Jeff Donahue, director of the Holland Land Office Museum, stands with a big flag that once flew on the flagship of Rear Admiral Ralph Chandler, who was born in Batavia in 1829 and died in Hong Kong in 1889.
Chandler, a ship commander in the Civil War, was Asiatic Squadron commander from 1886 until his death.
The flag is on loan to the museum by Ralph Chandler Parker III. It measures 13' 11" on the hoist and 25' on the fly.
To fit it in the case, four people wearing archival gloves spread it out on sheets on the floor and then folded it, and folded it, and folded it, until it fit.
"It would have been beautiful if we could have displayed it at its full dimensions," Donahue said. "Unfortunately, we just don't have the space to do that."
Chandler was married to Cornelia Redfield and they had five children together.
