Victorian America Celebrates Arbor Day

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“…Arbor Day, launched April 22, 1875, by J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska as part of a campaign to get people to plant trees on the bare prairie. Within a dozen years, 40 states had named April 22 an official holiday, and 600 million newly planted trees adorned the nation’s plains.”

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~ Prelude to the Century: 1870-1900 by the Editors of Time-Life Books p 76

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But the first Arbor Day was apparently earlier than 1875

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This quote from The History of Arbor Day states January 4, 1872 as the day Morton proposed the first Arbor Day to be held the following April. These quotes explain the official adoption of the holiday, and the 1874 observation.

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Kristin Holt | Victorian America Celebrates Arbor Day. From The History of Arbor Day, part 1. "On January 4, 1872, Morton first proposed a tree-planting holiday to be called "Arbor Day" at a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture. The date was set for April 10, 1872. Prizes were offered to counties and individuals for planting properly the largest number of trees on that day. It was estimated that more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day."

1 of 2). From The History of Arbor Day, https://www.arborday.org/celebrate/history.cfm

Kristin Holt | Victorian America Celebrates Arbor Day. From The History of Arbor Day, part 2. "Arbor Day was officially proclaimed by the young state's Governor Robert W. Furnas on March 12, 1874, and the day itself was observed April 10, 1874. In 1885, Arbor Day was named a legal holiday in Nebraska and April 22, Morton's birthday, was selected as the date for its permanent observance."

2 of 2). From The History of Arbor Day, https://www.arborday.org/celebrate/history.cfm

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Planting Trees

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Arbor Day as a Holiday

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Straight Rows Preferred

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The Topeka Daily Capital, 22 April, 1896.

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An Arbor Day Article from 1896

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Kristin Holt | Victorian America Celebrates Arbor Day. "Morton's Arbor Day." The founder's birthday honored by Nebraska's Arbor Day. The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on April 22, 1896. Part 1 of 8.

1 of 8). Morton’s Arbor Day, The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.

2 of 8). Morton’s Arbor Day, The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.

3 of 8). Morton’s Arbor Day, The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.

4 of 8). Morton’s Arbor Day, The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.

5 of 8). Morton’s Arbor Day, The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.

6 of 8). Morton’s Arbor Day, The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.

7 of 8). Morton’s Arbor Day, The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.

8 of 8). Morton’s Arbor Day, The Topeka Daily Capital of Topeka, Kansas on 22 April, 1896.

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Photographs of Arbor Days Gone By

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Kristin Holt | Victorian America Celebrates Arbor Day. Vintage photograph: Planting of trees, Arbor Day, N.Y. Public School #4, 173rd St. & Fulton Ave., New York, image: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ggb2004000388/

Planting of trees, Arbor Day, N.Y. Public School #4, 173rd St. & Fulton Ave., New York, image: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ggb2004000388/

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Kristin Holt | Victorian America Celebrates Arbor Day. Vintage photograph: Group of children and adults outside Rata School on Arbor Day, 1 August 1894, Ohingaiti district (Rangitikei). Taken by Edward George Child. Alexander Turnbull Library ref. ID: 1/1-011003-G. [source]

Group of children and adults outside Rata School on Arbor Day on August 1, 1894, Ohingaiti district (Rangitikei). Taken by Edward George Child. Alexander Turnbull Library ref. ID: 1/1-011003-G. [source]

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Kristin Holt | Victorian America Celebrates Arbor Day. Vintage Photograph: Theodore Roosevelt replanting a Bahai orange tree, 1903 Record Group 54 Series: Photographs of Fruits, Nuts, and Vegetables, 1883-1941 Still Pictures Identifier: 54-F-79C-9041 Rediscovery Identifier: 22419

Photograph, Theodore Roosevelt replanting a Bahai orange tree, 1903
Record Group 54
Series: Photographs of Fruits, Nuts, and Vegetables, 1883-1941
Still Pictures Identifier: 54-F-79C-9041
Rediscovery Identifier: 22419 [source]

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