Planes, Trains, and International Travel for the Arboretum
Or: overcoming a fear of flying + a big announcement!
Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement and special subscription discount at the end of this post!
When I first read that my grandfather was skeptical of flight, I was surprised. I’d known he traveled around the country often for both Arboretum business and personal vacations. But the fear makes sense when you consider that the Wright brothers (or, possibly, a Brazillian aviator by the name of Alberto Santos-Dumont? Or, also possibly, a German immigrant in Connecticut named Gustave Whitehead?) became the first humans to partake in flight only a few years before my grandpa’s birth in 1906. The first commercial airplane flight took place in January of 1914; my grandpa would have been almost eight.
Given that flight was relatively new technology and that my grandpa had a particular affinity for trains, it’s not surprising that he preferred the latter form of transport.
Interestingly, my grandpa’s first flight was with his Arboretum colleague and friend Clarence Godshalk, as he notes in this journal entry from December 5, 1946:
Had my first plane ride this morning with CEG. In the air for 45 minutes over the Arboretum, Warrenville, and surrounding area. Quite a sensation.
While my grandfather could feasibly drive or take a train, which he often did, for work or leisure trips within the United States, some opportunities would have necessitated air travel.
In a March 1957 letter to his brother, Robert, my grandpa enclosed a letter from the B.O.A.C regarding possible flight options for his travel to judge at the Chelsea Flower Show, which was apparently news to him:
Have another contribution in the April issue of the Flower Grower, the last of the series. My office correspondence has showed the effects of this publicity.
No clippings this week so I’ll enclose the tempting form letter received in today’s mail. Wouldn’t I like to be seeing the Chelsea show - even tho it would mean overcoming my suspicion of air travel. $490 round trip Chicago to London.
He had been overseas to Europe before; as a young man, he and a friend from the school of landscape design at the University of Illinois traveled there by boat. But clearly, flight was now the expected and sensible method, which he felt was a nerve-wracking option.
To go from a childhood where flight was a relatively new experience to adulthood where international air travel was now feasible, common even, must have been fascinating. In the early 1960s, my grandpa and his brother, whom he had written to about his “suspicion of air travel” only a few years earlier, partook in the ultimate exposure therapy for fear of flying and embarked on a trip to Asia. He had a distinct interest in and appreciation for Japanese gardens, and this trip presented an incredible opportunity to learn about the tradition from experts.
On that topic, I’m excited to announce something I’ve been working on behind the scenes for a little while now: a unique series of Bulletin of Remarkable Trees focused on my grandpa’s 1962 trip to Japan (and elsewhere in Asia)!
On this venture, he represented the Morton Arboretum, traveling throughout Southeast Asia (spending much of the time in Japan specifically). We’re lucky he was able to overcome his skepticism of flight, as his trip resulted in numerous connections with landscape designers and botanists, material exchanges between the Morton Arboretum and various botanic gardens and arboretums throughout Asia, and a wealth of slides, papers, and detailed descriptions and drawings. He was clearly excited to embark on this journey on behalf of the Arboretum, and was thrilled when his trip was approved, as evidenced in a journal entry from September of 1961:
Learned the trustees had OK’d my trip to Japan!
This series will only be available to paid subscribers, but I’m offering a special subscription discount from now until the first post goes up at the end of November:
If you’re interested in exploring along with me, make sure to subscribe! I’d love to hear if there are things in particular you all are most interested in seeing from the materials related to this trip. There’s quite a lot, and I can’t wait to dive into it with you!
This is the weekly mini edition of Bulletin of Remarkable Trees. If you’d like to receive my next deep dive into my grandfather’s work at the Morton Arboretum in your inbox, along with more short musings on nature and life, you can subscribe here (and receive 20% off through the end of November!)
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