Given March is Women’s History Month, did you know that our area’s cherry blossom trees were the product of a woman? Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, a geographer, photographer and writer who was also the first woman on the board of directors for the National Geographic Society, pushed for cherry blossom trees to make their way to the U.S. Passionate about Asian culture, for over two decades, Scidmore regularly petitioned superintendents at the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds for cherry trees.

Finally, in 1905, she hosted a cherry blossom viewing party and it caught the eye of botanist David Fairchild. The next year, Fairchild imported 1,000 cherry trees from Japan to his own property in Maryland. On Arbor Day in 1908, Scidmore introduced a dream of what she called a “Field of Cherries” around what is now the Tidal Basin.

Photo by Kate Oczypok.

One year later, Scidmore reached out to then First Lady Helen Herron Taft and the two partnered up on where to plant the trees. Scidmore was introduced to Jokicki Takamine, a Japanese chemist, who offered 2,000 cherry trees to the first lady on behalf of the people of Japan. The rest, as they say, is history!

See a video promoting one of the best parts of D.C. in spring here:

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