Audio
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Audio Recording
Transcript
Thomas Jefferson Memorial As plans moved forward to build a Thomas Jefferson Memorial in November of 1938, word leaked out that a number of Japanese Cherry Trees along the Tidal Basin would be moved during the construction process. Sissy Patterson, a Washington, DC newspaper publisher, organized a march from her Dupont Circle home to the White house to present President Franklin Delano Roosevelt with a petition to save the trees. The next day, with the project underway, a group of Patterson’s followers went to the worksite, causing trouble for the Civilian Conservation Corps workers who were translating the Cherry Trees. Women grabbed shovels and filled holes, sat on the bags covering the roots and symbolically chained themselves to the trees, making the job extremely difficult for those tasked with moving the cherry trees. While this lasted only a short while, it certainly caused embarrassment for the Roosevelt administration and plenty of unwanted publicity. In the end, some of the older cherry trees were lost during this process, but many younger trees were saved. Nursery growers, hearing of the situation, donated two trees for everyone one lost. So cherry blossoms are still prominent around the Tidal Basin and are very visible from the Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Description
Construction of the memorial required the destruction of cherry trees already existing on the site. Public outcry about the loss of cherry trees led to a protest at the ground breaking, dubbed the "Cherry Blossom Rebellion."
Duration
1 minute, 10 seconds
Copyright and Usage Info