Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Plaque |
Collection |
Metro Parks Tacoma - Permanent Collection |
Date |
May 7,1934 |
Description |
Wright Park has been the site of numerous neighborhood events and projects ever since its creation in the 1890s. Among the community groups who made their mark on the park was the Girls' Corner Club, a service group affiliated with the local Freemasons Lodge. On May 6, 1929, the group planted a white birch tree (also called "paper" birch or "Betula papyrifera") in honor of all mothers in the city. Miss Alice Sweeney was the club president, and the director of the club at the time was Mrs. Dora Creath Smith, an active part of a number of civic clubs in Tacoma. Five years later, the club registered the tree with the national American Forestry Association and installed a stone plaque to recognize the birch as the "Tacoma's Mothers Tree". The ceremony was held on Mother's Day, 1934. The plaque reads: "Tacoma Mother's Tree, Planted May 6, 1929, By Tacoma Girls Corner Club, Approved by City Council, Park BD May 3, 1932 Registered May 8, 1934 to the Hall of Fame for Trees, American Forestry Assn., Washington D.C." Today, the plaque can still be seen under the birch tree just down the hill in the northern corner, off of Division and G Street. "Mother's Day" was officially designated as a national holiday in 1914, celebrated annually on the second Sunday of May. Tacomans had marked the holiday as early as 1910. |
Location |
Wright Park |
Object Number |
WP - 012 |
Web link |
Metro Parks Tacoma, Wright Park |