If the name of candidate John Bell doesn't ring a bell, it's probably because he lost the 1860 U.S.. presidential election to a fellow from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln. But Bell's campaign flag waves on, as does Lincoln's, in "Independency: The American Flag at 250 Years," a unique exhibition of flags and historic objects at the Southampton Arts Center through July 19.

Though Lincoln's and Bell's flags are more than 160 years old, they're not the oldest flags in the collection of lawyer, historian, writer, producer and East Ender John Monsky. That distinction belongs to a 1775 banner for George Washington.

Monsky's collection is expansive and extraordinary, including objects from America's earliest days through the Apollo missions and beyond. Viewers of his presentations at Carnegie

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