What happened to the naturalization tree?
An anecdote in an article on page 10 of the August 16, 1918, issue of the Courier Journal was the first reference to a “naturalization tree” at Camp Zachary Taylor in Louisville.
World War I was not yet over, and Camp Zachary Taylor was one of 16 national army camps in the United States that trained more than 125,000 soldiers, according to the Kentucky Historical Society. Although the camp closed in 2020, one distinctive feature remained – the Naturalization Tree.
“Nine hundred and fifty aliens will be naturalized tomorrow morning at Camp Zachary Taylor under the ‘Naturalization Tree’ on Lee Avenue. Judge James Cochran of Covington will preside over the court and General Austin is invited to attend the ceremony,” the August 16 newspaper said.
A few days later, on August 21, 1918, the newspaper reported that the ceremony “received the largest number of men at one time in any American cantonment into the arms of this country. The tree was selected by the naturalization officer, Lieutenant Perkins. It is one of the many objects of interest on the reservation and stands directly behind the camp laundry. When the aliens are sworn in, they have a full view of the Stars and Stripes flying over the camp.”
After the closure of Camp Zachary Taylor, there were concerns about what would happen to the tree, which had become a landmark of the city along with the soldiers stationed there and the immigrants who became American citizens under it.
“Lumberjacks, spare this tree!” was the first paragraph of an article that appeared in the January 23, 1921, issue of the Courier Journal, discussing the efforts of the American Legion’s Jefferson Post to save the tree.
“The tree is intended to be a symbol like no other of the remarkable wartime achievement of this country, which managed to unite in a short time all the foreign and diverse forces of the population into one unit – the American citizen. It stands for the entry of thousands of foreigners into Camp Taylor and into all the military camps that existed during the war. Many of them felt that they owed this country nothing except what they could gain from it and for their rise in a short time to become American soldiers.”
The naturalization tree was coincidentally selected by the American Forestry Association for induction into the Tree Hall of Fame in Washington, DC earlier that same year.
“A photograph of the naturalization tree will hang next to that of the famous Washington Elm in Cambridge, Massachusetts, under whose branches (George) Washington assumed command of the Continental Army on July 3, 1775.”
A few months later, news came that the tree would survive, as indicated by a March 2, 1921, headline: “Historic Tree Is Saved,” including the note that the American Legion’s Jefferson Post would give up its claim to the tree so that the Fincastle Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution could assume control.
The tree was not meant to last forever as it was cut down in 1951 after being struck by lightning.
“Camp Taylor’s ‘naturalization tree,’ a 140-year-old ash tree honored by the Fincastle Chapter, DAR, in 1921, was dedicated to old age by surgery yesterday. Two of its huge branches, broken off in a recent storm, were removed after they fell into the yard adjacent to the property at the corner of Kentucky and Lee.”
A monument dedicated to the tree in 1921 still stands, but has been moved from its original location to Camp Taylor Memorial Park, near the intersection of Poplar Level Road and the Watterson Expressway.
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