Efforts to conserve the flag date from 1914, shortly after it was donated to the Smithsonian Institution. By that time, the Star-Spangled Banner was 100 years old and already severely damaged by weather and time. That year, Amelia Fowler was brought in to supervise her patented "Fowler Treatment," which involved stitching the woolen flag to a linen backing.

In 1964, the flag took center stage in Flag Hall of the newly-opened National Museum of American History, and was displayed floating above a custom-dyed wool replica, indicating the original length. The high-profile exposure took a continued toll on the banner. In 1982, after conservators set up scaffolding to vacuum dirt from its surface, Smithsonian officials decided to protect it with a painted screen, which would slide away once every hour to allow visitors to view the artifact. In 1996, the flag was still accumulating dust and dirt, and a microscopic examination revealed that its wool fibers were growing weak and brittle as the wool aged naturally.

The museum's conservation team, headed by Suzanne Thomassen-Krauss, the chief conservator for the Star-Spangled Banner Preservation Project, began the current round of conservation in December 1998. The entire conservation is estimated to be completed in three years. This work will be completed in a state-of-the-art laboratory at the National Museum of American History -- ensuring that visitors to the nation's capital will still be able to view the Star-Spangled Banner.