What Betsy Ross’ real story tells us about women’s work in the Revolution − and why it still matters 250 years later

According to the legend, Betsy Ross showed George Washington how a five-pointed star instead of a six-pointed star would speed up production. GraphicaArtis/Archive Photos Collection via Getty Images

For generations, most Americans knew – and maybe believed – a story about upholstery seamstress Betsy Ross and the making of the nation’s first flag.

In the account passed down through her family, Ross was a young Philadelphia widow when George Washington and a congressional committee asked her to make a flag for the Colonies uniting in rebellion against England.