PHS was involved with the ceremonial planting of the 'Moon Tree' in Washington Square in 1975. Do you have any photos of that occasion?
Answer
Yes, we have some great photos from our archives in the library of that 1975 event.
The Bicentennial Moon Tree was a Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) planted on May 6, 1975 from seed carried to the moon by astronaut Stuart A. Roosa on Apollo 14, February 1971.
The planting of this historic tree was organized by Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), and the U. S. Forestry Service. This project fell under PHS's 10,000 Trees project -- a tree planting project for the Bicentennial.
By 2007, this tree was showing signs of decline. The National Park Service asked the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania to take cuttings from this tree and grow it on.
On September 24, 2011, one of these replacement trees, cutting-grown from the original plant, was planted in Washington Square as part of National Public Lands Day. The original tree was cut down as part of this ceremony.
Attached is a very informative press release from the Morris Arboretum that tells the story of the Moon tree in greater detail. See more images from our online digital archive of the Bicentennial MoonTree here.
--- answered by Janet Evans, PHS McLean Library Associate Director