{"id":166932,"date":"2016-06-13T15:04:18","date_gmt":"2016-06-13T19:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=166932"},"modified":"2026-11-12T14:27:21","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T19:27:21","slug":"rochesters-quoted-alumnus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochesters-quoted-alumnus\/","title":{"rendered":"Francis Julius Bellamy: Rochester\u2019s most quoted alumnus"},"content":{"rendered":"

The words penned by a member of Rochester\u2019s class of 1876 are still recited daily by schoolchildren all around the country.<\/h2>\n
\"Bellamy,
A MAN OF MANY WORDS:<\/strong> Francis Julius Bellamy (Class of 1876) was an ordained Baptist minister before becoming a writer, editor, and advertising executive. (URochester photo \/ Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Francis Julius Bellamy (1855\u20131931) has been described as the University of Rochester<\/a>\u2019s \u201cmost quoted alumnus\u201d for composing \u201cThe Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag\u201d in 1892.<\/p>\n

At the time, Bellamy was employed by Boston magazine The Youth\u2019s Companion<\/em>. As part of the celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the western hemisphere, the magazine promoted the idea of a flag ceremony on Columbus Day in every school in America. Bellamy wrote the Pledge for students to recite as flags were raised over schoolhouses across the country.<\/p>\n

Over the years additional words have been added to Bellamy\u2019s original pledge.<\/p>\n

Bellamy\u2019s original version read, \u201cI pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands\u2014one Nation indivisible\u2014with liberty and justice for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1923, the first National Flag Conference voted to add \u201cthe flag of the United States of America\u201d to ensure immigrant children understood to which nation they were pledging their allegiance. In 1942 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of members of the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses whose children refused to salute the flag because their religion forbids them to pay homage to symbols.<\/p>\n

And in 1954 Congress added the phrase \u201cunder God,\u201d setting the stage for numerous court battles over the years.<\/p>\n

Bellamy, an ordained Baptist minister who left the clergy to pursue a career as a writer, editor, and advertising executive, died in 1931, well before the Pledge could find itself much of an issue in a court of law or in the courts of public and political opinion.<\/p>\n

The Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation<\/a> houses the Francis Julius Bellamy papers<\/a>, which include letters, programs, news clippings, and other documents related to the Pledge and Bellamy\u2019s life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The words penned by a member of Rochester\u2019s class of 1876 are still recited daily by schoolchildren all around the country. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[42],"class_list":["post-166932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-alumni"],"acf":{"external":"","hide_featured_image":false,"related":"show_related","style":"","content_modules":null},"yoast_head":"\nFrancis Julius Bellamy: Rochester\u2019s most quoted alumnus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The words penned by a member of Rochester\u2019s class of 1876 are still recited daily by schoolchildren all around the country.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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