months, its walls, floor and ceiling were plastered with American flag memorabilia. Wright painted the overhead fan blades and sealed newspaper clippings on the closet doors and table; clippings from the Press-Telegram featuring photographs of Wright at two consecutive Long Beach City College 9/11 rallies are laminated on the wall. She says her favorite treasure is her American cow. // JASON WILSON
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