THIS DAY IN HISTORY – Japanese cherry trees planted along the Potomac – 1912

Via History.com

Japanese Cherry Trees Planted in Washington, D.C. - HISTORY

Caring for Cherry Trees in Washington DC - Cherry Blossom Festival (U.S. National Park Service)

March 27, 1912: In Washington, D.C., Helen Taft, wife of President William Taft, and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, plant two Yoshino cherry trees on the northern bank of the Potomac River, near the Jefferson Memorial. The event was held in celebration of a gift, by the Japanese government, of 3,020 cherry trees to the U.S. government.

The planting of Japanese cherry trees along the Potomac was first proposed by socialite Eliza Scidmore, who raised money for the endeavor. Helen Taft had lived in Japan while her husband was president of the Philippine Commission, and knowing the beauty of cherry blossoms she embraced Scidmore’s idea. After learning of the first lady’s interest, the Japanese consul in New York suggested making a gift of the trees to the U.S. government from the city of Tokyo.

In January 1910, 2,000 Japanese cherry trees arrived in Washington from Japan but had fallen prey to disease during the journey. In response, a private Japanese citizen donated the funds to transport a new batch of trees, and 3,020 specimens were taken from the famous collection on the bank of the Arakawa River in Adachi Ward, a suburb of Tokyo. In March 1912, the trees arrived in Washington, and on March 27 the first two trees were planted along the Potomac River’s Tidal Basin in a formal ceremony. The rest of the trees were then planted along the basin, in East Potomac Park, and on the White House grounds.

The blossoming trees proved immediately popular with visitors to Washington’s Mall area, and in 1934 city commissioners sponsored a three-day celebration of the late March blossoming of the trees, which grew into the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. After World War II, cuttings from Washington’s cherry trees were sent back to Japan to restore the Tokyo collection that was decimated by American bombing attacks during the war.

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The Central Scrutinizer
The Central Scrutinizer

Looking back, I’m surprised we didn’t cut them all down in ’43.

I’m glad we didn’t. A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

MrLiberty
MrLiberty

I can think of more than a few recent presidents who would have cut them all down. Instead, FDR simply locked up all the Japanese in concentration camps.

Anonymous
Anonymous

DC doesn’t deserve beauty.

TCS
TCS

The Earth has no say in the evil it bears.

MrLiberty
MrLiberty

I planted three in a row on the side of my house. They are now 20 years old and spectacular every spring. The showers of petals falling is like the snow we no longer get in the Atlanta area.

Machinist
Machinist

Cherries Are the Official Fruit of DC.
What the Hell?

“DC is cherry blossom-obsessed with good reason. Thousands of flowering trees draw more than a million tourists annually for the month-long Cherry Blossom Festival. But our claim to cherries—the official fruit of DC? That’s a different story.

You may have missed this moment in legislative history. In 2006, the DC Council introduced the “Official Fruit of the District of Columbia Act” to designate the cherry as our non-state fruit. It was approved by mayor Anthony Williams and Congress and became a law, forever binding the District to the cherry—and dooming DC to an annual scourge of terrible cherry food and drink specials.

So how did this happen? Cherries aren’t prolific in DC. The cherry blossom trees you’ll find along the Tidal Basin don’t produce edible fruit, hence all the pink dye and maraschinos anointing those cherry blossom cocktails. We broke down the clauses in the Official Fruit Act to expose the stone fruit fraud.”

Everything that oozes from TPB is a Fraud.

Svarga Loka
Svarga Loka

God’s magnificent creation is beautiful even in the vicinity of filth and evil. Perhaps, more so.

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