The Origins of Arbor Day

Arbor Day began in Nebraska from the efforts of J. Sterling Morton on April 10, 1872. A visit to Nebraska today wouldn't reveal that the state was once a treeless plain.

Among pioneers moving into the Nebraska Territory in 1854 was J. Sterling Morton (1832-1902) from Detroit, Michigan. Mr. Morton and his wife were nature lovers and the home they built in Nebraska was quickly planted with trees, shrubs and flowers.

Morton was editor and publisher of Nebraska's first major newspaper. Given this forum, he spread information about agriculture and his enthusiasm for trees to an equally enthusiastic audience. To no one's surprise, Morton later served as President Grover Cleveland's Secretary of Agriculture.

Many of Morton's fellow pioneers were from eastern states and missed the presence of trees on the plains of Nebraska. Equally important, trees were needed as windbreaks to keep the Nebraskan soil in place to preserve trees for fuel, building materials and shade from the sun.

Morton not only advocated tree planting by individuals in his newspaper, but he also encouraged civic organizations and groups to participate with a zeal. As his prominence in the area increased, and he became a member of Nebraska's state board of agriculture, providing him more opportunity to stress the value of trees.

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 April 10. Estimates upwards of one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day.

Arbor Day was officially proclaimed by Nebraska's Governor Robert W. Furnas on March 12, 1874, and the day itself was observed April 10, 1885.

Arbor Day was named a legal holiday in Nebraska and April 22 (Morton's birthday) was selected as the date for annual observance.

According to accounts from the Nebraska City News, April 1885, Arbor Day was celebrated with a grand parade and a speech by J. Sterling Morton. Students, grouped by grade level, met at their respective school rooms in the morning for the purpose of planting at least one tree. Each tree that was planted was labeled with the grade level planting the tree, and was to be specifically cared for by that grade.

After students had completed their plantings, 1000 students formed a line to begin the parade from the various schools to Nebraska City's opera house. In the parade, each class carried colorful banners made of satin with silk lining and trimmed with gold fringe. The letters on the banners were painted in oil colors. During the 1870s, other states passed legislation to observe Arbor Day and the tradition began in schools nationwide in 1882. In 1885, Arbor Day was named a legal holiday in Nebraska.

Today, the most common date for the state observances is the last Friday in April. At the federal level, in 1970, President Richard Nixon proclaimed the last Friday in April as National Arbor Day (April 30, 2004). In many American states, Arbor Day is scheduled to coincide with the best tree planting weather, from January and February in the south to May in the far north.

Arbor Day has now spread beyond the United States and is observed in many countries of the world. Variations are celebrated as 'Greening Week' of Japan, 'The New Year's Days of Trees' in Israel, 'The Tree-Loving Week' of Korea, 'The Reforestation Week' of Yugoslavia, 'The Students' Afforestation Day' of Iceland and 'The National Festival of Tree Planting' in India.

There is an old Indian custom in some tribes in which a parent will plant a tree for each child born and give the tree the same name as the child.

Charter Oak in Hartford, Connecticut - the charter of the Connecticut colony was hidden here.

Kilmer Oak in the Douglass Campus of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey - this huge, 300-year-old oak may have the famous poem "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer, the soldier-poet. The tree was so weakened by age and disease that it had to be removed in 1963.